IGA

1

A Content-Based Information Gap Activity (CBI/IGA) Project

50 points

Below is the IGA Activity

Introduction:

Information gap activities (IGAs) are a cooperative pair task in which students share information known to one student (Student A) but not to the other (Student B). By collaborating and speaking in the target language, students complete the task. The activity could involve collaboration and such as finding or drawing missing objects on a picture or filling in a chart with missing information.

Information gap activities are contextualized and used to support the development of student-student interpersonal communication. As we have previously discussed in class, the context includes WHO is talking, and WHERE, WHEN and WHY they are talking. This context is typically described in the directions for the activity. IGAs provide practice with specific communicative functions related to the context. These functions could be asking for directions to complete a map, describing locations of objects to complete a picture, asking for and stating the time to complete a schedule, providing information to fill out a chart, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Information gap activities provide opportunities for students to engage in NEGOTIATING AND MAKING MEANING, thus supporting acquisition according to Long’s Interactional Hypothesis. Students are taught to ask for clarification, check comprehension of what they are trying to say, and confirm their understandings. Students also become CREATIVE with their language and combine and recombine what they know as they engage in INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION. Thus, there is NO PRIOR SCRIPTING involved.

NOT ALL IGAs are created equal. Some tasks only provide practice in using FORMULAIC LANGUAGE while others require CREATING meanings with language that the students know.

Supporting Materials:

All IGAs have some VISUAL element, a map, a picture, or a chart, etc. Student A has information that student B does not have and student B has information that student A does not have. Together they cooperate and communicate in the target language so that each student has all the information.

There are always TWO parts to an information gap task – Student A and Student B. Some teachers COLOR CODE each part to ensure pairs of students have the correct materials for the task. For example, student A’s paper might be green and students B’s paper might be yellow.

Many IGAs provide a WORD BANK and/or SENTENCE STARTERS of necessary words and expressions for completing the task. The word bank and sentence starters provide language support or linguistic scaffolding, one important consideration for developing a successful interpersonal task. For a map completion task, these words may be prepositions or cardinal directions, ways of asking for information, and ways of describing locations. In addition, you may include some negotiation of meaning phrases such as, can you repeat that?, what?, where is it? By practicing the task itself with a classmate, you can determine the language needed.

Accountability:

To ensure students use the target language when communicating during the IGA, an accountability or participation rubric, checklist, or classroom management system should be incorporated. Some examples we have discussed in class are a) survivor or simulated immersion, b) TALK scores, c) Class Dojo, c) Steve Vayanos, Bi-ling-way board game.

Modeling:

To ensure students know what is expected and how to participate in the IGA, Teachers should model the IGA at least two times with students in the class. You should practice and script how you will model the task and explain the directions.

Possible Academic Content or CBI Connections:

Not all IGAs incorporate CBI or academic content. However, for this assignment we will use academic content or CBI to develop the meaningful, memorable, purposeful context for the IGA. To ensure that you are truly developing a CBI IGA, you should be able to name a CONTENT CONCEPT that you are supporting, introducing, or reviewing (e.g. characteristics and order of the planets in the solar system, calculating dimensions of a room, or converting C to F temperatures, analyzing a work of art). If you are having trouble thinking of a content area to connect with, find out what your students learn in their various content classes, research online some of the important concepts that are taught in each academic subject area, ask your students what their favorite subjects areas are or in which areas they are strong or weak, or think about academic content you are familiar with or in which you have a background. Here are some suggested CBI connections:

Art History: Art analysis frameworks or background/history about specific works of art, discussing different media

Math: charts with statistics, computations such as addition/subtraction, calculating mean, calculating tips or summary of budgets, using area or perimeter, temperature conversions, time zones conversions, currency conversions

History: Biographical information of famous people, timelines, various perspectives on historical events

Geography: Maps with information on regional specialties or countries where the target language spoken, capital cities, topography, or latitude/longitude

Science: Ecosystems, genetics – Punnet squares, Biomes/habitats, Food webs/pyramids, endangered animals, categorization, solar system

Music: genres of music, instruments associated with genres, categorization of instruments

Project #3 Planning template

NAME(S):_________________________

Create a Content-Based Information Gap Activity (IGA). Follow the prompts and type your answer in a different color. Each box is worth 5 pts for a total of 50 pts:

1) CBI content and Language Function objectives: What is the academic content area that you will connect with in your IGA? What content concept will the students develop/review? (e.g. determining healthy/unhealthy foods, locating countries/capitals/topography on a map, determining punnet squares to predict children’s genetics, converting time zones/temperature/currency etc.) Write a content objective based on this content concept. SWBAT…. Write a language objective based on the language they will use to communicate about this content (e.g. describe, convert, name, list, compare). SWBAT…

2) Information gap and Language: What information will students share in the IGA? What language will they need to complete the IGA? List the vocabulary words and expressions that you will give the students in the form of a word bank or sentence starters as tools to help them to complete the task. DO NOT include more than 8-10 words (too much help is overwhelming to students). If you are having trouble determining, practice the task with a classmate to determine the language needed.

3) Language production: What kind of language will you IGA elicit? Formulaic and repetitive or creative? Words, phrases, sentences? If you do not know, test out the IGA with a friend or classmate. How does this language appropriate for proficiency level of your students?

4) Preparing for the IGA language and content: How will you prepare students with the language and content for the task? How will you introduce or review the language and content needed in the task in the presentation part of your lesson using ITLC strategies? How is this language and content presented IN the same context as the IGA? Script out some lines and indicate when you use ITLC strategies from the ITLC checklist (e.g. paraphrase, examples, visuals, gestures, comprehension checks, etc.)

5) Preparing for the IGA task: How will you explain and model the task 2 times with your mentor/co-teaching or a student? Script how you will model the task here.

6) Materials: What materials will be given to the students? Charts? Pictures? Maps? Describe the material (e.g. visuals) and the nature of the gap of information (e.g. student A has X and Student B has Y).

7) Culminating task: What is the culminating task that gives purpose to the sharing of information? Think about the higher order thinking skills that can be incorporated (e.g. compare, apply, analyze, interpret, synthesize, hypothesize, summarize etc). This could be a whole group task or a follow up homework or writing assignment or oral presentation. What do students do once they complete the IGA? How do you call the class together after they finish? What do they do with the information they have shared?

8) Assessment and accountability: How will you assess the students’ participation in the task to hold them accountable and to evaluate if you met your lesson objectives? What evidence will show that you have met your content and language objectives? Will you give them a participation grade? What features of their performance will you assess? Will you use TALK scores, Class dojo, or a different observation checklist or protocol etc to evaluate their participation?

9) Info Gap material for students (partner A and partner B):

Attach the InfoGap to this PLAN. Your InfoGap should include a) directions to students (preferably IN context giving students a ROLE), b) a word and/or expression bank, c) brief culminating task based on the information shared, and d) negotiation of meaning phrases.

ATTACH ACTUAL INFOGAP TO THIS PLANNING TEMPLATE

(make sure the images are clear and task is easy to follow)

10) Connecting to SLA Theory: What SLA theory(s) support(s) this lesson design? (hint: Think of what theory relates to negotiation of meaning and another theory that discusses the importance of mediation). To analyze the lesson using theory, a) Define what the theory says about language acquisition and b) Explain how specific parts of your lesson support language acquisition referring directly to the theory.