Филологические науки/1.Методика преподавания языка и литературы

Liubov Koshova

Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University

THE ROLE OF ICE-BREAKERS IN BREAKING DOWN

COMMUNICATION BARRIES

An English proverb says Good begun is half done. The challenge of a successful start either a language classroom, a training session or any other gathering of people, where teacher/trainer/entertainer and the participants do not know each other, is the organization of interaction, active involvement of people in the process, encouragement of efficient contribution. Any ELT professional who deals with teaching and training has to know the techniques aimed at creating effective classroom communication that make learners feel comfortable and ready to interact.

Successful English classroom nowadays needs changing teacher role from domination to partnership, from controlling every step of a student to creating a facilitative atmosphere of free communication, the atmosphere of fun, joy and great interest to learning English, which in its turn leads to mutual responsibility of both teacher and students for the educational process and reveals their active participation in the English lesson.

Among the activities that make a beginning of a term/session/lesson more interesting, successful and highly effective an important role belongs to ice-breakers. The term ice-breaker comes from special ships designed to cut a passage through floating ice in the arctic regions, to break ice. English dictionaries give us one more definition of the word: something that people say or do to make others feel more relaxed at a party or other social event. As a methodological term used in ELT ice-breaker means a very specific get-known activity, often active and kinesthetic, aimed at team building, and creates a facilitative atmosphere for further communication in a non-threatening and fun way. How to break the ice when teacher stars with a new group and wants to build a rapport, depends on the age of students, their language level, interests and needs, etc.

Different researchers and practitioners agree that ice-breakers should be used in order to create a positive group atmosphere, to break down social barriers, energize and motivate learners “to think outside the box”. Deb Peterson in the resource About.com Guide mentions at least five reasons to use ice-breakers in the classroom. First of all, learners, especially adults, come to the classroom “with minds full of the myriad things we all balance every day”. When teacher starts each new lesson with a short warm up related to the topic, he/she allows students to switch gears, and focus on the topic at hand. They are engaged. Secondly, ice-breakers are used as energizers to wake people up. Party games, which make people laugh and have fun, are good for this purpose. The third reason named by Deb Peterson is “generating energy” with the help of different movement games that create kinetic energy. Kinetic energy wakes up not only students’ bodies, but also students’ minds. One more reason to use ice-breakers in the classroom is “to make test review more fun and effective”. Research shows that variety of learning strategies together with types of interaction and seating arrangement makes students remember more, build up more associations. Students become more emotionally involved in the process. Inspiring meaningful conversation is the last reason mentioned, which is a fruitful way to learn through the sharing of ideas.

Some researchers classify ice-breakers as introductory or get-to-know-you, team-building, topic exploration, active or moving. An Internet resource icebreakers.ws proposes a variety of ice-breakers, games, activities for small, medium sized and large groups divided into three sections: A (Active), G (Get-to-know-you), T (Team building). Active ice-breakers are fast games that get everyone moving, and create an inviting environment. Getting-to-know-you ice-breakers (or introduction games) are techniques used at the first session to reduce tension and anxiety and help people become more acquainted with each other. Team building ice-breakers provide a way to establish common ground between learners, help “build unity, teamwork, community, and improved group dynamics. They are often challenging and require planning, problem solving, coordination, and trust”.

James Manktelow and Amy Carlson believe that a well-designed and well-facilitated ice-breaker session can really help a great start, on the other hand, a bad ice-breaker session can be “a recipe for disaster”. When choosing an ice-breaker, teacher should be conscious of group dynamic, not make anyone feel uncomfortable or be forced to reveal extremely personal information. In addition to encouraging interaction, it is a good idea to tie an icebreaker into the topic to be discussed. Designing an ice-breaker teacher should think about the "ice" that needs to be broken. Bringing together like-minded people (like those starting a new course of study), the "ice" may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met. Teacher’s job is to help them find out interesting things about one another, and help learners begin new relationships. If the people are of different age and language levels, the "ice" may come from the difference in status between the participants. Sometimes the "ice" may come from people's perceptions of each other because of different cultural backgrounds. Teacher needs to handle these differences sensitively trying to break some ice for the event not “uncover the whole iceberg, or bring about world peace!” Thus, designing and facilitating the event teacher should focus on similarities (rather than differences), such as a shared interest in the event's outcome.

A wide display of interesting ice-breakers is available for teachers in the internet. Special sites (as adulted.about.com; wacaonline.org/resources_icebreakers; wilderdom.com/games/Icebreakers.html; nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/icebreak.html and others, equip teachers with the ideas how to start a new course/lesson/term and help a busy teacher to be innovative and encouraging for the learners.