Keyword: «study materials»

The article attempts to examine the concept of adaptability as a professionally-relevant personal character trait of educators, specifically focusing on their proficiency in modifying study materials to align with the evolving objectives and conditions of teaching. There exists an objective professional need for teachers to respond flexibly to the challenges of a dynamic educational environment. However, the role of adaptability in influencing their professional decisions remains underexplored. Consequently, this research gap underscores the relevance of our study. This article is aimed at describing the identified and empirically verified influence of adaptability on the professional actions undertaken by foreign language teachers in the course of linguodidactic design of exercises and tasks. The primary research method for investigating this problem was a baseline study, supplemented by the analysis of scientific literature, regulatory documents, and content analysis of teaching/learning materials. Through the analysis of current research, this study was able to achieve three key outcomes. First, we refined the definition of adaptability as an acquirable professionally-relevant personal character trait of educators. Second, we established a substantive distinction between the concepts of ‘adaptability’(general) and ‘professional flexibility’ (specific). Finally, we characterized teachers’ professional actions as outcomes of their pedagogical and methodological decisions. Findings from our baseline study revealed a correlation between the professional actions educators undertake during linguodidactic design and confirmed that teachers’ success in adapting and modifying exercises and tasks is directly dependent on their level of adaptability. This article makes its theoretical contribution by framing linguodidactic design as a sequence of professional actions and by developing and mapping a system of specific foreign language teachers’ actions required for the modification and adaptation of exercises and tasks. The guidelines for linguodidactic design along with the examples of adapted and modified exercises and tasks presented in this article have immediate practical applications. They are significant for updating the content of teacher training programmes and for optimizing the daily practices of in-service foreign language teachers.