Information Gap
A task type in which one participant holds information that another needs, creating a genuine communicative purpose. Classified by Prabhu (1987) as one of three gap-based task types, alongside Opinion Gap and Reasoning Gap.
Definition
An information gap involves "a transfer of given information from one person to another, or from one form to another, or from one place to another, generally calling for the decoding or encoding of information from or into language" (Prabhu 1987: 46).
Types
- One-way: Only one person has the information (e.g., Student A describes a picture, Student B draws it)
- Two-way: Both participants hold different pieces of information and must exchange them to complete the task (e.g., spot-the-difference, jigsaw reading)
Two-way gaps generate more negotiation of meaning (Long 1983) because both parties must contribute.
Why It Matters
The information gap is the engine of communicative language teaching. It creates a genuine need to communicate: learners are not practising language for its own sake but using language to achieve a real outcome. Without an information gap, classroom interaction often becomes display language (students saying things the teacher already knows).
Examples
| Activity | Gap type |
|---|---|
| Describe and draw | One-way |
| Spot the difference | Two-way |
| Jigsaw reading | Two-way |
| Survey / questionnaire | Two-way |
| Barrier game | One-way or two-way |
Theoretical Support
- Interaction Hypothesis (Long 1996): Information gaps trigger negotiation of meaning, including clarification requests, confirmation checks, and comprehension checks, which facilitates acquisition
- TBLT: Information gaps are the prototypical task type in task-based syllabi
- Prabhu's Bangalore Project (1987) used information-gap tasks as the primary vehicle for meaning-focused instruction