Actividades abiertas con vacío de información y juegos de roles en la enseñanza de la expresión oral en lengua extranjera

Abstract

This paper intends to establish what kind of activity -a role-play or an open activity with an information gap- seems most suitable to develop oral expression in a foreign language class. To do so, the results obtained from a qualitative research project conducted with three groups of adult students learning English as a foreign language are examined. They are second-year students at an intermediate level in the courses offered in Spain by State Language Schools, which are the institutions authorised to teach foreign languages in Spain. According to these results, the open activity with an information gap is perceived as easier, probably because it appears to be more authentic and similar to the kind of oral activities students do in their everyday lives.