The Use of Information Gap Technique in Improving Students’ Speaking Skill

Speaking is an important aspect that enables people to possess good communication skills. Teaching speaking skills to students especially at the high school level is challenging. Nevertheless, the teachers still need a suitable method to teach speaking. The method is expected to facilitate students to apply the knowledge into real life situation. Unfortunately, many students are still having problems with their speaking skills. The student cannot speak English well in the learning process since they are lack of spoken English practice. They are difficult to express their ideas in speaking section as they just memorize the speaking expression from the pattern in the book repeatedly. They are also afraid to answer questions or even talk with their partner in the speaking section. Having this in mind, teachers need to create activities that enable to motivate students in learning process. One of the speaking activities that provide communication competencies is information gap. It is often used in task-based language learning method. In this activity, the student will work in pair to finish a task by asking to their partner about missing information in each other's worksheet. The information gap allows students to collaborate with their classmates for achieving the activity's goal while the teacher assists them. The information gap can involve pair, group, or whole class that can increase varieties in a lesson. Also, students can be more confident as they have essential information to be shared that expected to increase their motivation in the learning process.