Vol. 16, Issue 1, Jul-Dec 2023
Page: 52-57
TEACH?NG ENGL?SH THROUGH HUMOR AND JOKES
Asst. Prof. Dr. Bushra Saadoon Al- Noori
Received Date: 2019-08-02
Accepted Date: 2019-09-06
Published Date: 2019-09-16
The current study is entitled "Teaching English through Humor and jokes". Humor and jokes are an essential part of human life. In teaching English, humor and jokes enhance students' learning capacity. Humor and jokes are also significant elements to reduce the stress in the classroom.
The problem of this study lies in the fact that many non-native learners of English language cannot differentiate among the meanings of Wh/question words. The study aims to enable the students to distinguish the meanings of Wh/question words and how they are used in suitable contexts. The study also aims to show how incorporating a sense of humor in Wh/questions can also help students to memorize the meanings of Wh/question words in a better way. So, it is hypothesized that questions which contain a sense of humor can assist in students' understanding the meanings of Wh/question words.
The test includes two classes of students (class A and class B), class A has learned Wh/words in a traditional way and class B has learned Wh/question words by including questions that have a sense of humor.
Back
Download PDF
References
- Aarons, D. (2012). Jokes and the Linguistic Mind. New York: Rutledge.
- Cook, G. (2000). Language Play, Language Learning. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Garner, R.L. (2006). Humor in Pedagogy: How ha-ha can Lead to Aha! College Teaching. Volume 54, Number 1, pp. 177-180.
- Gorham, J. and Christophel, D.M. (1990). The Relationship of Teachers' Use of Humor in Classroom to Immediacy and Student Learning. Laughing Matters: Humor in the Language of Classroom. Communication Education. Volume 39, pp. 354-36.
- Green, E. (2014). Building a Better Teacher, Parade Magazine. Volume 105 (366) and Volume 103(324), pp.6-9.
- Kher, N., Molstad, S. and Monahua, R. (1999). Using Humor in the Classroom to Enhance Teaching Effectiveness in 'Dread Courses'. College Student Journal. Volume 33, Number 3, pp. 4400.
- Lems, K. (2013). Laughing all the way. Teaching English Using Puns. English Teaching Forum. Volume 51, Number 1, pp. 26-33.
- Nichol, M. (2011). Types and Forms of Humor. Retrieved on March 12, 2015 from www.dailywritingtips.com/20-types-and-forms-ofhumor.
- Martin, R. (2007). The Psychology of Humor. An Integrative Approach. Boston: Elsevier Academic Press.
- Norrick, R. (2009). A Theory of Humor in Interaction. Journal of Literary Theory. Volume 3, Number 2, pp. 261-284.
- Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Ocon, R. (2015). Using Humor to Create a Positive Learning Environment. College of Technology. Purdue University Calumet.
- Prosser, R. (1997). The Use of Humor among Adult Educators in a formal Classroom Setting. North Caroline State University.
- Richards, J. and Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. United Kingdom: Longman Group Limited.
- Walter, G. (1990). Laughs, Teacher, Laughs! The Educational Digest. Volume 55, Number 9, pp. 43-44.
- Waring, Z. H. (2013). Doing Being Playful in the Second Language Classroom. Applied Linguistics. Volume 34, Number 2, pp. 191-210.
- Zipke, M. (2008). Teaching Metalinguistic Awareness and Reading Comprehension with Riddles. The Reading Teacher. Volume 62, Number 2, pp. 128-37.
- Ziv, A. (1988). Teaching and Learning with Humor: Experiment and Replication. Journal of Experimental Education. Volume 57, Number 1, pp. 5-15.