Page:Adapting and Writing Language Lessons.pdf/384

Rh In the less advanced classes, this may mean that a printed text will be 50 words or less in length, or that an oral text will not be longer than 20-30 seconds.

2. Are the sentences short and uncomplicated?

The limitation on length of text is of course the source of the 'micro' in 'microtexts'. Its effect, however, seems to be qualitative as well as quantitative: there are differences between what students can do with a passage that they can take in as a whole almost immediately, and a passage which their minds must break up into subsections. Experience in collecting prospective microtexts in a dozen languages indicates strongly that a 30-second limit is empirically a good one to place on oral texts.

The third criterion measures 'strength' (Chapter 3, p. 46):

3. Will the text be either real or realistic for the class with which it is to be used? 'Real' in this sense means that the students need and want the information at the time. An example would be today's menu in the cafeteria, or news about a forthcoming field trip. Humor is also a 'real' goal in this sense, and amusing anecdotes often make good microtexts.

A 'realistic' passage is one that contains information for which the students anticipate a future need.

Here the range of topics is broad: descriptions of places and things, games, processes like changing a tire or cooking beans, brief biographical statements about prominent persons, these and many