TNE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Category: Faculty Award
Primary Investigators: Manuela Wagner and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi
Title: Humor in the foreign language classroom
1. Problem Statement
Although numerous studies have shown positive effects of humor in the classroom (e.g.
Berk, 2000; Berwald, 1992; Bryant & Zillmann, 1989; Clabby, 1979; Colwell, 1981; Gorham &
Cristophel, 1990; Pollack & Freda 1997), Deneire (1995) reports that humor is still “underused”
in the foreign language classroom. The project “Humor in the foreign language classroom”
intends to shed light on our understanding of humor and its role in the context of the foreign
language classroom. We are planning to video-tape 8 German and 8 Spanish classes in
Connecticut Middle Schools that function as professional development schools of the NEAG
School of Education.
Research on humor in this context has to take into account many factors, such as linguistic,
pragmatic, cultural as well as educational issues just to name a few. Therefore, we think that a
comprehensive study with data recorded with digital video technology is needed in order to
collect enough evidence and allow for qualitative and quantitative analyses. As a first step, we
have designed a pilot project which will feed into a larger project and which will set the basis to
address the following questions:
1) Does the use of humor in the foreign language classroom facilitate the students’
acquisition of the foreign language?
2) How do the employment of humor and the students’ process of acquiring sociocultural competence in the culture of the studied language influence the students’ general
socio-pragmatic skills?
3) What recommendations can be made for the employment of humor in the foreign
language classroom?
Through the proposed pilot study, we expect to frame the phenomenon of humor in the
classroom in its complexity by applying a multidisciplinary approach to its analysis. We intend
to include linguistic and nonlinguistic aspects of humor, classify and determine its different kinds
and their function within the context of a foreign/world language Middle School classroom. The
results of this research will allow us to make some preliminary decisions on the role of humor in
the foreign language classroom and to drive those decisions by evidence as TNE suggests. Future
research will also include a longitudinal qualitative study on the effects of humor on student
performance. Moreover, findings of the proposed study will enable us to identify potential
research questions for future research on the use of humor in the foreign language classroom.
These questions could include when certain types of humor can be successfully introduced and
applied at different levels of language competence and at different student ages.
Short introduction to the research topic
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It is evident that humor is a very important concept in today’s society. Politicians and
their speech writers regularly include instances of humor in their speeches (Fairclough, 1995).
Research on humor and its functioning in language has recently developed into a
multidisciplinary field of study, especially since the advent of theories on language and context
such as pragmatics and applied linguistics. These new disciplines have given proper attention to
aspects of language such as humorous communication which, until recently, were considered
minor or secondary. The cognitive processes and communicative strategies involved in
humorous communication are relevant to our research since it is necessary to understand all the
factors involved in human interaction (see for instance Attardo and Raskin 1991; Norrick 2003;
Urios-Aparisi, 2004). The existence of “The International Society for Humor Studies” with a
yearly conference and the international journal Humor indicate the importance of this topic and
the fact that it has developed into its own field of study.
2. Related Work
Studies in foreign language acquisition and teaching have acknowledged the use of
humor to raise students’ motivation in the world language classroom (e.g., Medgyes, 2002;
Tosta, 2001) and to teach humor as an important tool in a foreign culture in order to reach higher
social competence (e.g., Zajdman, 1995). Furthermore, humor has been shown to facilitate the
development of listening comprehension and reading.
Ziesing (on line) emphasizes the importance of cultural literacy for achieving fluency in
the target language. Literacy has been considered a social skill consisting not only of the
traditional skills involved in reading and writing but also including cultural and cross-linguistic
concepts (e.g., Snow, 1992, Barfield, Dycus, Mateer, & Melchior, 1998;). Competences related
to cultural concepts are seen as part of literacy development by the authors of this proposal.
Moreover, we consider communicative competence in a foreign language as a tool that serves
students not only in the target language, but also adds to their general world knowledge. Another
important aspect for students of foreign languages in our global community is the acquisition of
cultural sensitivity. The understanding of humor certainly plays a role in this process. It is
nowadays also widely recognized that literacy in the English language is not sufficient when
preparing students for their jobs (e.g., Wiley, 1996).
3. Methodology
a) Questions/Hypotheses
Our main goal in the pilot study is to identify categories which can be subsumed under
the wide context of “humor in the foreign/world language classroom”. Previous research has
identified “wit” or “irony” (Davies, 2003), but it is necessary to take into account “hyperbole”,
“wordplay” and “sarcasm”. In addition to identifying the types of humor we will also examine
how humor has been achieved. We will also identify the co-text of humor, that is to say, the
discursive context of humor as it takes the form of jokes, anecdotes, or narratives. Both the
teacher’s and the students’ use of humor, and its contexts and forms taken, will be examined.
Our main questions are:
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1) Which types of humor are used a) by the teacher and b) by the students in the foreign
language Middle School classroom?
2) How often is humor used?
3) What are the frequencies of the specific types of humor?
4) In which context does humor occur?
b) Procedures for collecting information
We are planning to collect data in two Middle Schools in Connecticut that collaborate
with the NEAG School of Education. In order to avoid artifacts and to describe instances of
humor in the foreign language classroom as comprehensively as possible we would like to visit
at least two classrooms of Intermediate German and Spanish per school in at least two Middle
Schools and at least twice per class. According to this plan we are going to visit 4 class periods
of German and 4 class periods of Spanish per school which makes a total of 16 visited classes.
Collecting data in different classrooms will help us gain insight into the more generally used
types of humor in the foreign language classroom in this age group. Data samples from two
languages might open up additional research questions concerning cultural aspects of the use of
humor in the foreign language classroom. We are going to use digital video technology to record
the foreign language classes. This methodology will allow us to gather sufficient information
regarding the verbal and non-verbal factors which contribute to humor.
With the support of the NEAG School of Education we are going to identify professional
development schools that teach the studied languages at the intermediate level. After they agree
to participate in the study we are going to submit the IRB proposal in order to gain permission to
obtain data of human subjects. We will then send letters to the school administrators, to the
teachers and parents in order to inform them of the study and to obtain the permission to come
and video-tape the classes.
c) Analyses
Digitized files will be transcribed according to the guidelines of CHILDES
(MacWhinney, 2000). Linking the transcripts to the digitized video files using the technology of
TALKBANK (MacWhinney, 2000) will facilitate inter- and intra- coder reliability. We will
analyze the files quantitatively and qualitatively according to the instances and types of humor
used by the teachers and by the students in the foreign language classrooms.
The context of a classroom will help to embed the production of language identifying the
different factors: physical, social, interactional, linguistic or conceptual (see Cameron 2003) that
frame the use of humor and that aid in identifying the cognitive factors and the communicative
strategies involved in the production and interpretation of humor. Analyzing the interactions in
which humor occurs qualitatively, especially students’ responses will open up the opportunity to
draw conclusions and make hypotheses about the effects of the use of humor on student
performance and on their socio-pragmatic development in order to make recommendations for
the use of humor in the foreign language classroom.
a) Collaboration
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The team we have formed will allow for such a comprehensive study. M. Wagner’s
background in pragmatic development and applied linguistics while E. Urios-Aparisi has studied
metaphor and figurative language from a pragmatic point of view. We will also collaborate
closely with the NEAG School of Education and with TNE in particular in order to align our
goals with TNE goals.
4. Expected end product
Expected findings:
The primary end product of the pilot study will be a comprehensive typology of humor
and its uses in the foreign language classroom. Qualitative analyses of the context of humor will
provide information on students’ and teachers’ strategies in the use of humor and the effect of
humor on the interaction and on student performance. In addition, we will gain a better
understanding of the role of humor in cultural literacy development, pragmatic development, and
the development of cultural sensitivity and world knowledge. The proposed study will also
identify potential crucial research questions for further study, as for example cross-cultural
differences between the uses of humor in the foreign language classroom in different target
languages and settings. We would also like to extend our research from Middle School to High
School and Higher Education foreign languages classes to explore differences and similarities in
these settings. For these questions a longitudinal research design will be necessary.
Report and presentation of findings:
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Paper submission to the conference of the International Society for Humor Studies (2006)
Submission of articles to Humor or other international journals
White paper including possible recommendations for teaching submitted to TNE
Final report to TNE in April 2006
5. Personnel
2 Principal Investigators
The principal investigators of the proposed project are Eduardo Urios-Aparisi and
Manuela Wagner from the department of Modern and Classical Languages. Eduardo UriosAparisi is Assistant Professor of Spanish linguistics and language coordinator of the Spanish
section. Manuela Wagner is Assistant Professor of Foreign Language Education and Director of
the Critical Languages Program. She is also part of the TNE initiative at UCONN.
Eduardo Urios-Aparisi
phone: 6-1531
e-mail: eduardo.urios-aparisi@uconn.edu
Manuela Wagner
phone: 6-3317
e-mail: manuela.m.wagner@uconn.edu
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CITED WORKS
Attardo, S., and Raskin, V. (1991). “Script theory revis(it)ed: Joke similarity and joke
representation model.” Humor 4,4-4, pp. 293- 348.
Barfield, A., Dycus, D., Mateer, B., Melchior, E. (1998). “FL Literacy: Meeting needs and
realities in Japan.” Speakers in Literacy Across Cultures, September 1998 2/2.
http://www2.aasa.ac.jp/~dcdycus/LAC98/SEP98/fll98rt.htm
Berk, R. A. (2000). “Does Humor in Course Tests Reduce Anxiety and Improve Performance?”
College Teaching 48 (4), pp. 151-58.
Berwald, J-P. (1992). “Teaching French Language and Culture by Means of Humor.” French
Review 66(2), pp. 189-200.
Bryant, J., Zillmann, D. (1989). “Using Humor to Promote Learning in the Classroom.” Humor
and Children's Development. Ed. P. McGhee. NY: Haworth, pp. 49-78.
Cameron, L. (2003). Metaphor in Educational Discourse. London: Continuum.
Clabby, J. F., Jr. (1979). “Humor as a Preferred Activity of the Creative and Humor as a
Facilitator of Learning.” Psychology: A Quarterly Journal of Human Behavior 16 (1), pp. 5-12.
Colston, H. L., O’Brien, J. (2000). “Contrast and pragmatics in figurative language: Anything
understatement can do, irony can do better.” Journal of Pragmatics 32, pp. 1557-1583.
Colwell, C. G. (1981). “Humor as a Motivational and Remedial Technique.” Journal of Reading
24 (6), pp 484-86.
Davies, C.E. (2003). “How English-Learners Joke with Native Speakers: An Interactional
Sociolinguistic Perspective on Humor as Collaborative Discourse across Cultures.” Journal of
Pragmatics 35 (9), pp. 1361-1385
Deneire, M. (1995). “Humor and Foreign Language Teaching.” Humor: International Journal of
Humor Research 8 (3), pp. 285-298.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis. London, England: Longman.
Gorham, J., Christophel, DM., (1990). “Relationship of Teachers' Use of Humor in the
Classroom to Immediacy and Student Learning”, Communication Education 39 (1), pp.46-62.
MacWhinney, B. (2000). The CHILDES project: Tools for analyzing talk (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Medgyes, P. (2002). Laughing Matters: Humour in the Language Classroom. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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Norrick, N. R. (2003). “Issues in Conversational Joking.” Journal of Pragmatics 35 (9), pp. 13331359.
Pollak, J. P., Freda, P. (1997). “Humor, Learning, and Socialization in Middle Level
Classrooms.” Clearing House 70 (4 ), pp. 176-78.
Snow, C. (1992). “Perspectives on second-language development: Implications for bilingual
education.” Educational Researcher 21 (2), 16-19.
Tosta, Antonio L. (2001). “Laugh and Learn: Thinking over the `Funny Teacher' Myth.” Forum
39, pp. 26-31.
Urios-Aparisi, E. (2004). “Quarrelling about metaphor on love a pragmatic approach.” In M. E.
Placencia & R. Márquez-Reiter (Eds.), Current Trends in the Pragmatics of Spanish. Amsterdam:
John Benjamins Press, pp. 283-310.
Wiley, T. (1996). Language and literacy diversity in the United States. Washington, DC: Center
for Applied Linguistics, and McHenry, IL: Delta Systems.
Zajdman, A. (1995). “Humorous face-threatening acts: Humor as strategy.” Journal of
Pragmatics 23, pp. 325-339.
Ziesing, M. (on line) “Cultural literacy and language fluency” in
http://www.utcc.ac.th/article_research/PDF/chapter2.pdf (January 2005)
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