E- Journal - S. Irvand Afrizal (031107062)

1 | PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN UNIVERSITAS PAKUAN NOVEMBER 2012

“A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF ICE BREAKING ACTIVITY IN TEACHING

ENGLISH FOR CHILDREN”

S. Irvand Afrizal1, Atti Herawati

2

PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN

UNIVERSITAS PAKUAN

ABSTRACT

Ice-breaking activity is very important in learning process to freshen the

atmosphere of learning, to eliminate boredom and drowsiness that can be faced by

students. In order to achieve good result, to provoke desire of study and to avoid

any uncomfortable feelings of children in learning English, the teacher should

create good condition and use interesting way by using ice-breakers as pacemaker.

The research entitled, “A Descriptive Study of the ice breaking Activity in

teaching English for Children”, is intended to know the process of ice breaking

activity in teaching English for children. The aim of the research is to describe the

process of ice breaking activity in teaching English for children employed by two

English teachers. In conducting the research, the writer applied descriptive

method. He describes the situations that happen in the research site. For the

instrument, he administers questionnaire followed by interview and observation to

find the process of ice breaking activity. The research was conducted to the first,

second and third grade students of SD Kesatuan Bogor as the population.

Keywords: teaching, English, ice breaking, activity

1 Mahasiswa program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Pakuan 2 Staf pengajar program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Pakuan



ABSTRAK

Ice-breaking merupakan kegiatan yang sangat penting dalam proses pembelajaran

untuk menyegarkan suasana belajar, menghilangkan rasa bosan dan kantuk, yang

dapat dihadapi oleh siswa. Untuk mencapai hasil yang baik, untuk memancing

hasrat dalam belajar dan untuk menghindari perasaan tidak nyaman anak-anak

dalam belajar bahasa Inggris, guru harus menciptakan kondisi yang baik dan

menggunakan cara yang menarik dengan menggunakan ice-breaking sebagai

pembuka kegiatan. Penelitian berjudul, " A Descriptive Study of the ice breaking

Activity in teaching English for Children", dimaksudkan untuk mengetahui proses

kegiatan ice breaking dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Tujuan

dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan proses kegiatan ice breaking

dalam mengajar bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak yang diterapkan oleh dua guru

bahasa Inggris. Dalam melakukan penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan metode

deskriptif. Penulis menggambarkan situasi yang terjadi di lokasi penelitian. Untuk

instrumennya, penulis mengelola kuesioner dilanjutkan dengan wawancara dan

observasi untuk menemukan proses kegiatan ice breaking. Penelitian ini

dilakukan pada siswa kelas satu, dua dan tiga dari SD Kesatuan Bogor sebagai

penduduk.

Keywords: teaching, English, ice breaking, activity

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Research

Teaching English to children is

interesting and challenging for teachers. For

some consideration, children are individuals

of very early age who are interested in

learning many new things, including foreign

language. The creativity in all aspect of

teaching is needed by the teachers to teach a

foreign language. English teachers are

demanded to have capability to organize, to

plan, and to evaluate the teaching learning

process effectively.

Teachers should have a lot of good

ideas and be ready to face any possibility of

classroom situation. To get an effective

result of teaching learning process, the

teachers are demanded to make good

preparations. Generally, the teachers spend

most of their time in the classroom to

convey the material without giving fun

activities. It is very rare to find teachers who

give an interesting and fun activity to

student to make them feel more comfortable

in learning English, such as ice-breaking.

According to Johnson (2007) ice-

breaking activity is very important in

learning process to freshen the atmosphere

of learning, to eliminate boredom and

drowsiness that can be faced by anyone,

including students and to create positive

attitudes towards school and learning. The

statement means that to achieve good result,

to provoke desire of study and to avoid any

uncomfortable feelings of children in

learning English, the teacher should create

good condition and interesting way by using

ice-breakers as pacemaker.

B. Reason for Choosing the Topic



The writer has a reason for choosing

this topic. Children have short attention

when they are learning in the classroom and

are easy to get bored by routine learning

activities. It means that to get their attention

teachers must have special technique. It is

believed that by using the ice-breaking

activity, the children can feel more

comfortable and ready to get the lesson

because they love to play and it can be

useful for teachers to get their attention.

C. Research Question

The research question is how the

process of ice breaking activity in teaching

English for children?

D. The Aims of the Research

The aim of the research is to describe

the activity of ice breaking employed by two

English teachers in SD Kesatuan, Bogor.

E. Research Focus

This study focuses on describing the

process of ice breaking activities employed

by two English teachers in SD Kesatuan,

Bogor. This study observes the instruction

given, the media used and the role of the

teachers and children do during the ice-

breaking activity.

F. Research Site and Participant

This study is conducted at SD Kesatuan

Bogor. In this elementary school English is

taught in all grades. The writer chooses SD

Kesatuan because it is well known that

English is used as the medium of

instructions in this school.

G. Method of the Research

Based on the title, the writer uses

descriptive method. He wants to describe

situations that happen in the research site.

For the instrument, he administers

questionnaire followed by interview and

observation to find the process of ice

breaking activity.

II. THEORETICAL

FOUNDATION

A. Definition of Ice-Breaker

Dixon et al (2008) exposed that an

icebreaker is an ungraded activity designed

to allow the teacher to get to know the

students and for them to get to know each

other. It is clear enough that ice-breakers are

well-designed to make the students get to

know with the each other, feel more relaxed

and get them prepared for materials.

It is important for students to feel

comfortable with each other, confident in

themselves and focus on the English lesson

rather than on other distractions. Teachers

are demanded to be creative, risk-taking,

thoughtful, communicative and happy to

work with students.

There are many names for Icebreakers:

warm-ups, de-inhibitizers, tension reducers,

and brainteasers, getting acquainted

activities, feedback/disclosure loops,

energizers and games (Forbes-Green, 2007).

Similarly, ice breaking activity helps

the students to interact with one another and

also to exchange learning through series of

games and activities and teamwork.

Icebreaker helps to clear the way for

successful exchange of ideas by making the

participants more comfortable and engaging

them in conversation.

Icebreakers are a part of creative

thinking, strategic thinking, positive

thinking, problem solving and learning

strategies, not only in business organizations

but also for students of all age groups. The

reason is classroom icebreaker activities

help to develop various soft skills such as

interpersonal skill, communication skills that

include written, verbal and non-verbal and

team building skills (Forbes-Green, 2007).

Moreover they stated in the Encyclopedia of

the Ice-breakers, Icebreakers are tools that

enable the group of leader to foster

interaction, stimulate creative thinking,

challenge basic assumptions, illustrate new

concepts, and introduce specific material.

Icebreaker activities also help in creating a

bond between students and teachers.

Classroom ice breaker activity on new class

or school can help newcomers to mix with

the old students and also help to make them

feel comfortable and settle in.

Paul (2003) stated that most of young

learners’ teachers found difficulties in

finding a good technique designed to get

students’ attention, to help students to put

aside distracting thoughts, and to get them

ready to focus individually and as group on

activities follow. For a teacher who has

ability to make jokes with students, it might

be easier to grab students’ attention, but for

some others, it might be the opposite. It

needs an activity to make the students pay

attention and focus on the learning process.

According to Scoot and Ytenberg

(1990) children have an amazing ability to

absorb new language through play and other

activities which they find enjoyable. It

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/youth-group-games-and-activities.html



probably happens to Elementary school

students that are usually shy and doubt to

say something in English when they are in

English lesson. Through using an ice-

breaker activity the teacher can force student

to speak and communicate each other.

Jenkins (2001) stated that icebreaker games

are designed to force people to speak and

mingle.

An ice breaker activity helps to

develop various soft skills such as time

management, team building, leadership

qualities, interpersonal skills and

communication skills that include written,

verbal and non-verbal language. It makes the

atmosphere conducive for learning. It helps

in establishing rapport and promoting

interaction among the participants. It can

also create an atmosphere in the classroom

to be more informal.

B. Strategies of Using Ice-breakers

Groover (2005) mentioned the strategies

of using ice-breakers as follow:

1. Objectives and Execution

Before teachers start any

icebreaker activities, they need to

be aware of two things: what they

are going to achieve and how they

are going to achieve it. If they are

not aware of these, icebreaker

strategies will be forced and likely

unsuccessful.

2. Group Size

Teachers also need to choose

activities based on the size of the

group. If the teachers have a large

number of people, they can have

them interact with a series of

leading questions, such as, "If you

were a Star Wars character, which

one would you be, and why?" By

giving them leading questions and

having them talk to one another, the

teacher forces them to talk about

things other than small talk, which

will let them find some common

ground.

Small groups can have their

ice breaker with the teacher rather

than having them interact

independently. The teachers could

just follow the questions stated

previously, but with they asking

rather than having them ask one

another. Alternatively, the teachers

can play games such as "two truths

and a lie," in which people each

states two truths and one lie about

them and their new coworkers try

to guess which is which.

3. Appropriateness

Teachers should choose an

icebreaker strategy based on how

appropriate it is for the students.

The icebreakers that will be used in

the classroom also be consideration

for the teacher to get the student’s

attention.

The teacher should make sure that ice-

breaker chosen is actually connected to the

intended purposes of the ice-breaker. This is

very important because not all kind of ice-

breakers work for intended end.

III. RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

A. Research Method and Design

The aim of the research is to describe

the teaching learning process using ice

breaking activity. To conduct the research,

the writer uses qualitative approach because

he analyzes the data descriptively.

Descriptive method is used to get the

data of the research. According to Richie

(1999) as quoted by Moleong (2005:6),

“descriptive research is an effort to present

social world, and its perspective on the

world, from concept terms, behavior,

perception, and the problems of the

person/subject who is studied.” It means that

descriptive method is the research used to

describe the situation of the phenomenon or

problems of the subject of study in details

and factually.

B. Research Site and Participant

The research is conducted at SD

Kesatuan Bogor with the English teachers of

second and third grade as the participant.

Based on the writer’s previous observation,

there are five English teachers at SD

Kesatuan Bogor, but the writer only chooses

one English teacher.

C. Technique of Collecting the Data

In conducting the research, the data are

collected by observation, questionnaire and

interview.

1. Observation

The first step in collecting the data

is observation. The writer observes the

teaching learning process using ice

breaking in classroom to get the data.

He uses observation note to describe the



process of ice breaking from the

beginning until the end of the class.

2. Questionnaire

The second step in collecting the

data is by distributing Questionnaire. The

writer gives questionnaires to the teacher

to find out the process of teaching

English using ice breaking activity.

3. Interview

The third step in collecting data is

conducting interview. Interview is used

to get more information about the

process of teaching English using ice

breaking activity. As Alwasilah (2002)

said, “in qualitative data collection

interview is very important tool to gain

depth information” Interview is also

used to validate the answers to the

questionnaires.

D. Data Analysis

After completing the whole data, the

writer analyzes the data. The first step is

done by analyzing the data taken from the

observation. Second, he collects the data

from the questionnaires given to the

respondent. Finally, he transcribes the result

of the interview.

E. Validity Checking

The writer uses triangulation as a

technique to check the validity of the data.

The triangulation is done by comparing the

data from the result of observation,

questionnaires, and interview. He also

interviews the students to crosscheck the

validity of the data.

IV. DATA ANALYSIS

1. The Result of Observation

According to the observation, both

of the teachers always do the ice

breaking activity in order to make the

students feel comfortable in learning

process. Firstly, the teachers greeted

the students and prepared the media in

the beginning of the class. The way the

teacher led the students to the topic that

would be taught by giving some

questions and showing some pictures

was very helpful. In addition, the

teacher used media such as, pictures,

flash card, and LCD projector to help

them in teaching the material or in ice

breaking activity. It is clear that ice

breaking activity definitely can help the

teacher in teaching English.

In the teaching learning process, the

teacher started by greeting and asked

student’s condition. She reviewed the

previous material before explaining the

new material.

The result of observation shows

that the instructions of ice breaking

activity are given in two languages;

English and Bahasa Indonesia. In ice

breaking activity, the teacher asks the

students’ opinion about the instructions

given whether they understand it or

not. Some of the students can

understand it. If the students only keep

silent and never ask the teacher before

starting the ice breaking activity, the

teacher will repeat the instruction in

Bahasa Indonesia. The role of the

teacher and the students were balance,

both of them took an active role in ice

breaking activity.

Table 4.1

Ice breaking activity and media used by the Participants

Observation Ice Breaker used by the first participant Media Used

First

Question And Answer.

(warm up)

Drawing picture of toys and animals.

Card

Pictures

Board

Second

Warm up (Question and Answer)

Drawing picture of animal and toys.

Sing a song.

Board

Card

Pictures

Third Warm up (Question and Answer)

Drawing animal and toys.

Miniature of

animals

Card

Pictures



Observation Ice Breaker used by the second participant Media Used

First Question and Answer (warm up)

Sing a song

CD

Text Book

Board

Second Question and Answer (Warm Up)

Name Game (game)

CD

Board

Third Question and Answer (warm up)

Hangman (game)

Card

pictures

2. The Result of Questionnaire

The writer gave the questionnaire to the teacher. The questionnaire consists of

12 questions. It is given to the teacher to find out the process of ice breaking

activity in teaching English for children.

No. Questions Yes No

1. Do you make a lesson plan before teaching? √

2. Do you prepare visual aids before teaching? √

3. Do you think ice breaking activity is an influential

aspect in teaching? √

4. Do you find difficulties in doing ice breaking

activity? √

5. Does the objective of ice breaking activity

appropriate with the material and the media given? √

6. Are you able to take control of the class in the ice

breaking activity? √

7. The students are enthusiastic in doing ice breaking

activity? √

8. Do the students take an active role in the ice


9. Do you find any difficulties in relating the ice

breaking activity and material will be given? √

10. Do you give the students reward at the end of ice


11. Dou you sum up the material by giving the students

ice breaking activity? √

12. Do you ask the students’ opinion about the ice


Based on the data, it found that the

teachers had good preparation before

they came to the class. First of all, the

teachers prepared the lesson plan and

pictures, and media as visual aids to

warm up in pre activity. Then, they

used text book to help them in

delivering the material.

On the questionnaire given, it is

found that ice breaking activity is part



of learning strategies that the teachers

applied and it should be done in

teaching English for children in order

to make them interested in following

the learning process. It is well known

that ice breaker is influential aspect in

teaching English for children.

To manage the children in many

kinds of activity is not easy, based on

the data from the questionnaire; the

teachers could handle and manage the

activity and situation in the class when

they did ice breaking. Moreover, the

first participant who teaches the first

grade is helped by the assistant during

teaching in the classroom, so the

problem in managing the students in

the class is easy to handle.

The data show that both of the

participants used an appropriate ice

breaking with the material that would

be given. It indicates that in order to

make the ice breaking activity more

effective, it is better for the the teacher

to choose an appropiate ice breaker that

relate to the topic given.

The next question was about the

role of the students in ice breaking

activity. Both of the teachers answered

that the students were very interested

and enthusiastic when they did ice

breaking activities. Moreover, the

students were active in ice breaking

activity. The students always competed

to show their abilities in ice breaking

activity.

According to the data obtained, the

teacher did not find the difficulties in

the ice breaking activity. The students

were very excited to take a role in ice

breaking and they could learn new

vocabularies and it also helped them to

create good condition and situation

when they were learning English.

Besides, the result of questionnaire

shows that the first respondent did not

often use a reward to motivate the

students to be more active in ice

breaking activity. Meanwhile, the

second respondent gave the students

reward. The way the teacher giving

reward to the students is different but

the first respondent said that she used

reward to motivate the students when

they did daily test but it did not do in

ice breaking activity.

3. The Result of Interview

The writer asked the teachers about

the way they applied ice breaking

activity in the classroom. He also asked

them about the point of teaching

English to child, including their

difficulties in teaching English for

children.

The teachers always review the

previous lesson before going to the

next lesson. According to the writer’s

observation, the teacher often reviewed

the previous material in teaching. The

teacher asked the students some

questions related to the topic that

would be given. As mentioned by

teacher #1 “biasanya sebelum

ngejelasin materi saya ada review

dulu, pertemuan sebelumnya apa yang

dipelajari, selain mengingatkan juga

saya jadi tau seberapa besar

pengetahuan dan kemampuan siswa”.

It is also supported by teacher #2 that

said,

saya selalu menanyakan

tentang materi yang sudah

dibahas pada pertemuan

sebelumnya selain itu selalu

saya gunakan pertanyaan

yang mengundang

antusiasme siswa, saya

menanyakan banyak hal dan

anak-anak pasti berebut

menjawab, contohnya saya

tanyakan ke anak-anak

tentang cuaca ,”do you feel

hot today” nanti anak-anak

pasti jawabannya beragam,

walaupun kadang masih

bilingual tapi tidak apa-apa,

nanti reaksi mereka pasti

akan berbeda-beda, ada

yang bilang “iya nih

miss...hungry” nanti saya

bilang , okay...kita liat yuk

nama nama makanan yang

di buku dan mereka pasti

cerita nya antusias.

It can be assumed that ice breaking

can be done by giving the questions to

the students. Besides, the ice breaking

can lead the teacher to the material to

be taught. Furthermore, the warm up

activity could be done by showing

interesting picture or miniature related



to the topic. It is mentioned by teacher

#1, “Saya sih sering menunjukan

gambar yang colorful, anak anak pasti

suka, mereka tertarik banget”. It

indicates that the visual aids such as

pictures and miniatures can make the

students more interested in learning. It

is relevant with the result of

observation and interview with the

teacher.

Based on the interview, the teachers

used that strategy because the teacher

wanted to get the student’s attention in

ice breaking activity. As mentioned by

teacher #1, “Pastinya biar mereka

tertarik belajar bahasa inggris, supaya

mereka ngga bosen dan mereka

memang suka kegiatan yang fun

daripada nulis, baca mereka lebih suka

kegiatan yang seperti itu, mungkin

karena masih kelas satu.”

While teacher #2

mentioned,“Pastinya supaya

konsentrasi anak anak jadi lebih fokus

di pelajaran bahasa inggris, dan pasti

ada kosakata baru yang mereka dapet

di kegiatan itu. Selain itu anak jadi

lebih gampang diatur dan perhatian”.

According to the result of

interview, the reason why the teachers

used the strategies indicates that to get

the students’ attention is a difficult and

tiring job for the teachers. The teacher

is demanded to be able to make the

students become focus on the material

that will be taught.

V. CONCLUSION

A. Conclusion

Ice breaking activity is a part of

learning strategies that the teachers applied

in teaching English to children in order to

make them interested in following the

learning process. It is well known that ice

breakers are influential aspect in teaching

English to children. Besides, ice breaking

activity makes the teacher and the students

talk about everything freely and as well as

build teacher’s creativity. Moreover, ice

breaking activity can increase the interaction

between the teacher and the students.

Ice breaking activities can be put in the

pre, whilst, or post activity. Based on the

result of interview with the students, they

admit that they can understand more about

the material through ice breaking activity.

BIBLOGRAPHY

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. 2002. Pokoknya

Kualitatif: Dasar-dasar Merancang

dan Melakukan Penelitian

Kualitatif. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.

Dixon, J., Crooks, H., & Henry, K. 2008.

Breaking the ice: Supporting

collaboration and the development

of community. Canadian Journal

Of Learning And Technology.

Forbes-Greene, Sue. 2007. The

Encyclopedia of Icebreakers:

Structured Activities That Warm-

up, Motivate, Challenge, Acquaint

and Energize. New York: A Wiley

Imprint.

Groover, Sam. 2005. Ice Breaker Strategies.

[online] Available at:

http://www.ehow.com/list_7162022

_ice-breaker

strategies.html#ixzz1s6ESFmMLIc

e Breaker Strategies |

eHow.com

Jenkins, Jon. 2001. Ice Breakers,

Introductions, Energizers, And

Other Experiential Exercises.

From the Electronic Discussion on

Group Facilitation. [online]

Available at:

http://www.albany.edu/cpr/gf/resou

rces/Icebreakers-and-

Introductions.html

Johnshon, LouAnne. 2001. Kick-Start Your

Class: 120 ice breakers to engage

all of ages. New York: Jossey

Bass, Wiley.

Moleong, J. Lexi. 2005. Metodologi

Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: PT.

Remaja Rosdakarya.

Paul, David. 2003. Teaching English to

Children in Asia. Hongkong:

Longman Asia ELT.

Wendy A Scott, and Ytreberg Lisbeth H.

1990. Teaching English to

Children. Essex,

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England: Pearson Education

Limited.

Yadav, Mukesh and Yadav, Shalini. 2009.

Intentions and Realities in

Implementing Icebreakers for

ESL learners. Jaipur. Market Yard:

Indian Streams Research journal.

Samsul Irvand Afrizal was born on

June, 14th

1986 in Poncowarno, Lampung.

He is the last son of Sulaiman Effendy and

Siti Martiyah. He started his study when he

was seven years old in 1st Elementary

School (SDN 1 Kalirejo, Lampung). He was

graduated in 1998 and he continued his

study in SMPN 4 Kalirejo, Lampung tengah.

In 2001 he continued his study in SMA

Muhammadiyah Kalirejo, Lampung tengah.

At that time, he was always active in an

Internal Organization in his school, called

IRM. He finished his study in 2004 and he

continued again for his first degree (S1) in

Universitas Pakuan, Bogor. He took English

education study program faculty of teacher

training and educational sciences.

E- Journal - S. Irvand Afrizal (031107062)

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