The Impact of Information Gaps in Developingspeaking Skill : A Practical Study

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to measure the impact of information gaps indeveloping speaking skill. It has been carried out practically andcomparatively. To carry out the research, fifty students of grade ten studying atRukmini Higher Secondary School, Rukumkot, Rukum were selected assample population. An oral test having ten test items was used as pre-testto check the actual proficiency of the students at beginning period. Eachstudent was asked the questions orally one afteranother in a calm roomand the answer was tape-recorded. Almost all the test-items were basedon communicative functions of language. Then, the students were dividedinto two groups on the basis of the odd-even roll number according to theindividual scoreof the pre-test. After dividing them into two groups, one group was taught byusing information gaps and other by using usual classroom techniques.After the completion of one month teaching, the same test used as thepre-test was used as the post-test.Then the results of both pre-test andpost-test were compared to determine the impact of information gaps indeveloping speaking skill. From this research the researcher has found that information gapactivities have better impact in developing speakingskill. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Each chapter is dividedinto different sub-chapters. The first chapter deals with generalbackground of the study, review of the related literature, objectives of thestudy and significance of the study. The second chapter deals with the methodology used during theresearch work. It consists of sources of data, population of the study, vi sampling procedure, tools for data collection, process of data collectionand limitations of the study. The third chapter deals with the analysis and interpretation of data.The data have been analysed and interpreted on the basis of the differencebetween the average score in marks and percentages of each group in thepre-test and post-test. The group with a higher increment in marks andpercentages has been considered better. The analysis has been done underthe following headings: a. Holistic Comparisonb. Function and item-based comparison The fourth chapter deals with the findings and recommendationswhich are derived from the analysis and interpretation of the data. Themain finding of this study is as follows: If the students are taught speaking skill using information gapactivities rather than after usual classroom techniques they can developtheir speaking skill relatively better. Besides the main chapter, the supportive materials such asreferences, tables, flash cards, lesson plans, etc. used during the researchare presented in the appendices section of the thesis.