ELT365 · Day 184 — The information gap: why learners actually talk

Idea — An information gap means Learner A holds information Learner B needs, and vice versa. It creates a genuine communicative purpose — they must speak to complete the task.

Example — Student A has the departure times; Student B has the platform numbers. Neither can answer the task alone. They must exchange information. That is an information gap.

Try — Take a conversation task from a coursebook. Ask: is there a real gap? If both learners have the same information, redesign it so they do not.

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