ELT in Brazil

Remember when authenticity was the talk of the town?

Teachers would debate on the whys and hows of using authentic texts (in written and audio/vídeo form here and throughout) in lessons for all ages, levels, and contexts.

We used to discuss best strategies to deal with these texts and how we could empower our learners to handle authentic texts as early as the beginner levels, always choosing the best genre in terms of complexity and relevance to our learners.

Oh how I yearn for those days.

Now a new kind of text has entered the discussion pit and seems to have beaten its competitors to a pulp – AI generated texts.

AI generated texts are, obviously, not authentic. However, they aren’t inauthentic either, not in the sense inauthentic texts used to be.

Inauthentic texts were those created by ELT *professionals* – emphasis on the ‘professionals’ there – to scaffold student’s learning.

That is not the case anymore. AI generated texts are less than inauthentic. They are, by definition, artificial.

How did we go from crowning with laurels authentic texts to being overly excited about artificial texts? Is it simply because they are the new thing? Or worse, is it because it is easier?

Have we given in to mediocrity?