The Comparative Impact of Information-gap Task and Opinion-gap Task on SpeakingPerformance of Field-dependent and Field-independent EFL Learners

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to compare the effect of Information-gap task and
Opinion-gap task on field-dependent and field-independent intermediate EFL learners’ speaking
ability. To this end, 100 female EFL learners from Iran Language Institute (ILI), located in
Tehran, Iran were chosen. The homogeneity of the participants was ensured through a piloted
Preliminary English Test (PET). Then, based on their scores, 96learners were selected. Then,
based on their performance on the GEFT questionnaire they were divided into two groups of 40
field dependents and 43field independents. The participants’ performance on the speaking part
of the PET test was considered as the pre-treatment scores. The students practiced informationgap
and opinion-gap tasks during 10 sessions. After the instructional period, the researcher used
another PET speaking test as the post-test. The results analyzed through a two-way ANOVA
revealed that the two personality types performed equally after receiving both types of tasks in
their posttest.