Introducing curriculum authenticity

The issue of authenticity in English Language Teaching (ELT) has been studied with a particular attention to concepts such as text, task, and learner authenticity. Though it is interesting to reflect on authenticity with regard to language materials, the development of these can only take place within a conceptualization of a language curriculum that is authentic in both its essence and form. The notion of curriculum authenticity, however, has not been proposed or discussed, a fact that reveals the absence of a holistic approach to authenticity in ELT. This paper will give some of the reasons that led to this state of affairs and will argue for the importance of adding curriculum authenticity to discussions on authenticity in ELT and particularly when developing materials for language learning. As such, this paper provides the context for discussing authenticity in materials development on a wider scale. A model of curriculum authenticity is introduced based on principles underpinning curriculum design theory. The proposed model is applied and discussed with reference to the business English license curriculum at the Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Humanities (FLAH) at University of Manouba in Tunisia. Proposed actions to enhance curriculum authenticity as well as challenges to curriculum authenticity are also communicated and discussed.