Activities with Second Language Learners and Working Memory
I was back at tennis this past weekend. I go every weekend, so it is not surprising. Photo by Lucas Davies on Unsplash Tennis lessons always start with a warm-up. If this were a part of my own lessons, I might call it retrieval practice. We usually practice backhands and forehands for a few minutes at a fast pace. After warming up, we usually take a drink of water and then gather as a whole group to see what we will be doing. This part of the lesson is a station rotation model where we break up into four groups and practice different skills on different parts of the court. Then we play a match or a match-like game. But, I want to focus on direction-giving here and how it can affect students. The coach usually gathers us as a group and often numbers us off. Then we get the directions for the activities. Remember, this is up to four different stations that are explained to us. It can take a lot of effort to try to remember what is happening and how many balls we play until we...