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What
is “Information Gap”? |
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You probably know the expression “information gap”, which in its narrow
definition usually refers to pair work activities using two different
worksheets, in which students complete the missing information by
asking and answering questions. But in its wider definition, it means
literally “the gap in information” among people, that is, somebody
has information about something that another doesn’t have.
Consider an actual communication situation. An Australian student
Erin is homestaying with a Japanese family, and talking with the host
mother Mrs Tanaka. |
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| 田中 |
「エリンさんは、きょうだいは いるの？」
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| エリン |
「はい。兄が 一人 います。」 |
| 田中 |
「お兄さんは、何さい？」 |
| エリン |
「私より 二さい 年上で、大学一年生です。」 |
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Before this conversation,
Mrs Tanaka didn’t know about Erin’s brother, so there was a gap in
information between Mrs Tanaka and Erin. By means of questioning and
answering, the gap in information was filled.
One of the main purposes of verbal communication is to fill an information
gap. By using information gap effectively in language activities,
the activity will be more meaningful, motivating and closer to actual
communication. You have probably found numerous activities using information
gap in textbooks and other teaching materials. By analysing such activities
and understanding the theory, you will be able to apply this freely
in developing your own activities. |
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Using
information gap in classroom activities |
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<Activity
A> |
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| 1) |
All
students are provided with Worksheet A 「木村くんの一日」. |
| 2) |
Teacher
asks and students answer questions referring to Worksheet
A |
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| T |
「木村くんは 何時に 起きますか？」 |
| S |
「7時に おきます」 |
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<Activity
B> |
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| 1) |
Students
form pairs. Student 1 has Worksheet B (1), and Student
2 has B (2). |
| 2) |
Students
exchange information and fill in the blanks. |
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Compare
the above activities. In the case of the Activity A, the
teacher and students are all looking at the same sheets,
so there is no information gap. The reason for using Japanese
here is just to practise the language, not to exchange
information.
On the other hand, in Activity B there is an information
gap between S1 and S2. So it can be said that Activity
B is closer to actual communication, as focus is placed
not only on practising the language but also on using
the language to exchange meaning.
Note that activities that are closer to real communication
require higher language skills of students. If language
isn’t used appropriately,
communication will fail. They also require more strict
class control skills of the teacher.
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Types
of information gap |
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There are
various types of information gap you can use for language activities
in your classroom: |
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| I)
Information gap between two students |
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This
is used in pair work activities. Activity B belongs to this
type.
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| II)
Information gap between two or more groups |
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The
teacher divides the class into two or more groups and gives
different information to each group. Examples of such activities
are given in Activity E.
＿ |
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| III)
Information gap between one student (or the teacher) and all
the other students |
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This
is when only one person has some information, and others have
to communicate to gain the information.
Quiz activities such as 20 Questions are most typical of this
form. |
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| IV)
Information gap among all students |
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Here,
each student has different information, and information is exchanged
among the whole class.
Interview activities are an example of these types of activities. |
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Compare
Activity C to B. You can change the type of activity by rearranging
the information. |
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<Activity
C> |
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| 1) |
Each
student is given a card from Worksheet C |
| 2) |
Students complete
Kimura-kun’s schedule by asking each other questions |
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| S1 |
「木村くんは 何時に 何をしますか？」 |
| S2 |
「あさ8時半に 学校に いきます。 |
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木村くんは 何時に 何を しますか？」 |
| S1 |
「よる11時に インターネットを します」 |
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Sources
of the information gap |
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In classroom language activities, the teacher usually inputs different
information in order to set up a situation where communicative language
practice will take place, so these information gaps are artificially
created.
You can also use information gap which already exists naturally
among the students, eg. private information about each student such
as what they like, what they did on the weekend, their cultural
background and so on.
Activities using this are even closer to real communication because
the information is real, and not made up by the teacher or from
a textbook. Compare Activity D to C.
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<Activity
D> |
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Students
use the information to work out who went to bed the earliest/latest,
who woke up the earliest/latest, and who slept the longest/shortest
in the class. |
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| 1) |
All
students are given Worksheet D. |
| 2) |
They interview
their classmates to find out what time they went
to bed last night and woke this morning. |
| 3) |
Students use the
information to work out who went to bed the earliest/latest,
who woke up the earliest/latest, and who slept the longest/shortest
in the class. |
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Types of input for information gap activities |
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Information
(with gaps) can be inputted in different ways. In the examples below,
Activity E1 uses visual means, while Activity E2 uses audiotape. |
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<Activity
E1> |
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| 1) |
Students
form four groups. |
| 2) |
Each group is shown
one of the four pictures on Worksheet E (a). Students make notes
about the picture. |
| 3) |
Students form new
groups of four, one from each of the former groups. In their
new groups, students report on the family they saw in the picture.
Group members take notes, and the group disperses. |
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| S |
「はるなさんの かぞくは４人です。 お父さんと お母さんと おばあさんが います」 |
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| 4)
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The teacher plays
the tape of Text E (b). Students listen and match what they
hear to their information. |
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<Activity
E2> |
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| 1) |
Students
form four groups. |
| 2) |
Each
group listens to a different tape containing one segment of
Text E (b). Students take notes about what they hear. This task
is done in 4 different places in the classroom simultaneously. |
| 3) |
Students
form new groups of 4, one from each of the former groups. In
their new group, students report on the family they heard
about on the tape.
Group members take notes, and the group disperses |
| 4)
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The
teacher gives out Worksheet E (a), and students match the information
to the pictures. |
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Application
for skills focused activities |
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You can
use information gap in activities that focus on particular language
skills. |
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READING |
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<Activity
F> |
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| 1) |
Students
form pairs, and are given reading texts such as
Worksheet F (1), and F (2) respectively. |
| 2) |
They ask questions
about the missing information, and fill in the blanks. |
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WRITING |
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<Activity
G> |
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| 1) |
Students
write an essay on the theme of “Me and my family”, and put their
name on it. |
| 2) |
The teacher collects
the sheets, reads out the essays in turn, and students guess
whose essay it is. |
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DISCUSSION/PROBLEM
SOLVING |
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<Activity
H> |
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| 1) |
Students
form two groups. One group is given Sheet H (1), and the other
H (2). |
| 2) |
They read the text
and memorize the content, or take notes. The content can also
be given aurally using two different tapes. |
| 3) |
Students form
pairs, one from each group. They exchange their information
and discuss the issue to find a solution.
By creating information gap in the input the discussion will
be more complicated, requiring higher language skills, and hence
the task will be more meaningful. |
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| The
above activities are just examples. You can use the theory to
create activities suitable to your classes. |
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This section
written by Kazuhiro Isomura |
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In
issue 29 we looked at the words family members use to address and
refer to each other. Traditionally, children addressed and referred
to their parents with お母さん
and お父さん,
but nowadays they frequently
use ママ and
パパ. Older boys and men
use おふくろ and
おやじ for mother and father,
and the most common way to address family and friends is just to say
「ねえ......」！
In
the same way, Japanese has several counterparts for the English ‘I’
and ‘you’. In a formal situation, both men and women use わたし
(or the extremely formal
わたくし) But with family and
friends, men and women use different words. Women still use
わたし or あたし,
but boys and men use ぼく,
and the even less formal おれ.
Japanese counterparts for ‘you’ are very restricted in use. あなた
and あんた were
traditionally used by women to address family members, particularly
husbands, but these days wives use their husband’s name, eg.
あきのりさん or the shortened
あきさん. Boys and men use
the name without さん,
and おまえ with close
friends and family (used in any other situation this can be very rude).
A very common usage by women and girls is to shorten names and use
ちゃん, which expresses
familiarity and affection.
eg.
ちかこさん→ちかちゃん. |
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Whether
student or teacher, when meeting Japanese you will be called upon
to make a 自己紹介.
Don’t be at a loss for words! Here are some basic expressions. Students
can impress with a simple version, and teachers can use the opportunity
to try some honorific language. Use the chart to change from simple
to honorific expressions. |
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普通の言い方
simple
expression |
敬 語
honorific
expression |
| 〜といいます |
〜と申します |
| 〜から来ました |
〜から参りました |
| 〜します |
〜いたします |
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Note
that you need not say わたしは,
and you NEVER use さん after
your own name, or refer to yourself as 先生! |
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 You
have probably seen the word わたし
written in kanji. 「私」 is
made up of two components, each with a different function: one component
that hints at the meaning, and one that gives the pronunciation
of the kanji. The second, phonetic component imparts its meaning
to the kanji as well. These kinds of kanji, called 形成文字,
make up the majority of kanji.
The component on the left of 私comes from the picture of a rice plant
and means ‘crop’, which in ancient times would have been shared
among individuals who harvested it. The component on the right gives
the pronunciation (which had the meaning ‘private’ in ancient Chinese),
as well as the meaning of ‘hold in your arms’ from the picture of
a bent arm. So this kanji, meaning ‘private’, came to Japan where
it is now used in various compound words eg.私立学校
(private school), as
well as 私 (I ,
me). What an amazing story kanji have to tell! |
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In Japan as elsewhere, names given to babies change with the times.
Below are the most popular babies’ names for 2003, according to
kanji. These days parents tend to choose the sound of the name first,
and fit the kanji to the name. To express individuality, the kanji
chosen may be an unusual written form for the particular sound.
As you can see from the list, major themes for boys’ names are ‘large
scale’, and ‘flying, soaring’. Over the years girls’ names ending
in 子
have lost favour. A major theme in the girls’ names is flowers and
plants. One theory is that the choice of girls’ names was influenced
by the SMAP song popular in 2003, 「世界に一つだけの花」.
We also give the kanji that appear in the names, with their ‘normal’
readings.
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男
の 子 |
女
の 子 |
| 表記
writing |
読み方
pronunciation |
表記
writing |
読み方
pronunciation |
| 1位 |
大輝 |
ダイキ、タイキ、トモキ、ヒロキ |
陽菜 |
ヒナ、ハルナ、ハナ |
| 2位 |
翔 |
ショウ、カケル |
七海 |
ナナミ |
| 3位 |
大翔 |
ヒロト、ダイト、ハルト、マサト |
さくら |
サクラ |
| 翔太 |
ショウタ |
| 4位 |
|
凛 |
リン |
| 5位 |
匠 |
ショウ、タクミ |
美咲 |
ミサキ |
| 葵 |
アオイ |
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| 輝 |
（キ/かがやく） |
bright,
shine |
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| 翔 |
（ショウ/かける） |
to soar,
fly |
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| 太 |
（タイ、タ/ふとい） |
big, fat,
noble |
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| 匠 |
（ショウ、たくみ） |
artisan |
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| 陽 |
（ヨウ） |
sunny, positive
(yin) |
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| 菜 |
（サイ、な） |
greens |
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| 海 |
（カイ、うみ） |
sea |
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| 凛 |
（リン） |
dignified,
cold |
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| 美 |
（ビ、うつくしい） |
beautiful |
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| 咲 |
（ショウ、さく） |
to bloom |
出典：明治安田生命「生まれ年別の名前調査」 |
| 葵 |
（キ、あおい） |
hollyhock |
Source:
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Companyz |
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This
section written by Cathy Jonak |
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