Exploring Ice Breaker Usage in English Language Classroom

There are many strategies can be used by the teacher to teach English in the classroom, one of them is icebreaker. Icebreaker is an activity to create a positive atmosphere and to re-energize the students, so that they can be ready and focused to learn. This research was designed to find out how the icebreakers usage applied by the teachers in English language classroom and students’ response on the use icebreaker usage. The research location was at MA Darul Ulum Banda Aceh. The participants were 90 students and 2 English teachers from the school. To answer the first research question, the data were collected by using interview and observation. Meanwhile, questionnaire was conducted to answer the second research question. The findings of this research were analysed by descriptive analysis and statistic formula. According to the result of interview, the two English teachers were not familiar with the term of “icebreaker” but they actually did it quite often in the classroom such as song, joke, games, and physical activity. Meanwhile, both of English teachers were truly implement icebreaker activity in English language classroom. Additionally, most of the students gave positive response on the use icebreaker usage applied by the teacher in English language classroom. By applying icebreaker activities, it was established a good interaction between student and teacher in the classroom.