Here is exactly the answer I posted in reply to a very similar question by DINIFLOWER, on Feb 13
Hope this helps
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What I usually do with first classes is some pair work - by the way these first classes are always
a great pleasure as you, as a teacher, are getting to know other
students, and similarly students themselves are getting to know each
other
In this pair work activity, students are given a
set of questions prepared in advance (for instance. tell us, as much as you can, about
yourself, how long have you been learning English, where, what are your
motivations, Have you ever been to an English speaking country, what
are your priorities of study, how often are you exposed to English,
what do you do outside to maintain your English, what areas in English
are you more / less at ease with, what attitudes do you have towards
correction, what are your future projects, in the short term and in the long term, tell us about your interests.... among many other examples)
Just make sure student A �s questions are differnet from students B �s.
The interest of this pair work activity is that it definitely encourages the
shy students to do some speaking when answering their partner�s
questions. Obviously, when a student is answering a question, his
partner is supposed to take notes because once they both have covered all
the questions, they then introduce each other to the group (Students A introducing
student B and vice versa)
Believe me, this pair work activity always takes me at least two long hours with a group of 15 students for example
You, as teacher, will check if they are speaking English only, when
they are doing the activity, and maybe help them with vocabulary or any other
questions
Later on, when introducing each other, you may point out a few
mistakes - I would always focus on the major ones - and ask the
student to correct it himself
Do this -correction - only at the end (no need to interrupot them while speaking)
and adults do appreciate being corrected, this is what mine always
tell me
There are many other alternatives: writing a set of questions on
the board or projecting them and ask students to introduce themselves (but
this is less interactive) or do some placement test or grammar
diagnosis, but I would not recommand the latter for a first classes
Hope this helps
