𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮!

Institución oferente: Instituto Superior Goya

Autor y tutor del curso: Prof. Lic. Griselda Mazzuchini
Año: 2023

WEEK 2

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 WEEK 2 –THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

ABOUT THE COURSE

This course is called Humour and more! and it is the second of the … and more!
series, following Idioms and more! which was delivered last year.
The idea is to explore new techniques, resources and tools that teachers use in
their classrooms through the use of humour. Memes, short videos, short stories,
cartoons, and many other resources will be introduced along with sample
activities and useful ready-made ideas.
Humour is not just telling a joke, it is a way of introducing grammar points,
vocabulary, revising any topic and much more!

OBJECTIVES:
By the end of the course, the teachers will be able to:
 understand the vocabulary related to humour;
 learn different teaching strategies related to humour;
 learn how to use different tools and resources related to humour.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
What is humour? Is it possible to use humour as a teaching strategy? We are going
to work with different strategies, techniques and material. I hope that you find
this course interesting, useful and FUNNY.
There are lots of reasons why teachers should use humour as part of their lessons.
According to Manlongat et al (2021) “anything that causes the body to relax,
people to breathe a little, causes a smile, or brings happiness is humour. Laughter
helps ease tension. It increases confidence and enhances mental functioning”
(p22). These are some of the reasons to use humour in our lessons.
This week, we are going to work with some definitions, theories and strategies
related to humour. Let’s start!

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USEFUL DEFINITIONS
ENJOYMENT /ɪnˈdʒɔɪmənt/
(n) The feeling you get when you enjoy doing something.
ENTERTAINMENT /ˌentə(r)ˈteɪnmənt/
(n) Things such as performances and films which are intended to be
enjoyable.
FUN /fʌn/
(n) An experience or activity that is very enjoyable and
exciting.
(adj) Enjoyable and amusing.
HUMOUR
Humour (BrE), humor (AmE) /ˈhjuːmə(r)/
(n) The ability or tendency to think that things are funny, or funny things
you say that show you have this ability.
HUMOURLESS
Humourless (BrE), humorless (AmE) /ˈhjuːmə(r)ləs/
(adj) Too serious and not able to laugh at things that other people think
are funny.
IN A GOOD / AN ILL / A BAD HUMOUR
(n) In a good or bad mood.
JOKE /dʒəʊk/
(n) Something that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny
story or trick: + about
Tell a joke = repeat a funny story
Make a joke = say something intended to be funny
Get a joke = understand a joke and find it funny
Laugh at somebody’s jokes / Play a joke on somebody = trick someone to
make people laugh

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MEME /miːm/
(n) A humorous image, video or piece of text that spreads very quickly on
the internet, often being changed by different users.
PLEASURE /ˈpleʒə(r)/
(n) An experience or activity that makes you feel happy and satisfied.
PRANK /præŋk/
(n) A trick, especially one which is played on someone to
make them look silly.
PRANKSTER /ˈpræŋkstə(r)/
(n) Someone who plays tricks on people to make them
look silly.
PUN /pʌn/
(n) A humorous use of a word that has two meanings, or of words with the
same sound but different meanings.
RIDDLE /ˈrɪd(ə)l/
(n) A question that is deliberately very confusing and has a humorous or
clever answer.

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HUMOUR STRATEGIES
Humour can provide a multitude of benefits for language learners, including
improvement of classroom atmosphere and a reduction of anxiety. Moreover,
the integration of humour into language lessons has been strongly endorsed by
both students and teachers. What is less clear is which types of humour strategies
are seen to be most effective, as well as the degree to which learner
characteristics affect their responses to humour.

THEORETICAL PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORKS

There are plenty of studies and researches made on the use of humour in the
classroom, but, to be honest, just a few theories that really explore jokes and
funny resources in teaching. One of the most important ones is the Instructional
Humour Processing Theory presented by Wanzer (2010) which identifies the
important role that humour plays in learner development and explores
approaches whereby instructors can maximize educational outcomes. This
theory, for example, posits that when humorous content is strongly related to the
learning material, and includes elements that enable students to better process
that material, learning is enhanced.

BENEFITS OF USING HUMOUR IN THE CLASSROOM

Using humour in our classrooms can bring lots of benefits. According to Magdalini
Papazoglou (2019) students are more motivated, feel more cheerful, feel less
anxious and show greater interest and engagement to the subject matter.
Generally, humour creates a more positive atmosphere in the classroom, a closer
relationship between teacher and students, and encourages positive feelings
about teaching and learning. Furthermore, it has been tested that using activities
related to humour can increase the students’ memory.
Teachers state that they use humour in order to decrease
tensions, to help students feel more comfortable, and to
improve their relationships with them. They also use it to
convey serious messages in a funny way, to motivate students,
to attract students’ attention and interest, as well as to
promote learning. They also mention that they use humour to
maintain their own interest in teaching or to relax.

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Many teachers have stated that the use of humour in the classroom helps
students and teachers to express themselves, to feel they belong and to
communicate in a less formal way, bringing students and teachers closer to each
other. Thus, by using humour and creating a positive emotional and social
atmosphere, students may be more able to concentrate on the information
presented.

WHY SOME TEACHERS DON’T USE HUMOUR IN TEACHING

However, some teachers are reluctant to use humour in their classrooms, there
is little research on the reasons behind this reluctance. For example, some
primary school teachers avoid or discourage humour in class because they are
afraid of losing control of the class, they believe that it is not beneficial to
learning, and they perceive teaching as “serious business”. In addition, the fear
that their students will not take the lesson seriously and therefore teachers will
lose part of their authority and the respect of their students could be another
reason.
Humour, especially jokes or funny stories, should be related to the lesson,
otherwise, they might be seen as a waste of precious teaching time. Therefore, it
is possible that the teachers believe there is no time to waste because they feel
pressure to get through the course material or they believe that they are not
endowed with a good sense of humour. Some teachers state that, because they
have not received training on how to use humour appropriately, they are hesitant
to use humour in the classroom.

TYPES OF HUMOUR IN THE CLASSROOM

Researchers have made attempts to classify humour instead of trying to define it.
The categorization of humour types is based on a number of criteria:
 type (the forms humour takes, e.g. jokes or comments),
 subjects (who/which humour is directed to, e.g. the teacher himself, the
students, the topic or the lesson),
 relevance (to the lesson)
 the levels of preparation (whether the humour is prepared in advance or
it is spontaneous).

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The attempts of classification vary in the number of categories of humour, with
the simplest ones classifying humour broadly into positive or negative. We can
also say that humour can take the form of:
 Humour expressed by the teacher towards him/herself,
 Humour directed at a student,
 Innocent humour (without a target),
 Humour from an external source (e.g. a cartoon).
 Non-verbal humour.

INAPPROPRIATE HUMOUR
According to John Hellner (2006) one absolute rule of classroom humour is: never
make the student the target. In general, any word, sound or action causing
embarrassment or discomfort to a student makes the student a target. Therefore,
avoid classroom humour that:
• puts down or ridicules people
• insults personal or private matters
• judges people
• impersonates disabilities (physical, mental, social, speech etc.)
• makes fun of death or misfortune
• slurs or dehumanises an ethnic group, race or gender
• aims to be hurtful or hostile
• is sarcastic
• is cynical and suspicious of people
• aims to boost your own ego
• uses vulgar or taboo language
• denigrates sensitive issues or commonly held virtues
• makes light of issues that young people consider serious such as sex,
drugs, drinking, suicide.

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References
Hellner, J. (2006). Using Humour in the Classroom. Essential Resources
Educational Publishers Limited.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. (2014). Sixth Edition. Pearson.
Manlongat, M; Castor, A & Chavez, R. (2021). Use of Humor as a Teaching Strategy
in the Junior High School English Classroom. IOER International
Multidisciplinary Research Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4
Neff, P. & Dewaele, J. (2022). Humor strategies in the foreign language class,
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. Doshisha University.
Papazoglou, M. (2019). The Place of Humour in the Classroom. University of
Thessaly.

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