Mark Mallinder is an English instructor at National Changhua University of Education. He has been teaching a variety of college-level courses to Taiwanese EFL learners. His research interests include reading instruction and using multimedia in language classrooms. E-mail: markc@cc.ncue.edu.tw

Introduction

Attending a college or university for the first time is often an exciting time for students, but it can also be very frightening. This is especially true for EFL college students, many of whom may be living far away from their family homes, and their long-time friends are no longer around them. They also may have had very little opportunities to speak English while they were growing up, and now they are put in a classroom in which English may be the predominant or only language used. As a result, in addition to learning about their new classes, students have many things to deal with which can fill them with a great deal of anxiety.

Anxiety has been described as “a feeling of uneasiness, apprehension, or dread.” Furthermore, anxiety can reveal itself in a variety of different ways. For instance, the person who is anxious can experience “sleep problems, shortness of breath, dry mouth, nausea, and muscle tension.” Additionally, anxiety can have a negative effect on a person’s emotions, such as “a feeling of impending doom, a feeling of loss of control, a fear that you’re going to go mad, or do something inappropriate.”

Thus, I believe that EFL teachers can help new students by using various activities which are geared toward alleviating anxiety. In this paper, I offer one possible activity which EFL teachers may choose to incorporate into their class. In my classes, I have used this activity with great success, and students seem to really enjoy it, as it allows them to walk around the class meeting each other.

Lesson plan: Ice-breaker

It is best to use this activity during the first day of class while students still may not know each other very well. The best thing about it is that a teacher does not have to give up much class time for it to be completed, and it can be used at the beginning or near the end of a class.

Pre-activity information

1. Prior to the class, the teacher should prepare a sheet of paper which students will be asked to fill out during the activity. It is important that a teacher writes out what the students are going to be expected to do during the activity. Since this activity is aimed toward beginning to intermediate-level EFL students I have discovered that many of them may have difficulty totally understanding what a teacher is saying, which can certainly be an anxiety producing situation. Thus, by being able to read what is being said to them, most EFL students will feel more comfortable since they will not be required to rely solely on their listening ability.
2. In addition to the directions they will be given on paper, the teacher should prepare a list of questions that each student will be asking their classmates to answer. The questions should be ones that will not be too difficult for the students to ask or answer. Some sample questions may be something like “Do you often stay up past midnight?” “Do you like to eat chicken?” “Have you ever travelled to another country?” “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” As one can see by the questions, they all use relatively easy words for students to say, and the student who answers only has to say “Yes” or “No.” The teacher should prepare 10-15 questions. Below is the sample handout I frequently distribute in class.

   Your English name_____________________________ #____________ Please ask your classmates the following questions. If you get a “yes” answer, write the name of the person down and ask another person a question. If you get a “no” answer, ask the person another question until you get a “yes” answer. Are you tired right now? Name: 1)_________ Name:2) _________ Name:3) _________ Do you think you waste too much time doing unimportant things? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Do you go to bed before midnight most nights? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Do you exercise at least 5 days a week? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name: 3)__________ Have you read an interesting book recently? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Do you have any exciting plans for this upcoming weekend? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Are you a person who worries too much about too many things? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Are you good at fixing items which are broken? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Do you feel you have a good sense of humor? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Does your family have any pets? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name: 3)__________ Do you spend more time on Facebook each week than you do studying? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________ Do you like cold weather? Name:1)_________ Name:2)__________ Name:3)__________

3. Next to each question, the teacher should write the word “Name:_________” three times. The reason for doing this is so that while doing the activity the students can ask at least, but no more than, three of their classmates the same question.
4. Finally, the teacher should read each question one at a time, and then ask the students to read the questions out loud together. This ensures that each student in class understands the questions, and has practiced saying the questions prior to asking them to their classmates. It also gives the students a chance to ask the teacher any questions they may have before beginning the activity.

Doing the activity

1. During the class, the teacher should briefly explain to the students that this is an activity everyone is expected to participate in doing. The teacher may also want to tell the students that this activity is meant to allow everyone to get to know each other better.
2. The teacher should hand out the sheets of papers with the previously described information written on them. Then, the students should be told to sign their own names, and that the papers will be collected by the teacher at the end of the activity. By requiring students to return the papers, this ensures that they did indeed take part in the activity.
3. The students should be told, and this should be written on the paper they will be given, that they must walk around the room and ask their classmates any of the questions. Although the questions will be in numerical order, students are free to ask one classmate one question, and then can ask another classmate a different question.
4. Students should be told that the most important thing in this activity is that when a student answers “Yes” to any question, they should write down that student’s name on the paper, and then the other student should ask that person a question. After both students have asked each other a question, and gotten a “Yes” answer, then they should move on to other classmates and ask them questions. However, if they ask their classmate a question and get a reply of “No,” then they should ask keep asking different questions until they finally get a response of “Yes.”

After the activity

1. The teacher can decide how much time should be given over to this activity. I have found that allowing the students to ask each other questions for approximately 15 minutes is sufficient.
2. Prior to collecting the papers from students, the teacher can ask the class to read the questions out loud again, and then the teacher can ask students to raise their hands if they have gotten a “Yes” or “No” answer to any particular question. After the students raise their hands, the teacher can choose certain students to read a question and then ask that student for the name of a classmate who answered their question. It has been our experience that students really enjoy doing this activity, and I believe that if a teacher uses this in their class, they will very pleased with the response they get from their students.

References

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/situational+anxiety

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/understanding-panic.aspx

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