Part I: Introduction 1. Rationale Throughout the world, English has become necessary for a lot of people at different social positions. Indeed, it is considered the most common means of communication in the world today. Realizing that English plays an important role in the development of the country, Viet Nam, like any other countries, has paid much attention to the popularity of teaching English to its people. Communicative Approach has proved their superiority through communicative activities, more languages are used and students ' initiatives and active involvement are developed. Mastering a language is not only the ability to remember the knowledge such as structures, grammar but also the ability to apply it into real-life communication. Therefore, the teaching method must focus on linguistic competence as well as communicative competence. Nunan (1991:39) states that to most people, "mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language. For that reason, The author would like to carry this particular study to help teachers to develop their student's speaking skills. There are many communicative activities, which are used in class to develop students ' speaking skills. "Information gap is an ingredient in most real life communication" (Hammer 1983: 95 ). That is why information gap exercises seem to be the most useful and effective tool for teachers to bring features of real life communication into classroom context. The eleventh form pupils have a basic knowledge of English. The knowledge in this stage is very important and considered the turning-point prepared for the twelfth form. Therefore, the improvements in teaching and learning English in general and in this stage in particular are urgent and necessary. Being a student of English and a teacher of English in the near future, the author is really concerned with methodology in general and the teaching of speaking in particular. 2.Aims of the Study: -To point out the effectiveness of information gap exercises in developing English learners ' communicative competence in general and speaking skills in particular. -To point out the real situation of using information gap activities in teaching English, especially, the speaking skills at Upper Secondary Schools. -To suggest some information gap activities to develop the 11 th form students ' speaking skills. 3. Scope of the Study: 1 The scope of my study is to search for some typical information gap exercises which are suitable for the teaching of speaking skills and the application of using these information gap exercises to improve the speaking ability for the 11 th form pupils. 4. Methods of the Study: -Collect materials and information related to teaching speaking and information gap activities. -Investigate and analyze the real situation of learning and teaching speaking to the 11 th form pupils; the real situation of using information gap activities in teaching speaking English to the 11 th form pupils. -Synthesize and analyze the result gaining in investigating duration to suggest information- gap activities to teach speaking the 11 th form class. 5 Format of the Study: Part I, with the title as" introduction ". Part II, is entitled "Investigation " consists of four chapters: Chapter I as its title "Theoretical background ". Chapter II, is entitled "Information gap activities in speaking activities". Chapter III, is entitled "Situation Analysis ". In Chapter IV, with the title " Suggested information gap activities to teach speaking skills to the 11 th form pupils Part III is "Conclusion". Part II : Investigation Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1 Communicative Competence: 1.1.1 Definition and Nature of Communication 1.1. 2 Communicative Competence. Students ' communicative competence is their ability to use language correctly and appropriately in any particular circumstance of communication. Richards and Schmidt (1983) list four components of communicative competence: Grammatical competence, socio-linguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence. 1.1.3 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) . Communicative language teaching starts with a theory of language as communication, and its goal is to develop learners ' communicative competence. Nunan (1991: 279) offers four features to characterize CLT: * An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. * The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself. 2 * An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important contributing element to classroom learning. * An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom. To sum up, " one of the most characteristic features of CLT is that it pays systematic attention to functions as well as structural aspects of language." (Littlewood, 1981:1). 1.2: Speaking Skills and Information Gap Activities 1.2.1 Definition and Nature of Speaking skills. Of all the four skills, speaking is the most important The nature of speaking is varied in the light of different point of views. Bygate suggests that speaking consists of four sub-skills which are motor-perceptive skill, interaction skills, compensatory strategies and production skills. Byrne (1976: 8) reveals that speaking is a two- way process between speaker(s) and listener (s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding. Speaking has many different aspects. They are accuracy and fluency. 1.2.2 Speaking in C.L.T. 1.2.3 Information- Gap Exercises and the Speaking Skills: 1.2.3.1- Information- Gap Exercises The term "Information gap" is mentioned by Wright , Betteridge and Bucky (1983). This term are widely used to describe features essential to communication in our daily life. Therefore, it is believed that information - gap should be intrinsic motivation to most language learning activities. According to Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics by Richards &Platt, and Weber (1985: 140):"Information gap (in communication between two or more people) is a situation where information is known by only some of those present" 1.2.3.2 Information Gap Activities and Speaking Skills Nunan (1989:122) also mentions information gap tasks that: "Information gap can, in fact, act as a nucleus around which a range of other tasks and exercises types can be constructed". Matthews (1991:24) affirms: "Information gap activities are designed to take students one stage further towards being able to handle more realistic communication". Therefore, the students will naturally use their knowledge of English to talk to each other more creatively and effectively. The authors of Teaching Practice Handbook (1983:133) suggest that the information gap activities will give students "opportunity to experiment with any item, to see how far they communicate with it in situations where all choices of language are used by the people speaking". 3 1.3 Teaching Speaking in Communicative Language Teaching 1.3.1 Principles of Teaching Speaking in Communicative Language Teaching 1.3.2 -The Role of the Teacher in Developing Pupils Speaking Skills 1.3.2.1 The Presentation Stage. The Teacher as Informant 1.3.2 2 The Practice Stage. The Teacher as Conductor, Corector. 1.3.2.3 The Production Stage. The Teacher as Guide, Monitor, Adviser, Encourager. Chapter 2: Information Gap Exercises in Speaking Activities 2.1. The Importance of Information Gap Exercises "Information gap is an ingredient in most real life communication" (Hammer, 1983: 95). That is why information gap exercises seem to be the most useful and effective tool for teachers to bring features of real life communication into classroom context. 2.1.1. Stimulating Students' Motivation. Information gap activities could become a positive part of it rather than a time-filler or a time- waster. Information gap activities create a pleasant, informal and often relax atmosphere which is favorite to language learning. It would be contented that information gap activities facilitate the acquisition of the foreign language rather than its learning. The use of information gap has added a tremendous number of possibilities for communication practice. Information gap activities increase the students' motivation, since the students talk for themselves (Roger & Walters, 1883: 133). Information gap activities are invaluable to the teacher of a foreign language because they provide an opportunity for pupils to use their language skills in a less formal situation. Information gap exercises can be considered one of effective communicative strategies to motivate students' interests. 2.1.2 Motivating the Students to Speak Information gap exercises reinforce the participants to exchange information in order to find a solution, or narrow the gap. Therefore, the most effective way to promote class communication is to create information gap. Moreover, many students find this type of practice easier and more attractive than ordinary practice. That kind of speech involved is concrete and personal. Students ' confidence and seft- esteem are booted. 2.1.3 Having Students Get out of Shyness Information gap activities are considered the best solution to help student become more confident and motivate students ' participation and provide students with meaningful language practice. As information gap activities provide opportunities for positive personal relationships to 4 develop among learners and between learners and teacher. These relationships can help humanize the classroom and create an environment that supports the individual in his effort to learn" (Littlewood 1928:18). 2.1.4 Encouraging Students to Use the Target Language Information gap activities increase individual practice time five-fold over traditional methodology. Information gap activities provides an opportunity for intensive language practice, offers a context in which language is meaningfully used as a means to an end and acts as a tool for the teachers. Hence, information gap activities are the ideal way of having students to talk in English and increase the time of talking in English in class. 2.2 Types of Information - Gap Exercises 2. 2 .1. Exchanging Personal Information: +) Getting to know your friends: +) Thing in common: 2. 2.2 Guessing games +) Guess Picture: +) Guess the sentence: +) Mime: +) What's my line. 2.2.3. Putting In Order. +) Sentence-Sequence: +) Picture Sequence : 2. 2.4 . Information Gap Exercises for Pair Work: +) Store Inventory +) Picture Dictation: +) Pair Work Gap Grid: 2.2.5. Detecting Differences. Picture Differences: 2.2.6 Memory Games: +Picture Quizzes: 2.3. How to Conduct an Information Gap Exercise: 2.3.1 Pre-Using Stage. 2.3.1.1 Preparation:. 5 2.3.1.2. Organizing the Class: 2.3.1.3 . Giving Instructions:. 2.3.2. While- Using Stage 2.3.2.1. Controlling the Class: 2.3.2.2 Correcting the Mistakes: 2.3.2.3. Scoring: 2.3.3 Post- Using Stage. 2.3.3.1. Ending the Game: 2.3.3.2. Commenting the game: 2.4 Principles of Using Information Gap Activities The first principle is information gap activities should be carefully prepared. Information gap activities can be used in the warm -up stage and the production stage. The other basic principle of information gap exercises is that the information, which is similar with one student, must be unknown to the other (s). The time allowance for the activity is also an important element. Another principle is that the chosen information gap must be suitable to the teaching items and suitable enough for pupils to understand. The aids for the information gap exercise should be carefully prepared. The next principle: The teachers should be careful when designing and conducting the information gap activities. Chapter 3: Situation Analysis 3.1 The Overview of the Survey 3.1 .1 Objective of the Survey 3.1.2 Informants and their Background: 3.1.2.1 The Teachers 3.1.2.2. The Pupils 3.2. Description of the Survey 3.2.1 Questionnaires for Teachers 3.2.2. Questionnaires for Pupils 3.3 Survey Result and Data Analysis According to the data, most of the teachers have realized the importance of speaking skills. Apart from the traditional method of teaching, many modern techniques have been applied and really contributed to the improvement in teaching and learning English in general and developing the speaking skills for the pupils in particular. According to the data collected, the teachers have 6 positive attitude toward communicative activities in general and information gap activities in particular. Most of them affirm the importance of information gap activities in speaking activities They agree that they are necessary to develop the pupils ' communicative competence, confidence and indeed encourage the pupils to take According to the survey findings, most of the pupils are eager to participate in information gap and the teachers are also willing to apply the information gap to their speaking lessons. 3.4. Situation of Learning Speaking of the 11 th Form Pupils and Teaching Speaking to This Level: According to the data collected, it is reasonable to affirm that the speaking skills are highly appreciated and paid attention to. Thanks to the CLT, great improvements in teaching and learning English have been gained in many recent years. Besides the positive points above, there are still negative points of teaching and learning speaking at our Upper-Secondary Schools. Firstly, most of the classes are teacher-centred, not leaner-centred, especially, in the rural area. Secondly, the techniques used in speaking lesson are not interesting, effective, attractive enough to stimulate students to speak. Last but not least, the time for speaking practice is not enough. 3.5. Situation of Using Information Gap Activities in Teaching Speaking English for 11 th Form Class. Although most of the teachers acknowledge the usefulness of information gap activities in teaching speaking but the number of them has applied these activities is very small. It is not easy to find the common principles and the most efficient way to design . The majority of the teachers affirm that they rarely use information gap activities. The teachers often conduct information gap activities with the whole class. Large class and uneven participation are considered the biggest challenges with 67% and 65% respectively. Apart from those, the limited time and the noises in the class are also common. Chapter 4: Suggested information gap activities to teach speaking Skills to the 11 th form pupils 4.1: Suggested Information Gap Activities to Develop the 11 Form Pupils Ability of Speaking 4.1.1Theme: Memory Games 4.1.2Theme : Exchanging Personal Information 7 4.1.3Theme: " Story Inventory Exercise " 4.1.4Theme: "Detecting Differences" 4.1.5Theme: Guessing game 4.1.6Theme : Information Gap Activities for Pair Works 4.1.7Theme : Putting in Order 4.1.8 Theme: "Detecting Differences" 4.1.9Theme: Guessing game 4.1.10Theme: Information Gap Activities for Pair Works Part III conclusion: Nowadays, English becomes international language. It is applied as a required subject in Lower and Upper Secondary Schools, Elementary Schools. The English course -book only consists of grammar, practice, reading, and words and phrases which are focused. While writing and speaking are not totally dealt with. That is why we would like to mention about information gap activities in teaching English speaking skills. After some periods of teaching practice for 8 weeks at Nghi Loc II Upper-Secondary School, I have realized that most of pupils are very interested in speaking English through using information gap activities. Applying information gap activities to lessons has encouraged them to participate in lesson. The author would like to suggest some further studies such as: using information gap activities to teach English to other levels such as Pre-intermediate and Upper-intermediate and to teach other skills such as listening and writing, reading. 8 9 . findings, most of the pupils are eager to participate in information gap and the teachers are also willing to apply the information gap to their speaking lessons gap activities. -Investigate and analyze the real situation of learning and teaching speaking to the 11 th form pupils; the real situation of using information