A student centered approach that highlights multiple intelligence and learning profiles such as differentiated instruction should be the 21st century teachers’ best practices. This systematic review of existing literature attempts to fill in the gap on reviews of effective differentiated instruction practices in language teaching. The aims of the analysis were to identify the differentiated instructions practices and the challenges faced in its implementation. Guided by the RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) analysis protocol, this review involved the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. The search resulted in eighteen (18) articles that were screened by title and abstract. A total of eleven (11) themes were derived from the analysis of these articles. Six (6) themes describe how differentiated instruction was implemented: through group activities, integrating of multiple teaching approaches, adaptating activities and materials, distributing autonomy, planning and managing, and supporting the teaching and learning process. Five (5) themes on challenges identified were: context, unsuitable materials, lack of knowledge, socioeconomic factor and exam oriented system. These findings are significant as they describe the possible ways of practicing differentiated instruction and prepare teachers of the challenges they may face.

differentiated instruction, language teaching, teaching practices, challenges, systematic review