2. Information gaps

Information gap activities require students to communicate with each other in order to find all the necessary information to complete the activity.  Each partner has information that the other does not.  It is very important that students have the appropriate level of language in order to complete the activity.  There is sometimes a lot of repetition in the communication as students try to narrow down the information.  This can be very useful when you want the students to focus on a particular structure. For genuine communication to occur in the language classroom, teacher-student (and student-student) exchanges must go beyond display questions and should be based on the gap that occurs between interlocutors when one does not know in advance what the other is going to say. Teachers must thoughtfully prepare so that oral interaction involves a transfer of information from one person to another. Teachers should begin by using appropriate questioning and conversational strategies, particularly, by asking referential questions . Most display questions can be avoided by reformulating the question.