The connection established between the students is as important as the one with the teacher. A united group will be much more motivated and willing to work in any way the teacher proposes. For this, the first day of class will be essential to mark how the rest of the course will be developed in this regard.
Therefore, the presentations , although they may seem a simple form of courtesy to meet the members of the group, and many learners (and some teachers) may seem a waste of time, are essential to build that connection .
On the other hand, as a classmate said, we must bear in mind that students are people, and as such, each one is different. You might think that a person who enrolls in a language course is willing to speak since we assume that this is the best way to learn, however, many students are shy, they are afraid to make a fool of themselves in front of their classmates or they simply go blank when we give them their turn; Other students, on the other hand, are very fond of speech and love to talk, which may seem like a blessing to the teacher (not always), but a condemnation to the student, who observes how another consumes his time. All students have to talk, as much as possible, equally. That is why it is advisable when proposing to make a presentation,script with the information we want to be provided . This information should vary, depending on the level. The data that we propose from here for each level are presented below:
LEVEL A1 (beginners, first class of Spanish):
-Name
-Age
-Profession
-City of residence
-Hometown
Since, in principle, this will be the first production in Spanish of our students and taking into account that they do not have any linguistic tool to carry it out, we must offer it. A good way is for the teacher to be the first to introduce himself and write on the board how he is going to do it, in this way the students understand better what is being done and what is expected of them.
Sample teacher presentation on the board (level A1)
LEVEL A2 :
-Name
-Age
-Profession
-Hometown
-City of residence
-Motives for studying Spanish
On the first day of class of a new level, we find it interesting that the presentation includes grammatical or lexical aspects of previous levels. Therefore, we propose that at level A2 the basic points of a presentation appear and also that the expression of reasons be integrated with why , by or for , so they can explain to the group the reason why they study Spanish and perhaps find a point in common with a partner.
LEVEL B1 :
-Name and age
-Origin
-Motives for studying Spanish
-Where and when have you studied Spanish?
In the presentation of the first day of B1 we believe that it is good for students to try to express some past experience, for a double reason: the past ones are the main course of level A2 and the teacher can quickly check if it is necessary to review it before entering the subject new; and, on the other hand, it is a way to share with your classmates their experiences learning this language.
LEVEL B2 :
-Name, age and origin
-Where and when have you studied Spanish?
-An adjective that defines the student
LEVELS C1-C2 :
-Name, age and origin
-Objectives to study Spanish
-What do you expect from the course / classes
The data that we propose to the learners in each level can be changed, depending on the objectives of the teacher, but we do recommend not lengthening the intervention of each student, especially in large groups.
If we want to turn this activity into a more entertaining dynamic and that forces students not only to break the ice, but also to interact with their classmates, we can propose that they write their data on some sheets [1] , which will be provided by the teacher and in which the name and age data will not appear , as they must be anonymous.
