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The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning

Year 2014, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, - , 01.12.2013

Ali Ziyaeemehr Vijay Kumar

Abstract

Humor is an integral component of any language and therefore has an impact on the way languages are acquired/learned. Numerous studies have investigated the role of instructor humor in teaching/learning processes; however, there is little empirical research on the relationship between instructor humor and learning of a second language. This paper investigated the relationship of English as a second language (ESL) instructors’ humor orientation (IHO) to students’ perceptions of second language learning (SLL). Perceived L2 learning was also examined in relation to students’ perceived importance of humor (IH) and effects of humor (EH). Additionally, variations in the interaction between IHO, SLL, IH and EH across students’ education level, ethnicity and gender were examined. It was found that high levels of instructor humor orientation associated significantly with students’ L2 learning perceptions. Also strong correlations were found between students’ perceived SLL behaviors and their perceived IH and EH. However, student perceived IHO, SLL, IH and EH did not vary significantly across their gender, ethnicity, and education level. Implications of the study for second language education and materials development along with the limitations of the study have been discussed

Keywords

Verbal Humor Humor Orientation Importance of Humor Effects of Humor

References

  • Attardo, S., and Raskin, V. (1991). Script theory revis(it)ed: joke similarity and joke representation model. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 4: 293-347.
  • Aylor, B., and Oppliger, P. (2003). Out-of-class communication and student perceptions of instructor humor orientation and socio-communicative style. Communication Education. 52: 122-134.
  • Baringer, D. K. and McCroskey, J. C. (2000). Immediacy in the classroom: Student immediacy. Communication Education, 49(2): 178-186.
  • Bell, N. (2009). Learning about and through humor in the second language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 13(3): 241-258.
  • Belz, J., and Reinhardt, J. (2004). Aspects of advanced foreign language proficiency: Internet-mediated German language play. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(3): 324-362.
  • Booth-Butterfield, S., and Booth-Butterfield, M. (1991). The communication of humor in everyday life: Individual differences in the use of humorous messages. The Southern Communication Journal, 56: 205-218.
  • Bryant, J., and Zillmann, D. (1989).Using humor to promote learning in the classroom. In P.E. McGhee (Ed.), Humor and children’s development: A guide to practical applications (49-78). New York: Haworth Press.
  • Byram, M., and Grundy, P. (2002).Context and culture in language teaching and learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 15(3): 193-195.
  • Cook, G. (2000). Language play, language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Coser, R. L. (1960).Laughter among colleagues. Psychiatry. 23: 81-95.
  • Davies, A. P., and Apter, M. J. (1980).Humor and its effect on learning in children. In P. E. McGhee and A. J. Chapman (Eds.), Children's humor (pp. 237-254). New York: Wiley.
  • Deneire, M. (1995).Humor and foreign language teaching. Humor-International Journal of Humor Research. 8(3): 285-298.
  • Downs, V. C., Javidi, M., and Nussbaum, J. F. (1988). An analysis of teachers’ verbal communication within the college classroom: Use of humor, self-disclosure, and narratives. Communication Education. 37(2): 127-141.
  • Englert, L. M. (2010). Learning with laughter: Using humor in the nursing classroom. Nursing Education Perspectives. 31(1): 48-49.
  • Frymier, A. B., Shulman, G. M., and Houser, M. (1996).The development of a learner empowerment measure. Communication Education: 45(3): 181-199.
  • Frymier, A.B., Wanzer, M.B., and Wajtaszczyk, A.M. (2008).Assessing students’ perceptions of inappropriate and appropriate teacher humor. Communication Education: 57: 266-288.
  • Garner, R. L. (2006). Humor in pedagogy: How ha-ha can lead to aha College Teaching. 1: 54.
  • Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behavior and student learning. Communication Education. 37: 40-53.
  • Gorham, J., and Christophel, D. M. (1990).The relationship of teachers’ use of humor in the classroom to immediacy and student learning. Communication Education. 39(1): 46- 62.
  • Gorham, J., and Christophel, D. M. (1992).Students’ perceptions of teacher behaviors as motivating and demotivating factors in college classes. Communication Quarterly, 40: 239-252.
  • Hativa, N. (2001). Teaching for Effective Learning in Higher Education. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Holmes, J. (2000). Politeness, power and provocation: How humor functions in the workplace. Discourse Studies. 2(2): 159-185.
  • Holmes, J. (2006). Sharing a laugh: Pragmatic aspects of humor and gender in the workplace.Journal of Pragmatics. 38(1): 26-50.
  • Houser, M. L., Cowan, R. L., and West, D. A. (2007). Investigating a new education frontier: Instructor communication behavior in CD-ROM texts-do traditionally positive behaviors translate into this new environment? Communication Quarterly. 55: 19_38.
  • Kelley, D. H., and Gorham, J. (1988). Effects of immediacy on recall of information. Communication Education. 37: 198-207.
  • Kher, N. M., Molstad, S., and Donahue, R. (1999). Using humor in the college classroom to enhance teaching effectiveness in dread courses. College Student Journal. 33: 400-406.
  • Korobkin, D. (1989). Humor in the classroom: Considerations and strategies. College Teaching. 36(4): 154-158.
  • Kotthoff, H. (2006). Gender and humor: The state of the art. Journal of Pragmatics. 38(1): 4-25.
  • Lynch, O. (2002). Humorous communication: Finding a place for humor in communication research. Communication Theory. 12(2): 423-445.
  • McCroskey, J. C., Richmond, V. P. and Bennett, V. E. (2006). The relationships of student end-of-class motivation with teacher communication behaviors and instructional outcomes. Communication Education. 55(4): 403-414.
  • Medgyes, P. (2002). Laughing Matters: Humor in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mehrabian, A. (1969). Some referents and measures of nonverbal behavior. Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation. 1: 213–217.
  • Meyer, J. C. (2000). Humor as a double-edged sword: Four functions of humor in communication. Communication Theory. 10: 310-331.
  • Muqun, W., and Lu, W. (2006).The functions of humor in classroom instruction [Electronic Version]. Asian EFL Journal 16.Retrieved October, 20, 2012, from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/pta_october_06_wm&wl.php.
  • Neuliep, J. W. (1991). An examination of the content of high school teacher’s humor in the classroom and the development of an inductively derived taxonomy of classroom humor. Communication Education. 40: 343-355.
  • Norrick, N. (2007). Interdiscourse humor: Contrast, merging, accommodation. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 20(4): 389-413.
  • Norrick, N. R. (1993). Conversational joking: Humor in everyday talk. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Norton, R. (1983). Communicator style: Theory, applications, and measures. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE
  • Partington, A. (2006). The linguistics of laughter: A corpus-assisted study of laughter talk. New York: Routledge.
  • Plax, T. G., Kearney, P., McCroskey, J. C., and Richmond, V. P. (1986). Power in the classroom: Verbal control strategies, nonverbal immediacy, and affective learning. Communication Education. 35: 43-55.
  • Provine, R.R. (1993). Laughter punctuates speech: Linguistic, social and gender contexts of laughter. Ethology, 95, 291–298.
  • Raskin, V. (1985). Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
  • Richmond, V. P., Wrench, J. S., and Gorham, J. (2001).Communication, affect, and learning in the classroom. Acton, MA: Tapestry Press.
  • Ritchie, G. (2003). The linguistic analysis of jokes. London: Routledge.
  • Schmitz, J. R. (2002). Humor as a pedagogical tool in foreign language and translation courses. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 15(1): 89-113.
  • Shade, A. R. (1996). License to Laugh: Humor in the Classroom. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing.
  • Thorson, J. A., and Powell, F. C. (1993). Development and validation of a multidimensional sense of humor scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 49(1): 13-23.
  • Torok, S., McMorris, R., and Lin, W. (2004). Is humor an appreciated teaching tool? College Teaching. 52(1): 14-20.
  • Wagner, M. and Urios-Aparisi, E. (2011).The use of humor in the foreign language classroom: Funny and effective? Humor. 24(4): 399–434.
  • Wanzer, M. (2002). Use of humor in the classroom: The good, the bad, and the not-so funny things that teachers say and do. In J. L. C. J. C. McCroskey (Ed.), Communication for Teachers (pp. 116-126). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Wanzer, M. B., and Frymier, A. B. (1999).The relationship between student perception of instructor humor and students’ reports of learning. Communication Education. 48: 48-62.
  • Wanzer, M. B., Frymier, A. B., and Irwin, B. (2010). An explanation of the relationship between teacher humor and student learning: Instructional humor processing theory. Communication Education. 59 (1): 1-18
  • Wanzer, M., Booth-Butterfield, M., and Booth-Butterfield, S. (1995). The funny people: A source orientation to the communication of humor. Communication Quarterly. 43: 142-154.
  • Wanzer, M., Booth-Butterfield, M., and Booth-Butterfield, S. (1997)."If we didn't use humor, we'd cry:" Predispositional and situational influences on humorous coping communication in health care settings. Paper presented at the annual meeting the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
  • Zillmann, D., and Bryant, J. (1980).Misattribution theory of tendentious humor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 16: 146-160.
  • Ziv, A. (1979). The teacher’s sense of humor and the atmosphere in the classroom. School Psychology International. 1(2): 21-23.
  • Ziv, A. (1988). Teaching and learning with humor: Experiment and replication. Journal of Experimental Education. 57: 5-15.
  • Ziyaeemehr, A., Kumar, V., & Faiz, S. A. (2011). Use and Non-use of Humor in Academic ESL Classrooms. English Language Teaching, (4)3, 111-119. Turkish Abstract
  • Öğretmen Mizah Yönelimiyle Öğrencilerin İkinci Dil Öğrenmeleriyle İlgili Bildirileri Arasındaki İlişki
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Sözel Mizah, Mizah Yönelimi, Mizahın Önemi, Mizahın Etkileri, İkinci Dil Öğrenme French Abstract
  • La Relation entre l'Orientation Humour d'Instructeur et le Rapport sur d'Étudiants Deuxième Apprentissage des langues
  • ةباعدلاب هيناث ةغلك ةيزيلجنلااESL و حرملا و هباع
  • – تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك
  • – ةباعد تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك
  • ةباعدلا رثأ– ةباعدلا ةيمهأ ةباعد تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك . ةيناث ةغل ميلعت–

The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning

Year 2014, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, - , 01.12.2013

Ali Ziyaeemehr Vijay Kumar

Abstract

-

Keywords

-

References

  • Attardo, S., and Raskin, V. (1991). Script theory revis(it)ed: joke similarity and joke representation model. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 4: 293-347.
  • Aylor, B., and Oppliger, P. (2003). Out-of-class communication and student perceptions of instructor humor orientation and socio-communicative style. Communication Education. 52: 122-134.
  • Baringer, D. K. and McCroskey, J. C. (2000). Immediacy in the classroom: Student immediacy. Communication Education, 49(2): 178-186.
  • Bell, N. (2009). Learning about and through humor in the second language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 13(3): 241-258.
  • Belz, J., and Reinhardt, J. (2004). Aspects of advanced foreign language proficiency: Internet-mediated German language play. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(3): 324-362.
  • Booth-Butterfield, S., and Booth-Butterfield, M. (1991). The communication of humor in everyday life: Individual differences in the use of humorous messages. The Southern Communication Journal, 56: 205-218.
  • Bryant, J., and Zillmann, D. (1989).Using humor to promote learning in the classroom. In P.E. McGhee (Ed.), Humor and children’s development: A guide to practical applications (49-78). New York: Haworth Press.
  • Byram, M., and Grundy, P. (2002).Context and culture in language teaching and learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 15(3): 193-195.
  • Cook, G. (2000). Language play, language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Coser, R. L. (1960).Laughter among colleagues. Psychiatry. 23: 81-95.
  • Davies, A. P., and Apter, M. J. (1980).Humor and its effect on learning in children. In P. E. McGhee and A. J. Chapman (Eds.), Children's humor (pp. 237-254). New York: Wiley.
  • Deneire, M. (1995).Humor and foreign language teaching. Humor-International Journal of Humor Research. 8(3): 285-298.
  • Downs, V. C., Javidi, M., and Nussbaum, J. F. (1988). An analysis of teachers’ verbal communication within the college classroom: Use of humor, self-disclosure, and narratives. Communication Education. 37(2): 127-141.
  • Englert, L. M. (2010). Learning with laughter: Using humor in the nursing classroom. Nursing Education Perspectives. 31(1): 48-49.
  • Frymier, A. B., Shulman, G. M., and Houser, M. (1996).The development of a learner empowerment measure. Communication Education: 45(3): 181-199.
  • Frymier, A.B., Wanzer, M.B., and Wajtaszczyk, A.M. (2008).Assessing students’ perceptions of inappropriate and appropriate teacher humor. Communication Education: 57: 266-288.
  • Garner, R. L. (2006). Humor in pedagogy: How ha-ha can lead to aha College Teaching. 1: 54.
  • Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behavior and student learning. Communication Education. 37: 40-53.
  • Gorham, J., and Christophel, D. M. (1990).The relationship of teachers’ use of humor in the classroom to immediacy and student learning. Communication Education. 39(1): 46- 62.
  • Gorham, J., and Christophel, D. M. (1992).Students’ perceptions of teacher behaviors as motivating and demotivating factors in college classes. Communication Quarterly, 40: 239-252.
  • Hativa, N. (2001). Teaching for Effective Learning in Higher Education. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Holmes, J. (2000). Politeness, power and provocation: How humor functions in the workplace. Discourse Studies. 2(2): 159-185.
  • Holmes, J. (2006). Sharing a laugh: Pragmatic aspects of humor and gender in the workplace.Journal of Pragmatics. 38(1): 26-50.
  • Houser, M. L., Cowan, R. L., and West, D. A. (2007). Investigating a new education frontier: Instructor communication behavior in CD-ROM texts-do traditionally positive behaviors translate into this new environment? Communication Quarterly. 55: 19_38.
  • Kelley, D. H., and Gorham, J. (1988). Effects of immediacy on recall of information. Communication Education. 37: 198-207.
  • Kher, N. M., Molstad, S., and Donahue, R. (1999). Using humor in the college classroom to enhance teaching effectiveness in dread courses. College Student Journal. 33: 400-406.
  • Korobkin, D. (1989). Humor in the classroom: Considerations and strategies. College Teaching. 36(4): 154-158.
  • Kotthoff, H. (2006). Gender and humor: The state of the art. Journal of Pragmatics. 38(1): 4-25.
  • Lynch, O. (2002). Humorous communication: Finding a place for humor in communication research. Communication Theory. 12(2): 423-445.
  • McCroskey, J. C., Richmond, V. P. and Bennett, V. E. (2006). The relationships of student end-of-class motivation with teacher communication behaviors and instructional outcomes. Communication Education. 55(4): 403-414.
  • Medgyes, P. (2002). Laughing Matters: Humor in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mehrabian, A. (1969). Some referents and measures of nonverbal behavior. Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation. 1: 213–217.
  • Meyer, J. C. (2000). Humor as a double-edged sword: Four functions of humor in communication. Communication Theory. 10: 310-331.
  • Muqun, W., and Lu, W. (2006).The functions of humor in classroom instruction [Electronic Version]. Asian EFL Journal 16.Retrieved October, 20, 2012, from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/pta_october_06_wm&wl.php.
  • Neuliep, J. W. (1991). An examination of the content of high school teacher’s humor in the classroom and the development of an inductively derived taxonomy of classroom humor. Communication Education. 40: 343-355.
  • Norrick, N. (2007). Interdiscourse humor: Contrast, merging, accommodation. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 20(4): 389-413.
  • Norrick, N. R. (1993). Conversational joking: Humor in everyday talk. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Norton, R. (1983). Communicator style: Theory, applications, and measures. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE
  • Partington, A. (2006). The linguistics of laughter: A corpus-assisted study of laughter talk. New York: Routledge.
  • Plax, T. G., Kearney, P., McCroskey, J. C., and Richmond, V. P. (1986). Power in the classroom: Verbal control strategies, nonverbal immediacy, and affective learning. Communication Education. 35: 43-55.
  • Provine, R.R. (1993). Laughter punctuates speech: Linguistic, social and gender contexts of laughter. Ethology, 95, 291–298.
  • Raskin, V. (1985). Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
  • Richmond, V. P., Wrench, J. S., and Gorham, J. (2001).Communication, affect, and learning in the classroom. Acton, MA: Tapestry Press.
  • Ritchie, G. (2003). The linguistic analysis of jokes. London: Routledge.
  • Schmitz, J. R. (2002). Humor as a pedagogical tool in foreign language and translation courses. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. 15(1): 89-113.
  • Shade, A. R. (1996). License to Laugh: Humor in the Classroom. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing.
  • Thorson, J. A., and Powell, F. C. (1993). Development and validation of a multidimensional sense of humor scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 49(1): 13-23.
  • Torok, S., McMorris, R., and Lin, W. (2004). Is humor an appreciated teaching tool? College Teaching. 52(1): 14-20.
  • Wagner, M. and Urios-Aparisi, E. (2011).The use of humor in the foreign language classroom: Funny and effective? Humor. 24(4): 399–434.
  • Wanzer, M. (2002). Use of humor in the classroom: The good, the bad, and the not-so funny things that teachers say and do. In J. L. C. J. C. McCroskey (Ed.), Communication for Teachers (pp. 116-126). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Wanzer, M. B., and Frymier, A. B. (1999).The relationship between student perception of instructor humor and students’ reports of learning. Communication Education. 48: 48-62.
  • Wanzer, M. B., Frymier, A. B., and Irwin, B. (2010). An explanation of the relationship between teacher humor and student learning: Instructional humor processing theory. Communication Education. 59 (1): 1-18
  • Wanzer, M., Booth-Butterfield, M., and Booth-Butterfield, S. (1995). The funny people: A source orientation to the communication of humor. Communication Quarterly. 43: 142-154.
  • Wanzer, M., Booth-Butterfield, M., and Booth-Butterfield, S. (1997)."If we didn't use humor, we'd cry:" Predispositional and situational influences on humorous coping communication in health care settings. Paper presented at the annual meeting the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
  • Zillmann, D., and Bryant, J. (1980).Misattribution theory of tendentious humor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 16: 146-160.
  • Ziv, A. (1979). The teacher’s sense of humor and the atmosphere in the classroom. School Psychology International. 1(2): 21-23.
  • Ziv, A. (1988). Teaching and learning with humor: Experiment and replication. Journal of Experimental Education. 57: 5-15.
  • Ziyaeemehr, A., Kumar, V., & Faiz, S. A. (2011). Use and Non-use of Humor in Academic ESL Classrooms. English Language Teaching, (4)3, 111-119. Turkish Abstract
  • Öğretmen Mizah Yönelimiyle Öğrencilerin İkinci Dil Öğrenmeleriyle İlgili Bildirileri Arasındaki İlişki
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Sözel Mizah, Mizah Yönelimi, Mizahın Önemi, Mizahın Etkileri, İkinci Dil Öğrenme French Abstract
  • La Relation entre l'Orientation Humour d'Instructeur et le Rapport sur d'Étudiants Deuxième Apprentissage des langues
  • ةباعدلاب هيناث ةغلك ةيزيلجنلااESL و حرملا و هباع
  • – تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك
  • – ةباعد تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك
  • ةباعدلا رثأ– ةباعدلا ةيمهأ ةباعد تاهيجوت : ةماه تاملك . ةيناث ةغل ميلعت–
There are 65 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Ali Ziyaeemehr This is me

Vijay Kumar This is me

Publication Date December 1, 2013
Published in Issue Year 2014 Volume: 7 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Ziyaeemehr, A., & Kumar, V. (2013). The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning. International Journal of Instruction, 7(1).
AMA Ziyaeemehr A, Kumar V. The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning. International Journal of Instruction. December 2013;7(1).
Chicago Ziyaeemehr, Ali, and Vijay Kumar. “The Relationship Between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning”. International Journal of Instruction 7, no. 1 (December 2013).
EndNote Ziyaeemehr A, Kumar V (December 1, 2013) The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning. International Journal of Instruction 7 1
IEEE A. Ziyaeemehr and V. Kumar, “The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning”, International Journal of Instruction, vol. 7, no. 1, 2013.
ISNAD Ziyaeemehr, Ali - Kumar, Vijay. “The Relationship Between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning”. International Journal of Instruction 7/1 (December 2013).
JAMA Ziyaeemehr A, Kumar V. The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning. International Journal of Instruction. 2013;7.
MLA Ziyaeemehr, Ali and Vijay Kumar. “The Relationship Between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning”. International Journal of Instruction, vol. 7, no. 1, 2013.
Vancouver Ziyaeemehr A, Kumar V. The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students’ Report on Second Language Learning. International Journal of Instruction. 2013;7(1).