a Presentation stage: the introduction of new items, when their meanings
are explained, demonstrated, etc., and other necessary information is given.
b Practice stage (also repetition stage): new items are practised, either
individually or in groups. Practice activities usually move from controlled
to less controlled practice.
c Production stage (also transfer stage, free practice): students use the new
items more freely, with less or little control by the teacher.
see also structuringpracticen
in general, the building up of a skill through repetition or repeated exposure. In
language learning, each skill requires practice in order to establishfluency
in the sense of the smooth operation of psycholinguistic processes.
practice activitiesn
in language teaching, practice activities are sometimes classified into three
categories: controlled practice(activities in which learner output is managed
and controlled by the teacher or the materials to avoid the possibility of
student errors); guided practice(activities in which some guidance and support
is provided but some unplanned student production is also encouraged); free
practice(those in which control or guidance is not provided and students
are free to try out their language resources in completing an activity).
practice effectn
the effect of previous practice on later performance. For example, in testing
how much grammar improvement had occurred in students after a grammar
course, if the same items appeared on a pre-test and a post-test (see post-
test), students might perform better on the post-test simply because they
had already had practice on the items during the pre-test, rather than
because of what they had learned from the course.
practice stagen
also repetition stage
see PPP
practice teachingn
see teaching practice
practitioner knowledgen
also practical knowledge, personal practical knowledge
knowledge which practitioners in a discipline (e.g. language teachers) know
about the activity of teaching and which is developed from their experience
practice