Teaching Speaking Using Descriptive Dialogues and Information Gap Activities for First-Grade Students of SMK Maospati Magetan
Keywords:
Speaking skill; descriptive dialogues; information gap activities; communicative competence; classroom interaction.Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of descriptive dialogues combined with information gap activities in enhancing the speaking skills of first-grade students at SMK Maospati Magetan. This research employed a descriptive qualitative design to explore how these instructional strategies improve students’ oral fluency, classroom engagement, and communicative competence. Data were collected through classroom observations, analysis of students’ speaking performances, instructional documents, and interviews with the English teacher. The findings reveal that the integration of descriptive dialogues with information gap activities significantly increases student participation and confidence in speaking tasks. Students demonstrated improvement in pronunciation, vocabulary usage, sentence construction, and overall fluency. The exchange of missing information during activities encouraged authentic communication and meaningful peer interaction. However, several challenges were identified, including limited vocabulary mastery, low self-confidence, and difficulty maintaining conversational flow. These constraints were influenced by differences in language exposure and students’ abilities to process information during speaking activities. The study concludes that combining descriptive dialogues with information gap activities is an effective instructional strategy aligned with communicative language teaching principles, as it promotes learner-centered, interactive, and purposeful communication. It is recommended that teachers provide structured dialogue models, vocabulary scaffolding, continuous feedback, and contextualized learning materials to maximize student engagement and speaking development.
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