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 — clarification requests, confirmation checks, 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