Developing Students' Willingness to Communicate Using Information Gap Activities

Abstract

The goal of this study was to increase students’ willingness to communicate by incorporating information gap activities into the teaching and learning process. Three meetings were held to conduct the research. A total of 31 students took part in this study. The instrument used was students’ reflections. The information was gathered in a qualitative manner and triangulation was carried out. The data analysis revealed that (1) implementing information gap activities in classrooms while teaching English increased students’ willingness to communicate, particularly their behavioral intention to communicate; (2) incorporating information gap activities increased students’ motivation and confidence to communicate in English; and (3) implementing information gap activities in the form of pair and group work activities increased students’ motivation and confidence to communicate in English. Furthermore, information gap activities can be used as a teaching strategy in English classes to assist the teacher in effectively managing the class and retaining students’ attention during the learning process.
 Keywords: information gap activities, students’ willingness to communicate