Pace: a story-Based Approach for Dialogic Inquiry about Form

Selecting an appropriate text. One of the first steps in designing a story-based
PACE lesson is selecting an appropriate text for learners and for your instructional
purposes. Text selection is not an easy task, given the many texts that exist, their contents, and their complexity. Interactive storytelling, rather than “story-reading,” is an excellent way to make use of the myriad stories that exist in target language cultures. Through storytelling, natural simplifications can occur, and teachers can shape the story to be within learners’ ZPDs. The following are guiding principles for selecting a good text for a PACE lesson: