Investigating the potential of humour in EFL classrooms: An attitudinal study (original) (raw)
Related papers
HUMOUR AS USED AND PERCEIVED BY INSTRUCTORS IN EFL TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BAHRAIN
This paper attempted to investigate the instructor's perception of humor and its use in the teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Bahrain (UoB). To that end, a survey was given to 30 native and non-native English speaking instructors in the English Language Centre as well as in the English Department at UoB. The findings revealed that there was an agreement among the instructors in that humour has an undeniable role to play in lowering the affective filter by creating an enjoyable and convenient atmosphere and also in contributing positively to making language learning easier and more effective. This finding clearly supports earlier research in other studies such as Deneire (1995) and Tuncay (2007), among others, which provided evidence about the benefits of the employment of pedagogical humour. However, the participating instructors seemed to be unsure about how humour is to be implemented in English language teaching. Based on the results of the present study and those of other studies make it necessary for course book and material designers acknowledge this benefit of humor, not only for lowering the affective filter but also as a useful language teaching tool of targeted linguistic features. In view of this positive result, which represents only part of the overall picture, there is a need to complete it by further research that examines humour in actual teaching and evaluates its impact on learning of specific language features and on English language learning as a whole.
Eurasion Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2021
The present paper deals with the perception of Iranian EFL teachers and learners in using humor in language classrooms. To this end, 10 English classes with a population of 70 female and male students and 5 male and female teachers in English language institutes in Esfahan were observed during spring and summer 2019. Using an ethnographic approach, the data were collected through observation and interview. The results showed that both teachers and learners had a positive attitude towards the use of L2 humor in the classroom. Language learners reasoned that having a sense of humor is one of the important qualities a language teacher should possess. The teachers and language learners acknowledged the positive effects of humor such as reducing the distance between teachers and learners, lowering learners' anxiety, boosting learners' retention of the lesson, as well as increasing their concentration and motivation. Moreover, language learners showed a preference for the use L2 humor, course-related humor, and L1 norm-oriented types of humor in their classroom.
Humour in Foreign Language Teaching
Practice and Theory in Systems of Education (PTSE) , 2011
ABSTRACT In this work we discuss humour and its uses in second language teaching citing examples from some European and African languages, more specifically Russian and Ghanaian humours. Our analysis suggest that there exist a common thread running through culture and humour in foreign language teaching since understanding humour is not only linked to the level of understanding of the language but also knowledge of the culture of the studied language. We conclude that humours should be used in foreign language classes as teaching material, especially at the advanced levels and should be one of the goals of teaching and learning. This is due largely to the motivational role that it plays in the teaching process. The type of humour to use in the teaching process depends on the level, age, culture of the learners as well as the pedagogical goals. For different traditions and countries there is different sense of humour. Although, there are some similarities in Russians and Ghanaians humour, many cross cultural humour differences can be observed in these cultures. A major challenge encountered in the use of humour in the teaching process is the sense of humour of the learner and inadequate knowledge of the culture of the studies language. General and specific recommendations aimed at finding out how and what kinds of humour can be used in foreign language teaching are also made.
Uses of Humour in an English Language Class (by Shumaila Abdullah and Javed Akhter)
Humour is peculiar to human beings and an essential characteristic of human life. When it is applied in English teaching, it enhances students’ learning ability. If the teachers start adding element of humour in their teaching method it could definitely improve students’ English learning ability. Therefore, humour is considered an important element to reduce the anxiety factor and boredom in an English language class. However, its uses make English language class more effective and interesting. It creates a learning environment in such a way in a language class that helps the students to perform even better. Mostly the teachers follow the same old traditional method of English teaching and avoid cracking jokes in the class in order to maintain discipline and class control. That is why students do not take much interest in their classes. However, the negative kind of humour such as to make fun of the students, to hit their families, sarcasm, hit ethnicity and insult should be avoided as it badly damages the students’ personality as well as it ruins the sacred environment and discipline of the class. The negative impact of humour makes the student offensive and can bring negative results in the classroom. Keywords: Pedagogical Humour, Students’ Learning, Mimicry, Mockery
Using humour in teaching English as a foreign language at more advanced levels
Zbornik Instituta za pedagoska istrazivanja, 2011
The unique properties of humour make it a valuable tool in the process of teaching and acquiring English as a foreign language, especially when more advanced courses at the university level are concerned. In the first place, using humour based on language play (involving different aspects of linguistic structure) in a variety of teaching materials can be very beneficial to helping students improve their ability with language structures. Moreover, it is important that students develop an awareness of humour that is related to culture in order to achieve better command of English. In order to determine the effect humour has on students? level of attainment, a small-scale study was conducted at the English Department, University of Novi Sad in the course Integrated Language Skills. In the study, humour was used both as a tool, to improve the learning environment, and as a resource for teaching new vocabulary or revising grammatical structures. The results of the study indicate that hum...
ESJ, 2024
This paper focuses on scrutinizing the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors and learners on the use of humor in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts. It is used in building a harmonious relationship between instructors and students, lowering affective barriers to learning, keeping students attentive to class activities, developing creativity and increasing instructional effectiveness as well as students’ learning. It also aims to describe the instructors’ experiences in employing it in their classrooms and to determine the students’ perspectives on its potent roles in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 13 EFL instructors, working at 1 public and 4 private universities in Lebanon, and 86 EFL students participated in the study. To describe and quantify their perceptions of the potent roles of employing humor in EFL classes, two online surveys of two sets of questions each, including closed-ended and open-ended, and four focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL instructors and students have positive attitudes towards integrating humor as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes. This is because it creates an open communication climate, captures students’ interest in the subject matter, boosts attention, reduces anxiety, makes the instructor more approachable, and yields better instructor evaluation. The findings of this study also revealed the need to train teachers to use humor artfully.
Laugh and Learn: Evaluating from Students’ Perspective of Humor Used in English Class
Al-Ta lim Journal
Laughter is an easily reachable way that can be used to erase barriers of communication for educational purposes. The purpose of this paper is to seek out students’ perception of humor added in teaching English and how that humor influenced students’ engagement in English classroom activity. This study employs research instrument of questionnaire and observation concepts through qualitative design. There are 78 students of multi-background: gender, level of intelligence and social background as research participants. These backgroundsareintended to obtain objective perception of the students. The findings revealed that the majority of students believed the teacher’s humor could prevent them from feeling stress of learning English, develop a better relationship between teacher and students, help them remember and understand the lesson, encourage them to be more active in the classroom and ease them in learning English. However there are some obstacles to overcome during humor applica...
The Use of Humour in EFL Classrooms: Comparative Conversational Analysis Case Study
2018
Utilising a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, the current case study investigates the characteristics and frequency of the usage of verbal humour that positively or negatively affects the Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) tertiary-level students across two different English language proficiency levels. The participants included 42 EFL teachers and 138 male EFL students from the English Language Institute (ELI) in King Abdulaziz University. The students were enrolled in the beginners (E101) and intermediate (E104) English language proficiency levels. The mixed-methods approach was implemented using audio and video recordings and a questionnaire as the data collection instruments. The findings stated the four main characteristics of both positive and negative verbal humours in Saudi EFL classrooms. These findings revealed that humour was more frequently used at the intermediate than at the beginner level, and that the most effective forms of humour at both levels ...