pattern practice: Meaning and Definition of

pat'tern prac"tice

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. (in foreign-language learning) a technique for practicing a linguistic structure in which students repeat a sentence or other structure, each time substituting a new element, such as a new verb, as directed by the teacher, or transforming the original structure, as in changing a statement to a question.
  2. Also called pat&prim;tern drill&sec;. a drill using this technique.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.