Page:Adapting and Writing Language Lessons.pdf/330

History earlier lessons, to form a short sample conversation.

At least in the early stages, all sentences were kept fairly short (very few with as many as 12 syllables). They also were simple in their structure, and in most cycles all of the rejoinders exemplified a single surface structure. Cycles were therefore relatively light and transparent, in the sense of Chapter 3 (p. 47f). In the C-phase, parentheses were placed around those nouns, verbs, or adjectives that were subject to replacement, and users were urged to 'relexicalize' the cycle by adding their own vocabulary at those points.

From this brief description, it should be obvious that microwave cycles have potentially high ratings for usability (Chapter 2, Assumption I), responsiveness (Assumption III), and responsibility (Assumption IV). Just how much of this potential is realized for any one textbook or any one program depends on three factors:


 * 1) The internal structure of individual cycles.
 * 2) The relationship of the cycles to one another.
 * 3) The degree to which the content is pertinent to the needs of the students—‘strength’ in the sense of Chapter 3.

The same three factors of course affect the success of non-microwave lessons. But while an inappropriate microwave lesson is no more unmotivating than an inappropriate course