Didactic tools in foreign language teaching practices and research papers

methodology for teaching foreign languages has developed a wide variety of didactic tools that embrace methods, techniques, aids, materials, tasks, and activities for teaching foreign languages in diverse contexts and formats to people of different ages for different goals. The purpose of the study is to identify a few didactic tools widely covered by researchers lately and, based on the foreign language teachers` answers to a questionnaire, to find out if the teachers are aware of the tools which have proved effective and if they apply them in designing the logistics of their teaching and student learning practices. Materials and Methods. The materials for the study were selected through the authors` brain-storming and random choice of a few didactic tools which are frequently covered by researchers and highlighted by foreign language teachers during seminars conducted by our department. As a result, the authors focus on Kahoot / Quizlet as popular services for subskills formation; mingles as an interactive form of learners` classroom management; mind maps as a way of information processing for varied purposes; problem-solving tasks for the foreign language communicative competence development; gamification as a systematic implementation of gaming elements in the class-room; flipped classroom as an option of independent student activities management. In addition, the authors used search engines, websites and databases to compile statistics concerning the description of the selected tools in academic papers. The questionnaires offered to teachers aimed to reveal if they are familiar with these tools and if they apply them in the classroom. Results. According to the study, practically all the respondents know the selected tools, though they do not incorporate all of them into their practices for different reasons in spite of their proven effects. Mingles, mind maps and Kahoot / Quizlet appeared to be the least used. Discussion and Conclusion. The study revealed a certain gap among researchers` focus, teachers` awareness and practical application of the didactic tools in the classroom. The authors conclude that there is an urgent need to work out special summative reviews, or digests, and guide-lines based on research and backed up with practical examples and to widely promote them in pre-service as well as in-service foreign language teacher education.