Adapt practice activities to learners' age, cultural background, and aptitudes¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends that teachers adapt practice to their learners, since "Not all forms of practice will work equally well under all circumstances". Children may accept mechanical drills more willingly but benefit little from them, while games increase children's persistence; cultural and school-culture norms shape tolerance of repetitiveness, memorization, and negative feedback. The article states "adaptation to a given group of learners as a function of age or cultural background is both feasible and indispensable", and draws on Robinson's hypotheses linking activity types to specific aptitudes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers need sensitivity to how practice activities can be adapted to their learners

Constraints¶

• Adaptation to individual aptitude constellations is hardly possible in the classroom and may wait for more advanced computer-assisted instruction

Target Learners¶

• children, adolescents, and adults learning a second or foreign language across cultural contexts

Target Learning Goals¶

• effective engagement with practice activities matched to learner characteristics

Related Strategies¶

• Consider Socio-Cultural Factors
• Embed grammar and vocabulary in situations refugees will encounter, and design instruction that acknowledges age
• Culturally adapt shared decision-making interventions by attending to language, communication style, relationship-building, fear, and visual design — beyond direct translation
• Mediate AI feedback for equity by adapting it to learner readiness, vocabulary, confidence, and bodily awareness

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Robert DeKeyser. (2010). Practice for Second Language Learning: Don't Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater. International Journal of English Studies, 10(1). https://www.um.es/ijes