Ice-breakers are speaking activities used with a new class in order to give the learners an opportunity to meet each other. In order to complete an ice-breaker task learners must talk to each other.

Example
The teacher gives each learner a sheet with a series of 'Find someone who…' statements, e.g. 'Find someone who has a cat'. Learners circulate around the class and complete the statements with names.

In the classroom
Relationships between learners are fundamental to successful learning in many approaches and methodologies, and ice-breakers are designed to begin the process of building a positive dynamic in the class.