Using Humor and Language Play in the Classroom to...

UsingHumorandLanguagePlayintheClassroomtoEnhanceEnglish

LanguageLearningAmericanEnglishWebinarSeries

Introduc)on

DavidChiesa StephenSkalicky

DepartmentofAppliedLinguis)csGeorgiaStateUniversity

Atlanta,GA,USA

Didyouunderstandthatjoke?

Howdoesafarmercountaherdofcows?

Withacow-culator!

Pre-WebinarPollQues>ons

1.  Doyouconsideryourselftobeafunnyteacher?

2.  Canhumorpromotelanguagelearning?3.  Canbeginnerlearnersbenefitfromhumorin

thelanguageclassroom?4.  Haveyouevertriedtousehumorinyour

languageclassroom?

Overview

•  Definehumorandlanguageplay

•  Describetheore>calreasonsforusinghumorandplayintheclassroom

•  Provideexamplesforimplemen>nghumorandplayintothelanguageclassroom

WhatisHumor?

“…humorisabroadtermthatreferstoanythingthatpeoplesayordothatisperceivedasfunnyandtendstomakeotherslaugh,aswellasthementalprocessesthatgointobothcrea9ngandperceivingsuchanamusings9mulus,andalsotheaffec9veresponseinvolvedintheenjoyment

ofit.”(Mar)n,2007,p.5)

WhatisHumor?

1.  Thethingthatisfunny2.  Thepersonwhocreatesthehumor

3.  Theresponseshearershave:– laughter– smiling– morehumor

Humorisaverybroadconcept!

Whataresomereasonswhyteachersmightusehumorintheclassroom?

Func>onsofHumor

•  Makingstudentsfeelcomfortable

•  Establishingandmaintainingrela>onships

–  betweenteacherandstudent–  betweenstudentandstudent

•  Copingwithdifficulttopicsandsitua>ons

•  Stressreliefandrelaxa>on•  Forfun

TypesofHumor

•  Narra)ves– scriptedstorieswithhumorousendings

•  Puns– humorusingwordswithdoublemeanings

•  Riddles– humorouslinguis>candculturalpuzzles

Raiseyourhandifyouarefamiliarwithanyofthesetypesofhumor.

Narra>ves

•  Veryshortstorieswithhumorousendings

•  Scriptedandplannedinadvance

•  Typicallyendwithapunchline–  thefinalphraseorsentenceofajokeorstorythatcausesthehumor

Narra>ves

•  Amanwalksintoalibraryandsaystothelibrarian,“I’llhaveacheeseburgerandfries,please.”

•  Thelibrarianresponds,“Sir,thisisalibrary.”

•  Themanthensays,“Oh,I’msorry.”Hethenwhispers,“I’llhaveacheeseburgerandfries,please.”

Puns

•  “Punsareaspecialformofhumorbasedondoublemeanings.”

•  Punscontaindoublemeaning•  Doublemeaningoftwowordsthat– soundverysimilar– soundthesame–  lookthesame

(Lems,2013)

•  Askunkfellinariverandstanktothebo]om.

•  Q:Whatkindofflowergrowsonyourface?•  A:Tulips!

•  Q:Whatkindofbirdisfoundataconstruc>onsite?

•  A:Acrane!

STANKsoundslikeSANK

(twolips)

Riddles

•  Riddlesareculturalandlinguis>cpuzzles

•  Theanswertoariddleisfunnybecause–  itisunexpected–  itrequiresseeingsomethingdifferently–  itmayinvolveusingwordsdifferently

Riddles

•  Whatisbrownands>cky?– As>ck!

•  Whathasaface,twohands,butnoarmsorlegs?– Aclock!

WordPlay

•  Playingwiththeformormeaningofwordsandphrases

•  Form– wri]enappearance– sound

•  Meaning– ambiguousmeaning– mul>plemeanings

(Cook,1997)

Playingwithlanguagepromoteslanguageknowledgeand

learning

WordPlay

•  Narra>ves– playwithmeaning(thisisalibrary)

•  Puns– playwithforms(tulipsandtwolips)

•  Riddles– playwithmeaning(s>cky=likeas>ck)

Humor,Play,andL2Learning

•  SocioculturalTheory– LevVygotsky– Socialac>vitypushesdevelopment

Raiseyourhandifyou

haveheardofVygotsky.

SocioculturalTheory

•  Differenttypesofpeopletointeractwith– someonemorecapable– someoneequallyascapable– someonelesscapable– andyourself

Itisthroughalloftheseformsof

interac>onthatlearningcanhappen

SocioculturalTheory

•  Playleadstodevelopment–  “inplayachildalwaysbehavesbeyondhisaverageage,abovehisdailybehavior;inplayitisasthoughhewereaheadtallerthanhimself”

•  Inotherwords…–  playingallowspeopletoengageindifficultlearningtasks

•  Humorandplayisanaffordance(orpossibleuse)–  itallowsforlearningincertainsitua>ons

(Vygotsky,1978,p.10)

ForExample:ALeaf

Aleafoffersdifferentaffordancestodifferentorganisms:

•  crawlingonforatreefrog•  cuengforanant•  foodforacaterpillar•  shadeforaspider•  medicineforashaman,andsoon.…

Humor,Play,andL2Learning

•  Interac)on–  languagelearningoccurswhenlearnersareinterac>nginmeaningfulconversa>on

•  Nego)a)ngMeaning– workingtobeunderstood– workingtounderstand

•  ModifyingLanguage– changingwhatwassaidtohelpunderstanding

LearnerCannotUnderstand

•  Stephen:Excuseme,Dave,butareyoufreerightnow?

•  Dave:AmIfree?Whatdoesthatmean?•  Stephen:Dave,areyoubusyrightnow?•  Dave:Oh,no,I’mnotbusy!

Stephen’schangesallowedcomprehension

LearnerCannotBeUnderstood

•  Dave:Idowantfoodforea>ng.•  Stephen:Whatareyousaying?•  Dave:Iamhungry.•  Stephen:OK,let’sgoeat!

Davemustchangehisoutputtobeunderstood

HumorandL2Learning

•  Encouragesinterac)onandsocialac)vity– helpsinteractwithdifferentcapabili>es– studentsaremorecomfortable

•  Promptsnego)a)on– conversa>onisrealis>candmeaningful– explainingandunderstandinghumor– considerdifferentformsandmeaningsofwords

Whataresomepossiblechallengeswhenusinghumorin

theclassroom?

Challenges

1.  Humoristoopersonal2.  Humormightoffendsomeone3.  Humorisnotseriouslanguage4.  Humorrequiresculturalknowledge5.  Humorisonlyforadvancedlearners

AddressingChallenges

•  Howdoeshumorfitin?– Humordoesnothavetobethegoalofthecourse– Usehumortohelpmeetyourcoursegoals

•  BackwardsDesign–  Wheredoyouwanttogo?–  Howdoyougetthere?–  Howdoyouknowyouarethere?

BackwardsDesign

•  Beginning:Learnerswillbeabletoexchangegree>ngsandintroducethemselvestoothers

•  Humorcanbeaneffec>ve“icebreaker”– makesini>alintroduc>onsmorecomfortable– givesstudentssomethingtouseoutsidetheclass

FourWaysofUsingHumor

1.  Iden>fyingHumor2. ComprehendingHumor3. ProducingHumor4. RespondingtoHumor

(BellandPomerantz,2016)

Iden>fyingHumor

•  Purpose– Buildstudents’abilitytorecognizehumor– (maynotunderstandhumor)

•  How– Analyzescriptedexamplesofhumor– Askstudents:howishumorbeingsignaledinthisexample?

Knock-KnockJokes

•  Originatedinthe1920s,duringtheperiodofAmericanhistorycalledProhibi9on

•  “Speakeasys”

•  Patronshadtohaveacodetogetin– Omentheywouldgotothedoorandknocktwice.– Theoperatorwouldask,“Who’sthere?”

Raiseyourhandifyouknowwhataknock-knockjokeis.

Knock-KnockJokes

•  FixedStructure– Knock,knock– Who’sthere?– noun– nounwho?– Punchline

Goodforyoungerandlessproficient

learners

Knock-KnockJokes

•  Knock,knock!•  Who’sthere?•  Cowsays.•  Cowsayswho?•  Nosilly,acowsaysMooooo!

Example2

•  Knock,knock!•  Who’sthere?•  Boo!•  Boowho?•  Don’tcry,it’sjustme.

Example1

Whenlearnershear“knock,knock”,theyknowtoexpectsomethinghumorous

Theycanbuilduponeachother

• Nose…Nosewho?•  Inoseanother“knock-knock”joke.

Knock,knock…Who’sthere?

•  Ears…Earswho?•  Earsanother“knock-knock”joke!

Knock,knock…Who’sthere?

•  Chin…Chinwho?•  Chinup!I’mnotgonnatellyouanymore“knock-knock”jokes.

Knock,knock…Who’sthere?

Knock-KnockJokes

•  Teacherscanusethemastransi>onsbetweenstories,ac>vi>es,ortasks

•  Sharedhumor– buildsrapport– an>cipatesfun– capturesa]en>on

ComprehendingHumor

•  Purpose– Studentscanbothiden>fyandunderstandexamplesofhumor

•  How– Teacherprovidesbackgroundknowledgenecessarytounderstandexamplesofhumor

– Teacherpromptsstudentstoconsidermeaningofcertainwords

PunComprehensionAc>vity

1.   Teachlearnersdifferenttypesofpuns– punsthatsoundverysimilar– punsthatsoundthesame– punsthatlookthesame

2.   Askstudentstoiden)fypuntypes–  ifnecessary,highlightkeywordsinthepuns–  studentsexplainwhatcauseshumorinthepun

3.   Askstudentstoexplainthedoublemeaninginthepun (Lems,2013)

Pun PunType?Ques>on:Howdoyoustopachargingbull?Answer:Takeawayitscreditcard.

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Iprac>cemyhandwri>ngbecauseit’stherightthingtodo.

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Howdoesafarmercountaherdofcows?Withacow-culator!

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Pun PunType?Ques>on:Howdoyoustopachargingbull?Answer:Takeawayitscreditcard.

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Iprac>cemyhandwri>ngbecauseit’stherightthingtodo.

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Howdoesafarmercountaherdofcows?Withacow-culator!

Looksthesame

Soundsthesame

Soundsverysimilar

Pun ExplainthePunQues>on:Howdoyoustopachargingbull?Answer:Takeawayitscreditcard.

Meaning1: Meaning2:

Iprac>cemyhandwri>ngbecauseit’stherightthingtodo.

Meaning1: Meaning2:

Howdoesafarmercountaherdofcows?Withacow-culator!

Meaning1: Meaning2:

Pun ExplainthePunQues>on:Howdoyoustopachargingbull?Answer:Takeawayitscreditcard.

Meaning1:

running

Meaning2:

purchasing

Iprac>cemyhandwri>ngbecauseit’stherightthingtodo.

Meaning1:

to write

Meaning2:

to be correct

Howdoesafarmercountaherdofcows?Withacow-culator!

Meaning1:an animal

(cow)

Meaning2:a device

(calculator)

Whatlanguageskillsarebeingusedinthisac)vity?

Coopera>veLearningandHumor

WakeUpandGotoSleep

ClassroomSetup

Student1Asleep

Student2Asleep

Student4Asleep

Student3Asleep

Step1.Allstudentsstart“asleep.”Theyareclosingtheireyeswith

theirheadsdown.

TeacherGroup1

ClassroomSetup

Student1Awake

Student2Asleep

Student4Asleep

Student3Asleep

Step2.Teachertellsstudent1to“wakeup.”Thatstudentlooksandmemorizesawordtheteacherisshowing.

Teacher(Student1’sword)

Group1

ClassroomSetup

Student1Asleep

Student2Asleep

Student4Asleep

Student3Asleep

Step3.Teachertellsstudent1togobacktosleep.

TeacherGroup1

ClassroomSetup

Student1Asleep

Student2Asleep

Student4Asleep

Student3Asleep

Step4.Teacherrepeatssteps1-3witheachstudent,usinganewword

each>me.

TeacherGroup1

ClassroomSetup

Student1Awake

Student2Awake

Student4Awake

Student3Awake

Step5.Allstudentswakeupandformasentencewiththeirmemorized

words.

TeacherGroup1

ForExampleStudent1:DaveandStephen

Student3:are

Student4:thebest

Student2:teachers!

Answer:DaveandStephenarethebestteachers!

Riddles

1.  Manystoriesarebuiltaroundriddles

2.  Riddleshavebeenusedtoeducate,totestproblem-solvingskills,andprovokediscussion

3.  Chooseriddlescarefully–goodlead-inandcanserveascomprehensionques>onsaboutastory (Baltuck,1993,p.110)

FairyTaleExample

•  FairyTales– culturalstorieswithlessons

•  ThreeLihlePigs–  threepigseachbuildahouse– oneisbrick– oneiss>ck– oneisstraw

•  Awolftriestoblowdownalltheirhouses– onlythepigwhospent>meusingbrickkeepshishouse

Whatdidthefirstli]lepigsayamerthewolfblewdownhishouse?

Student2:the

Student1:straw!”

Student3:“That’s

Student4:last

“That’sthelaststraw!”

Whatdidthefirstli]lepigsayamerthewolfblewdownhishouse?

ProducingHumor

•  Purpose– Developlearners’abilitytoproducehumor– Gainmorelanguageskillsandknowledge– Growdifferentwaysofusingsecondlanguage

•  How– providestudentswithtopicsorframestocreatehumor

•  Narra)ves–  teachingnarra>vesallowsproduc>on

JokeComple>onAc>vity

1.  Teachergivesstudentspunsthataremissingasingleword

2.  Studentsaregivenseveralop>onstocompletethejoke

3.  Theyareaskedtochoosethewordthatwillcreatehumor–  followup–askstudentstoexplainwhytheir

answerisfunny

JokeComple>onAc>vity

(Earnest,2008)

JokeComple>onAc>vity

Knock-KnockJokeInterac>on

1.  Providestudentswithexamplesofknock-knockjokes

2.  Thenprovideemptyframesofknock-knockjokes

3.  Studentsworkinpairstothinkofnouns+whothatwillcreateafunnyknock-knockjoke

4.  Studentsthentelltheirjokestoeachother–  mostlikelywillhavetoexplaintheirjokestoeach

other

Instruc)ons:Canyouandyourpartnerthinkofanounthatwill

makeajokewhencombinedwithwho?

Considerboththesoundandthemeaningwhen

thinkingofajoke.

Nowshareyourknock-knockjokes

withyourclassmates.Bereadytoexplainyourjokeifothersdon’tunderstand!

RespondingtoHumor

•  Purpose– Growlearnerabilitytopar>cipateinhumor

•  How– Providesitua>onsforlearnersto(safely)engageinahumorousdiscussion

–  requiresiden>fying,comprehending,andproducing

•  ChecktheNingforexamples

AUnitonHumorExample:BusinessEnglish

•  Businessesusepunsinadver>sementstoa]ractcustomers

•  Curricularunitonrecogni>onandproduc>onofpunsandwordplayinadver>sing–  askstudentstofindexamplesofpuns

–  askstudentstocreatepunsforfic>onalproducts

OverviewCheck

•  Definehumorandlanguageplay

•  Describetheore>calreasonsforusinghumorandplayintheclassroom

•  Provideexamplesforimplemen>nghumorandplayintothelanguageclassroom

ThankYou!

•  Theconversa>onisnotover!•  Welookforwardtocoveringmorehumorandlanguageplaytopicsinourpost-webinarNingdiscussion!

References•  Baltuck,N.(1993).Crazygibberishandotherstoryhour

stretches:Fromastoryteller’sbagoftricks.Hamden,Connec>cut:LinnetBooks.

•  Bell,N.&Pomerantz,A.(2016).Humorintheclassroom:Aguideforlanguageteachersandeduca9onalresearchers.NewYorkandLondon:Routledge,TaylorandFrancis.

•  Cook,G.(1997).Languageplay,languagelearning.EnglishLanguageTeachingJournal,51(3),224-231.

•  Earnest,R.(2008).Justkidding:Jokesforkidsbykids.LuluPublishing.

•  Lems,K.(2013).LaughingAlltheWay:TeachingEnglishUsingPuns.InEnglishTeachingForum(Vol.51,No.1,pp.26-33).USDepartmentofState.BureauofEduca>onalandCulturalAffairs,OfficeofEnglishLanguagePrograms,SA-5,2200CStreetNW4thFloor,Washington,DC20037.

ReferencesCon>nued•  Mar>n,R.(2007).Thepsychologyofhumor:Anintegra9veapproach.Boston,MA:ElsevierAcademicPress.

•  vanLier,L.(2000).Frominputtoaffordance:Social-interac>velearningfromaecologicalperspec>ve.InJ.P.Lantolf(Ed.),Socioculturaltheoryandsecondlanguagelearning(pp.245-259).Oxford,England:OxfordUniversityPress.

•  Vygotsky,L.S.(1978).Mindinsociety.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress.