Almost any closed exercise becomes a speaking task if you split the information between A and B so that neither can finish alone. The gap forces clear communication and gets reticent groups talking.
Conversions
- Two-version gap-fill: same text, different words removed for A and B; partners dictate the missing words to each other.
- Picture memory: A and B study different pictures for 30 seconds, close books, describe from memory, then find similarities and differences.
- Key swap: after two worksheets, pairs exchange answer keys and check each other; the teacher only monitors.
- Half-a-crossword: A has half the answers, B the other half; they write and give clues (a generator exists).
- Describe and draw a famous painting, then exhibit the drawings.
Why it works (Claude)
A required information exchange is one of Ellis’s task criteria (a gap plus an outcome) and produces negotiation of meaning (Long’s Interaction Hypothesis). Two-way gaps generate more negotiation than one-way ones (Pica et al. 1993). The conversions above are “task-like” practice rather than full tasks because the language is pre-set.
Apply in my context (Claude)
- KET/PET Reading Part 1 or Use of English items as two-version gap-fills: same exam content, ten minutes of speaking for free.
Connections
Why pairwork fails - fix the task, not the students · The task cycle - pre-task, task, language focus, repeat · Nomination cards for balanced small-group speaking