Laughing Matters: ELLs’ Comprehension and Perceptions of Humor

Talip Gönülal

doi:10.30703/cije.455199

TR EN

Gülmek Önemlidir: İngilizce Öğrenen Öğrencilerin Mizah Anlayışı ve Algısı

Öz

Mizah muhtemelen tüm insanlar için geçerli olan birkaç unsurdan biridir, ancak mizahın algılanışı ve takdir edilmesi bazı koşullara ve hatta kültüre bağlı olabilir. Mizahın yabancı dil öğrenme üzerindeki potansiyel etkisi son dönemde araştırılmaya başlansa da, mizah algısındaki kültürlerarası değişkenlik çok az ele alınmıştır. Bu yüzden, farklı kültürlerden gelen bir öğrenci grubuyla bir çalışma yapılmıştır. Toplamda üç genel gruptan (Türk, Asyalı, ve Avrupalı) oluşan 106 öğrenci bu çalışmaya katılmıştır. Katılımcılar önce 6 adet farklı türde mizah unsuru içeren senaryoları puanlayıp, sonra 25 soruluk mizah algı anketini doldurmuşlardır. Son olarak da 3 adet açık uçlu soruyu cevaplamışlardır. Sonuçlar, öğrencilerin dilsel ve kültürel mizaha kıyasla evrensel mizah unsuru içeren senaryolara daha pozitif yaklaştığını göstermiştir. Yabancı dil derslerinde mizah kullanımı konusunda ise Asyalı öğrenciler biraz olumsuz tutum takınırken Türk öğrenciler mizaha en açık grup olmuştur. Buna ek olarak, sonuçlar, mizahın İngilizce dil öğrenimine karşı oluşan duyuşsal engelleri azaltmak, öğrencilerin derse olan katılımını artırmak ve öğretmen-öğrenci arasındaki iletişimi güçlendirmek gibi çeşitli faydalarının olduğunu göstermiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Mizah,kültürel mizah,dilsel mizah,evrensel mizah,İngilizce öğrenen öğrenciler

Laughing Matters: ELLs’ Comprehension and Perceptions of Humor

Abstract

Humor is probably one of the few features applicable to virtually all people in the world, but the perception and appreciation of humor can be circumstantial and culture-dependent. Although the potential role of humor in language classrooms has been the topic of research over the last years, limited research has been conducted on cross-cultural variability in humor perception and appreciation. The current study, seeking to address this gap, was conducted with a multicultural group of English language learners (ELLs). One hundred and six ELLs consisting of three main groups (i.e., Turkish, Asian and European) took part in this study. After completing a language background questionnaire, participants rated 6 humorous scenarios and then completed a 25-item humor perception questionnaire. Further, participants answered three open-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire. The results indicated that learners generally assigned more positive scores to universal jokes when compared to linguistic and cultural jokes. As for the perception of humor use in English classrooms, Asian group held slightly less positive attitudes towards the use of humor whereas Turkish group was the one most interested in the employment of humor. In addition, the results indicated that humor was linked to several benefits such as lowering affective barriers to English language learning, increasing ELLs’ attentiveness in the classroom and improving teacher-student rapport.

Keywords

Humor,cultural humor,linguistic humor,universal humor,English language learners

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Talip Gönülal ^*
0000-0001-6441-4278
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 31, 2018

Submission Date

August 27, 2018

Acceptance Date

December 8, 2018

Published in Issue

Year 2018 Volume: 7 Number: 4

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30703/cije.455199

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA79CG35AS

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Gönülal, T. (2018). Laughing Matters: ELLs’ Comprehension and Perceptions of Humor. Cumhuriyet Uluslararası Eğitim Dergisi, 7(4), 453-468. https://doi.org/10.30703/cije.455199

Cited By

Investigating EFL learners’ humorous interactions with an intelligent personal assistant

Interactive Learning Environments

https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2021.1974489

Gülmek Önemlidir: İngilizce Öğrenen Öğrencilerin Mizah Anlayışı ve Algısı

Öz

Anahtar Kelimeler

Laughing Matters: ELLs’ Comprehension and Perceptions of Humor

Abstract

Keywords

References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

Cite

Cited By

Investigating EFL learners’ humorous interactions with an intelligent personal assistant

© Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Education