Gapping activities and speaking accuracy

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to determine the influence of “gapping activities” on speaking skills development among students who belong to the second level of Carrera de Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros at Universidad Técnica de Ambato. Specifically, there are three gapping activities: riddle schmooze, monster madness, and grids galore. Each one of these can be adapted according to students’ needs and English proficiency level. Moreover, qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to gather relevant information from the total population. Although, this project is based on a quasi-experimental basic method of investigation, two groups were subject of study. Both groups, control and experimental, took a pre- and a post-test to observe if there was a significant improvement on students speaking skills. Consequently, a “student’s T-test” was used to corroborate statistically the mentioned hypothesis. As a result, using these gapping activities as complementary tasks for teachers’ lessons allow students to rehearse their speaking skills in an interactive and collaborative environment which is beneficial for boosting students’ motivation