UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND ART

TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

HUMOUR FOR CREATING POSITIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

IN ENGLISH LESSONS

HUMORS POZITĪVAS KLASES VIDES VEICINĀŠANAI ANGĻU

VALODAS STUNDĀS

TERM PAPER

AUTHOR: ILONA KUKLIŠINA

ID.NO. ia13044
ADVISER: M.sc.educ. ANITA AUZIŅA

RIGA 2016
DECLARATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

I declare that this study is my own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from any
source.

_______________
Ilona Kuklišina
03.06.2016

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ABSTRACT

This Paper is the result of a research made in order to discover the effect of humour on
classroom environment, the attitudes and opinions about it among teachers and students in
Latvia and to elaborate guidelines for successful humour application in the English language
lessons.
Positive effects on the classroom atmosphere and various strategies for applying
humour in school were exposed during the studies of the literature. In the process of survey, a
questionnaire was carried out among secondary school students and the English language
teachers in order to find out their beliefs and attitudes towards humour and its effect, and the
data was carefully analysed to find similarities and differences between both research sample
groups.
Research data showed that both teachers and students in Latvia believe humour is a
facilitator of a positive classroom environment, although there are some differences on the
understanding what it is. Moreover, the guidelines, provided by the research sample, was
similar to the ones that were discovered during the literature analysis.
It was concluded that although humour has a positive effect on the classroom
atmosphere, there are several aspects that have to be taken into account not to have an
opposite impact. Thus, this research eventually can be advantageous for teachers, who are
willing to improve motivation and performance of their students by creating a positive and
welcoming atmosphere of their classroom.
Key words: humour, positive classroom environment, classroom climate, classroom
atmosphere.

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ANOTĀCIJA

Šis kursa darbs ir pētījuma rezultāts, kas tika veikts, lai atklātu humora ietekmi uz
klases vidi, noskaidrotu Latvijas skolēnu un skolotāju attieksmes un viedokļus par šo parādību
un tās iedarbību, un lai izveidotu vadlīnijas veiksmīgai humora izmantošanai angļu valodas
stundās.
Literatūras izpētes rezultātā tika atklāta pozitīva ietekme uz klases atmosfēru, kā arī tika
noskaidrotas dažādas stratēģijas humora pielietošanai skolā. Pēc tam tika veikta aptauja
vidusskolas skolēnu un angļu valodas skolotāju vidū, lai uzzinātu viņu uzskatus un attieksmes
pret humoru un tā iedarbību, visi dati tika rūpīgi analizēti, lai atrastu līdzības un atšķirības
starp abām izlasēm.
Pētījuma dati parādīja, ka gan skolotāji, gan skolēni Latvijā uzskata, ka humors ir
pozitīvas klases atmosfēras veicinātājs, kaut arī tika ievērotas dažas atšķirības tajā, kā izlases
saprot, kas ir humors. Turklāt, vadlīnijas, kas tika izstrādātas pēc pētījuma izlases viedokļu
analīzes, bija līdzīgas tām, kas tika atklātas literatūras izpētē.
Tika secināts, ka humoram ir pozitīva iedarbība uz klases atmosfēru, tomēr ir vairāki
aspekti, kurus jāņem vērā, lai nebūtu sasniegta pretēja ietekme. Tādējādi, dotais pētījums var
būt noderīgs skolotājiem, kas vēlas uzlabot savu skolēnu motivāciju un mācību sasniegumus,
veidojot pozitīvu un labvēlīgu klases atmosfēru.
Atslēgvārdi: humors, pozitīva klases vide, klases klimats, klases atmosfēra.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6

1. Classroom Environment ...................................................................................................... 8

1.1 Positive Classroom Climate .............................................................................................. 9

1.2 Strategies to Achieve Positive Classroom Climate ......................................................... 10

2. The Role of Humour ........................................................................................................... 12

2.1 The Influence of Humour on the Learning Environment ................................................ 13

2.2 The Ways of Applying Humour in the English Language Lessons ................................. 14

3. Survey on Humour for Creating Positive Classroom Environment in English Lessons

.................................................................................................................................................. 16
3.1 Analysis of the Questionnaires for Teachers .................................................................. 16

3.2 Analysis of the Questionnaires for Students ................................................................... 20

3.3 Comparative Analysis of Students’ and Teachers’ Opinions and Suggestions for
Applying Humour in the English Language Lessons ............................................................ 24

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 27

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 29
Appendices

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INTRODUCTION

Every teacher has his or her rules and request, which are made in order to achieve better
results in the learning. Not only the actions and exercises, which are being done during the
lessons matter, but overall physical and mental environment of an educational facility.
Maintaining a productive learning process and friendly, positive environment is the main aim
of classroom management (Woolfolk, 2001).
Positive environment is vital, because it affects many significant parts of learning
process. A research, made by Fraser (1998), suggests that classroom environment influences
student behaviour, achievements, participation in lesson activities, and overall quality of
school life. The problem is what the teacher can do in order to create this friendly
environment and to encourage students to be positive.
The author of this Paper, as an inexperienced teacher, has struggled with putting the
right priorities in her lesson plans. It seemed to be too much to think of during one lesson.
Swafford et al. (2014) advise such teachers to take into account six functions when organizing
a friendly learning atmosphere: security, shelter, social contact, symbolic identification, task
instrumentality and pleasure. The goals are to make students feel secure, socially accepted and
bring more pleasure with humour.
Humour is an important phenomenon, which is present in every society or culture of the
world. Not only it brings amusement, but also humour can influence the atmosphere of the
group and positively affect the surroundings. Humour is natural to any human being, likewise
a need to communicate and speak. Therefore, it can be used as a powerful tool in the English
language classroom to create a positive atmosphere, release the tension and help to reduce
frustration to struggling students.
The remedial effect of the humour has been proven in the field of medicine and
psychology. For instance, the research, which was made at the nursing homes, has proven that
the humour therapy group reduced the anxiety and the amount of happiness was increased
(Low, et al. 2014). Whereas little discoveries were made about the impact of humour in
education, especially, its influence on the language learning process.
More than any other subject, foreign language learning requires friendly and inclusive
atmosphere inside the classroom, where every student would feel free to speak out and where
no one would feel threatened or judged upon their point of view or their current language
skills. Used naturally and professionally, humour is able to involve even timid students into
the learning process, and relieve the atmosphere of the classroom in general. Considering all
of the statements given above, this particular topic was chosen for further researching.
6
 The aim of the Term Paper is to explore the effect of humour for creating positive
classroom environment in English lessons.
The objectives of the Term Paper are the following:
 to find out the opinions of various authors about the effect of humour on the classroom
environment,
 to explore the opinions of teachers and students about the humour in the English
language classrooms,
 to produce tips on how to use humour in order to create a positive learning atmosphere
in English lessons.
The research questions are the following:
1) why humour promotes the positive environment in the English language classroom;
2) what opinions teachers and students of Latvia have about humour;
3) in what way it should be applied in English lessons.
The method of this research is a survey which was held electronically among the
teachers of the English language and secondary school students of Latvia from March till
April in 2016.
The data collection methods to find out the opinions, attitudes and experiences of the
respondents are questionnaires for both students and teachers to discover their opinion about
positive classroom environment and humour.
Outline of chapters:
Chapter 1 reveals the concept of a positive classroom environment, its components and
strategies how friendly learning environment can be achieved.
Chapter 2 explains the role of humour, its influence on the learning environment and
the ways humour can be used in the English language lessons.
Chapter 3 presents the survey carried out among 53 teachers of the English language
and 51 secondary school students of Latvia. Questionnaires of both students and teachers are
processed, analysed, and compared with each other and with the opinions and descriptions in
the literature.

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 1. Classroom Environment

Every single person has experienced being in the classroom, and, at the first glance, it
seems to be intuitively understandable what classroom environment is. Although, examining
this concept deeper, it appears to be much more complex. In order to understand what positive
classroom actually is, there has to be an idea of what classroom environment consists of.
Therefore, the author of the Paper has studied concepts and definitions of classroom
environment, which are described in this chapter.
Miller and Cunningham (2011) suggest that classroom environment is a complex term,
which describes rather broad range of various educational concepts. They suggested that two
largest parts of it are physical setting of the classroom and psychological environment,
including relationships between students and their teacher. With the intention of giving a
particular term for the psychological environment, Miller and Cunningham introduce the term
“classroom climate”.
In contrast, Evertson (2011) states another point of view, arguing that the centre of
classroom environment is relationships between the participants of the lesson (psychological
environment), and the classroom setting is an important surrounding of it (physical
environment). Putting it this way, a psychological element becomes a dominant component of
the classroom atmosphere. If so, a stronger emphasis should be on creating positive emotional
environment.
Whereas, Firestone (2003) adds another component to a positive classroom
environment. Besides physical and psychological atmosphere, she stresses instructional
atmosphere, which is the way how a teacher is giving instructions (voice, pace, graded
language, intonation, gestures). Firestone states that these three elements are essential in order
to create a positive learning atmosphere, which allows students to be at ease and feel
confident about their learning skills.
Considered all the arguments and concepts given above, the author of the Paper believes
that classroom environment is a complex term to describe the learning atmosphere. Each
component of the classroom environment is important in order to create a positive learning
atmosphere, which would promote and encourage each student to reach their potential and
make them enjoy the time spent in the classroom.
The components of classroom environment are equally important, although they are not
just as easy to attain. For instance, physical environment is, in comparison to other aspects,
easy to monitor. It is possible to define, whether the classroom is clean, warm, safe for
students, whether it has comfortable and ergonomic desks and chairs, whether everyone can
8
see the blackboard and whether it has some engaging posters on the walls, which motivates
students and promotes learning. Similarly, although it might be a bit more challenging, it is
possible to see whether the instructions, which the teacher has given, were successful, because
the work of students will define that. The most difficult component to examine and change is
psychological environment, because it cannot be seen immediately and, at the first glance, it
might look like the students are working and cooperating, but there might be no enjoyment or
support from the group what so ever. Therefore, the author of the Paper is further paying
attention to the psychological atmosphere of the classroom. As different authors named it
differently (classroom environment, classroom atmosphere, classroom climate), these terms
can be used interchangeably, however for the sake of clarity it is further referred to as a
positive classroom climate.

1.1 Positive Classroom Climate

Positive classroom climate is the atmosphere or mood in which the teacher-student

interaction takes place (Burden, 2006). Whether the classroom climate is positive or negative
is defined by the feeling tone, which prevails in the classroom (Charles, 1992). Basically,
classroom climate cannot be seen right away, but it is felt during the lessons, if there is any
cooperation between the teacher and students required.
A positive classroom climate is defined by students’ high engagement level, support to
each other, willingness to learn, doing their best, cooperation with a teacher, and being
productive. In such a classroom productive work and a sense of enjoyment takes place, and
everyone feels accepted for who they are. Such a classroom climate feels like being at home
(Charles, 1992).
Quite the opposite, a poor classroom is regarded as unkind, unfriendly, and
intimidating. Sometimes, such a classroom is the result of the disordered teaching style, or, on
the contrary, if students are rigidly controlled and fear to make a failure, as if they would be
punished or judged. Burden (2006) suggests that such a climate is depressing and leads to
great dislike towards the teacher, the subject and school in general. For that reason, every
teacher should promote a positive climate by any cost, if he or she is willing her students to
succeed.
However, a positive classroom climate does not appear from nothing. In fact, it is a
result of tremendous work of both students and their teacher, because it is a consequence of
deliberate actions of a teacher in creating cooperative and responsible classroom first, and
9
then students, fortified by the teacher, choose to cooperate and be respectful. Therefore, each
participant of a lesson matters in terms of creating and maintaining proper atmosphere,
although the teacher is responsible of it (Burden, 2006).
Nevertheless, it is impossible to predict or completely plan a positive climate of a
classroom. Without a certain amount of spontaneity, students would consider atmosphere to
be artificial and it would have a negative effect. Meirovich (2012) asserts that every
teacher’s aim should be keeping the optimal balance between the improvisation and a plan.
This way, students would feel that they have also contributed in the wellbeing of their class,
thus, it would become more valuable for them to maintain this positive climate.
To sum up, a positive classroom climate is a mood in which learning takes place. It is
characterized by the productiveness of the students and the relationships between participants
of a learning process. The teacher is responsible to encourage students to contribute into
creating a positive learning climate and has to use both his or her ideas and students natural
input of ideas.

1.2 Strategies to Achieve Positive Classroom Climate

Naturally, no teacher would say he or she wants to work in a negative classroom

environment, where the students are unfriendly, discouraged or unwilling to cooperate.
However, although the understanding of what the positive climate is seems to be intuitionally
understandable, it is challenging to think of how to transform a negative classroom climate
into a positive one. Hence, some practical steps should be introduced.
Allred (2008) has designed seven strategies for building a positive classroom, putting
her main focus on positivity. She asserts that in order to achieve positive climate that every
student would enjoy it is important to make learning relevant, create rules, inspire intrinsic
motivation, teach positive actions, reinforce positive behaviours, engage positive role models,
and always be positive. In other words, positivity is a major component in creating
appropriate learning climate at their classroom and teachers should focus on the good aspects
rather than restricting poor behaviour, and be a living example themselves.
Teachers, in fact, are role models, whether they acknowledge that or not. Either they are
controlling themselves and focusing on positivity, or they bring negativity in their classroom,
which is instantly absorbed by the learners. Further in her study, Allred (2008) explains that
teachers should be a positive role model, which basically means they are the ones that
students look up to show an example how to deal in difficult circumstances, staying positive
10
and encouraging, and doing the right thing. Teachers, as respectable role models, should
spread positivity despite the situation.
Another researcher, Meirovich (2012), highlights the necessity of teachers’ ability to
think positively in order to make the atmosphere of the classroom supporting and
motivational. He suggests focusing on four elements of positive learning climate:
 Not being monotonous or routine, although presenting the same information for
a large number of times during teacher’s career;
 Giving every student a chance to express his or her opinion, without a fear to be
criticized or laughed at;
 Selecting face-to-face conversations over writing or messaging;
 Using positive and encouraging sense of humour in order to make cooperation
more lively and natural.
The author of the Paper agrees with Meirovich’s list of elements of a positive learning
climate, and concludes that humour can be a basis for each element. For instance, a joke will
decrease a chance of being monotonous, because it draws the attention of students’
immediately. Likewise, it can show the positive side of every teacher and reduce anxiety of
students, which would lead to trustful relationships.
To sum up, in order to achieve positive learning climate, the fundamental component
is positivity and acceptance. The author of the Paper believes that there are effective ways of
showing teachers’ good intentions and attitude towards student as well as an approach for
unification of the class, getting rid of lack of enthusiasm and others barriers on the way of
successful learning, and that the most reasonable way to expose positivity is through good
humour. Therefore, during this research the role of humour in achieving positive classroom
climate is examined.

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 2. The Role of Humour

Finding a complete definition of what the humour is might be challenging due to the
fact that many dictionaries and authors are treating this word differently. The Oxford
Dictionary (2015) explains humour as “the quality of being amusing or comic”, and the
Cambridge Dictionary (2015) states that it is “the ability to find things funny, the way in
which people see that some things are funny, or the quality of being funny”. In other words,
one is considered to be humorous if one is funny or finds something funny. These definitions
are focused more on the doer of something amusing or on the object.
However, pedagogical explanation of the humour differs. For instance, the author of a
book “Using Humour to Maximize Learning” Mary Kay Morrison (2009) in the YouTube
programme “How Humour Affects Learning” stated that humour is more than just jokes and
laughter. It is a positive energy that comes into the classroom through the joy and laughter.
The author of the Paper finds each definition correct and considers that humour is an energy
of amusement and laughter, which brings joy and fun.
Although humour is not as widely discussed in the academic society as other classroom
management tools, still there are numerous authors (Chiasson , 2002; Garner, 2006;
Meirovich, 2012), who highlight the benefits of using humour in learning for various reasons.
Humour has both physical and psychological influence on a human, and it also has great
impact on a personality, as well as on the group in general. Further in this chapter the role of
humour in the context of education is examined.
There are several positive aspects of humour in the classroom. Morrison (2009)
suggests that jokes and fun increases brain activity, which leads to maximizing student’s
ability to stay focused on a subject and remember information for a longer period of time.
Likewise, researches have proven that humour has positive effect on memory (Badli and
Dzulkifli, 2013), allowing students to remember subject better. For this reason, the author of
the Paper believes that humour can help to make any problematic topic easier to learn.
Another benefit of humour is that it shows the human sight of a teacher and increases
student trust for the teacher, which, consequently, leads to a positive classroom atmosphere.
Rogers (2006) underlines that learning is not always fun, therefore humour is needed to
lighten up students’ interests and make learning process more engaging. He gives emphasis
on the connection between positive emotional and intellectual parts of learning process.
Besides that, the author of the Paper believes that teachers, who are using humour during the
lessons, are more liked by the students, and, therefore, these lessons are a pleasure to be in. A

12
teacher, who is able to laugh at oneself, and who shows learning to be engaging and fun, is
more likely to achieve positive learning climate in the classroom.

2.1 The Influence of Humour on the Learning Environment

Besides the encouraging effect on the memory of students and their perception of
learning, humour is an important part of positive learning environment. Williams and Clouse
(1991), asserting their opinion on their researches, stated that humour can be used as a stress
releaser, and as a tool to unite the group by the shared feelings – amusement. Therefore, it is
possible to conclude that in order to improve classroom climate and encourage students to
participate, humour could be a great instrument.
Another benefit of using humour in learning is that it reduces psychological risk of
losing face for timid students in front of the classmates and decreases the fear of being
exposed or vulnerable (Chiasson, 2002). Consequently, it widens a comfort zone of students
and increases their feeling of acceptance. As a result, it improves classroom climate and
makes learning process more enjoyable.
Although the benefits of humour seem to be solid, there are still some hidden dangers.
Not every joke is a good one. In fact, inappropriate humour may harm learning process and
establish negative atmosphere in the classroom. To prevent this from happening, some
concerns must be taken into account.
Students in classrooms are different not only because of their knowledge, motivation,
skills, but also because of personality traits. Humour might be dangerous in terms of possible
offence of one’s feelings, since what one finds funny may be unpleasant for another. Chiasson
(2002) states that teachers should not laugh about of any particular ethnical, religious, national
or gender group, without humiliation or sarcasm. He emphasizes that teacher’s role is not
being a comedian, but rather use humour as a tool to achieve learning goals. For the reason
that inappropriate humour might cause negative attitude towards the teacher, his or her subject
and learning itself, the author of the Paper considers that it is essential to avoid this mistake,
in order to maintain positive classroom climate.
It is also important not to put an exaggerated focus on a humour, because being
entertaining is not the goal of a teacher. Garner (2006) emphasizes that making students laugh
is not an evidence of effective learning. In fact, he suggests that learning-appropriate humour
should match three criteria: it should match the topic and the activities of the lesson, be
focused on increasing learning and, similarly to Chiasson, he recommends taking the audience
13
into account. Otherwise, there is a strong possibility to end up harming learning atmosphere
rather than encouraging it, and it may have a long-lasting negative impact on studying
climate, results and student-teacher relationships. Therefore, setting boundaries of when the
humour is appropriate is crucial.

2.2 The Ways of Applying Humour in the English Language Lessons

Despite understanding the beneficial impact of humour, some teachers might not feel
assured to use it in order to improve the climate of the classroom due to misconceptions and
stereotypical labels. The reasons against using humour might be dissimilar: underestimating
own capability to joke, fear of losing control over the class and creating chaos, or a fear of
looking foolish (Chiasson, 2002). In fact, one does not have to be a professional stand-up
comedian to use humour in the classroom in order to do it successfully and attain a positive
classroom environment.
Though, students do not expect a teacher to be a clown or a comedian. Deiter (2000)
reviled that teachers are expected by students to be educators first, but they preferred ones
with a sense of humour over solemn ones and are more willing to come to their classes.
Undoubtingly, it is another strong argument for trying to relate some suitable amusement in
one’s syllabus.
Humour can be applied in various ways. It is essential not to force it and not to act
inappropriately to one’s personality type (McGrath, 2013). It would not feel deliberate and
original, which would enforce the overall effect. Basically, it requires self-assurance and
being free from fear of being belittled.
In order to practise humour for creating positive learning environment teachers should
be able to laugh at themselves (Chiasson, 2002; McGrath, 2013; Chesser, 2013). Self-irony is
an exceptional way to reduce the tension in the classroom and shorten the distance between a
student and a teacher, which would gradually affect the climate of a classroom. It may also
decrease students’ anxiety and fear of failure.
Besides spontaneous oral jokes, various authors recommend using humorous teaching
tools as a part of a lesson, such as amusing videos, pictures, caricatures, anecdotes, music,
sound effects, to include jokes in exercises and tests (Chesser, 2013; Deiter, 2000; McGrath,
2013). With the help of a funny picture a topic might be introduced, using it as an instant
warm-up at the beginning. For example, a picture, illustrated in Figure 2.2.1., might be a start
of the discussion about the best or the worst gift students had ever received, revising
14
grammatical constructions of comparative and superlative adjectives. There is a great number
of amusing examples of misused commas on the internet, which might be used to introduce
rules of punctuation marks (e.g. ‘Let’s eat, mommy!’ or ‘Let’s eat mommy!’).

Figure 2.2.1. I Hope It’s a PS4 (from fanpop.com)

It is crucial not to distract from the main aim of the lesson. Thus, these tools might be
effective motivators for students to participate, due to the fact that a greater interest is
aroused.
Humour could be used as a pressure reducer in intense situations, especially with the
students who are having discipline problems. It goes without saying that some situations
require strict interruptions, although with some lesser problems, humour might help to restore
the positive classroom climate. Burden (2006) suggests that it allows students to express
themselves in a classroom-acceptable way and focus on positivity rather than highlighting
negativity of an action.
Taking everything mentioned by the authors into account, when humour is not forced,
not offensive to anyone, when it comes as a natural outcome of the interaction between
students and teacher, it facilitates the environment of the classroom, making it positive and
welcoming. Nevertheless, to find out what the opinions about humour and its applications are
currently among students and teachers of Latvia, no data was found. Therefore, a survey was
conducted by the author of the Paper, to see if the theoretical theses are true to the Latvian
context.

15
3. Survey on Humour for Creating Positive Classroom Environment in
English Lessons

After examining what other authors and researchers have said about the effect of
humour on the classroom environment, the author of the Paper noticed the lack of information
about the opinions of teachers and students about this issue. There were no data gathered
about what an actual attitude of teachers towards humour was, what was the policy for
applying humour in English lessons and how many teachers indeed consider it to be
necessary. Moreover, none of the researches provided data where the students stated their
point of view on how humour might improve the atmosphere of the lesson. Therefore, a
decision to carry out a survey to collect this information was made.
In order to assemble the attitudes to humour for creating positive classroom
environment in English lessons, the author of the Term Paper carried out a survey from March
till April in 2016 in Latvia. 53 teachers of the English language and 51 secondary school
students were asked to express their opinions and attitudes, whereas afterwards their answers
were gathered, processed and analysed. No particular school was selected to have a wider
perspective on the situation in Latvia, as well as to have various points of view to examine
and analyse. Questionnaires for both students and teachers were prepared with the help of
Google Forms and spread electronically by emails and messages on social networks. Later on
the answers were studied with statistical methods of amassing, analysing and interpreting the
answers, to find correlations between them, differences among the sample groups and to
compare the opinions of student and teacher respondents. Hence, the aim of the empirical
research was to discover the English language teachers’ and students’ belief on the necessity
and impact of humour on the classroom atmosphere and elaborate guidelines for teachers
what to take into account to apply humour successfully.

3.1 Analysis of the Questionnaires for Teachers

As the questionnaire for teachers was prepared electronically, the author of the Paper
received 53 completely answered forms, which were acceptable to use in further data
procession. A large majority of the respondents were female (88,86%), whereas only a small
minority of male respondents (11,32%) participated in the survey. This, however, was not a
surprise, due to the fact that 89% of teachers in Latvia are female (OECD TALIS, 2013).
Nevertheless, there was still a major difference between respondents in their work
experience at school, which allowed grouping them in 5 different categories. Distribution
among work experience of the respondents is illustrated in Table 3.1.1.
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 Table 3.1.1. Distribution of Respondents.

Years of working
Respondents Percentage
as a teacher
0-1 11 20,75% Inexperienced
41,51% teacher (IT)
2-4 11 20,75%
5-7 15 28,30%
Experienced
8-12 7 13,21% 58,49% teacher (ET)
13-24 9 16,98%

After making the calculations, the author of the Paper divided respondents from five
categories in two – inexperienced teachers (IT) (0-4 years of working at school) and
experienced teachers (ET) (5-24 years of working at school). This was done in order to
examine whether the amount of experience affected the attitude of the respondents towards
humour, its effect on the classroom atmosphere and necessity in the English language lessons.
Having two relatively equal categories (41,51% IT and 58,49% ET) made it possible to
compare the answers more efficiently.
Regarding the necessity of humour in the English language lessons, respondents were
asked to express their opinion. A vast majority of the respondents said that humour is needed
(50 respondents or 94,34%). Only 1 respondent answered negatively (1,89%) and 2
respondents (3,77%) had different answer. This clearly indicates that humour is important not
only from the point of view of different authors, mentioned in Chapter 2, but also that the
teachers of Latvia are highly supporting application of humour at English lessons.
Furthermore, the respondents were asked to indicate humorous lesson aspects, which, in
their opinion, should be present in English lessons. There was an opportunity to choose more
than one option. The views of the respondents are demonstrated in Table 3.1.2.

Table 3.1.2. Humorous Lesson Elements, Chosen by Teachers.

Respondents Percentage
Spontaneous funny remark 49 92,45%
Prepared joke, anecdote 27 50,94%
Funny lesson activity (e.g. role
45 84,91%
play, song, game)
Comic posters (e.g. for
introducing the rules of a 30 56,60%
classroom)
Other option 7 13,21%

17
 Consequently, the large majority of the respondents chose spontaneous funny remarks
(92,45%) and funny lesson activities (84,91%) as relevant exposure of humour during the
English language lessons. Comic posters and prepared jokes were chosen seemingly much
more rarely (56,60% and 50,94%). It clearly shows that teachers tend to prefer humour, which
is applicable to the situation or the context of the lesson.
Afterwards, teachers were asked to express their thoughts about what humour is,
providing definition. As a result, carrying out a content analysis, the following results were
achieved (see Figure 3.1.1.)

18
16
Number of mentions

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Figure 3.1.1. The Most Commonly Used Words Among Teachers in Definitions of
Humour.
Evidently, the most popular element, mentioned by respondents, was “laughter” (17
mentions). “Jokes” were also used frequently (13 mentions). “Fun” and “funny” appeared in
the definitions for 11 times, whereas “amusing”, “amusement”, “entertainment” were used to
describe humour for 6 times. The author of the Paper found it curious that “point of view” or
“attitude” were used to define humour (7 mentions), because she has never come across such
an explanation during the study of the literature.
Subsequently, the respondents were asked to express to what extent they agreed or
disagreed to the following statements:
1. Using humour encourages students to participate in the lesson activities more;
2. Humour helps to make the environment of my classroom more positive;
3. Creating positive classroom environment is important for a productive learning
process;
4. Teachers should use humour in the English language lessons.
18
 Four options were given – “agree”, “rather agree”, “rather disagree” and “disagree”.
This way the respondents were able to evaluate these statements with better precision.
The author of the Paper designed these statements with intention to have a positive
formulation, so that it would be possible to search for any correlations between attitudes
towards each of the statements afterwards (see Table 3.1.4.). Cronbach-Alpha test indicated a
satisfactory level of reliability (0,764246761).

Table 3.1.4. Correlations between Attitudes towards Statements 1-4.

1. 2. 3. 4.
1. 1 0,701884 0,33379 0,308759
2. 1 0,522417 0,19776
3. 1 0,195598
4. 1

By calculating the correlations it has been discovered that the fourth statement does not
have any connection to the statements 1-3. This indicates that although a respondent might
agree that humour can encourage students to participate and improve the environment of the
classroom, which consequently leads to productive learning process, there still might be
doubts about whether or not to use humour in English lessons. Clearly, there are some reasons
behind it, which could possibly be the case for further research.
After that, the author of the Paper calculated an Index of Positive Attitude towards
Humour (IPAH). It was done in order to observe the division of the opinions among the
respondents. IPAH “1” indicates that all the responses for statements were “agree”, therefore
a smaller index reflects a more positive attitude. A division of respondents by IPAH are
demonstrated in Figure 3.1.2.

1,9%

7,5% 0,0%
1,9% IPAH
1 - 1,3
5,7% 1,3 - 1,6
1,6 - 1,9
1,9 - 2,2
26,4% 56,6%
2,2 - 2,5
2,5 - 2,8
2,8 - 3

Figure 3.1.2. A Division of Respondents by the Index of Positive Attitude towards

Humour (IPAH).
19
 As depicted in Figure 3.1.2, a large majority of the respondents tend to express their
positive attitude toward humour and its impact on the classroom environment and students
participation (56,6% IPAH index 1-1,3 and 26,4% IPAH index 1,3-1,6). Chi Test results have
also indicated that in 95% probability diapason experienced and inexperienced teachers’
opinions do not differ (CHITEST=0,1896, alfa=0,05).

part of the lesson

be natural
student's input
self-criticism
know the class
know the line
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Number of Mentions

Figure 3.1.3. The Most Common Guidelines for Applying Humour in English
Language Lessons Given by Teachers.
At the end, teachers were asked to give guidelines and suggestions about applying
humour in the English language lessons. As it is seen in Figure 3.1.3, the most popular
recommendation was to know the class (their age, interests, culture) and to be natural (both
were mentioned 12 times). The second most common answer was using humour as a part of
the lesson, in the activities (10 mentions), or in other words to plan it into one’s syllabus.
Besides, the respondents were emphasizing teacher’s ability to laugh at his or her own
mistakes and flaws as a form of humour through self-criticism (7 mentions). Evidently,
allowing students to make jokes in the learning process and encouraging them to give some
input was seen as an important aspect by the respondents as well (6 mentions). Nonetheless,
teachers consider knowing when to stop and where the line of humour is to be essential in
order to apply humour successfully (6 mentions).

3.2 Analysis of the Questionnaires for Students

As the questionnaire for students was prepared electronically, the author of the Paper
received 51 forms, where each answer was clearly indicated, making every questionnaire
sufficient for further data analysis. The division by gender among the participants was quite
equal (girls – 30 respondents or 58,8%; boys – 21 respondents or 41,1%), which made it
possible to compare if there were any differences in their answers further on.

20
 Students were asked to indicate the form that they are studying in (see Table 3.2.1).
Evidently, all of the participants of the survey are Primary and Secondary school students.
Therefore, it is possible to state that different age groups’ opinions are presented in this Paper.
Table 3.2.1. Division of the Participants According to the Form.

Number of
Form respondents %
6 3 5,88%
7 6 11,76%
8 7 13,73%
9 6 11,76%
10 9 17,65%
11 13 25,49%
12 7 13,73%

To find out what students are defining and understanding by humour, respondents were
asked to give explanations of the term. Whilst carrying out the content analysis of the
answers, the author of the Paper grouped the answers by key words and concepts (see Figure
3.2.1).
16
Number of mentions

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
fun, joy smile, jokes good mood, unusual, life
laughter attitude out of the situations
box

Figure 3.2.1. The Most Commonly Used Words Among Students in Definitions of
Humour.
The most common explanations of humour were “smile, laughter” (14 mentions),
“jokes” (12 mentions) and “fun, joy” (11 mentions). Others common explanations were “good
mood” or “positive attitude” (6 mentions), whereas “unusual situations, point of view or way
of thinking” and “different life situations” were both mentioned 5 times. At this point, it was
evident that some students had difficulties in formulating their ideas due to the reason that the
questionnaire was prepared in the Latvian language, and for some of the respondents it is not
their mother tongue. Therefore, some formulation errors occurred, but the author of the Paper
managed to elicit the main idea of the concept from every answer.

21
 Afterwards, respondent were asked to share their opinion on the necessity of humour in
the English language lessons. A large majority of students agreed it to be needed (92,16%),
whereas only 3,92% supposed that there was no humour needed in the classroom, and another
3,92% had a different opinion.
In order to identify preferable humorous elements among the students, respondents were
asked to indicate items, which, in their opinion, a humorous lesson ought to contain. As it is
seen in Table 3.2.2, spontaneous funny remarks were chosen by the majority of the
respondents (72,55%), although comic posters (62,75%) and funny lesson activities (58,82%)
were common options as well. In fact, the least preferable option, chosen by a large minority
of students was anecdote (41,18%). The author of the Paper considers that this could be due to
the reason that anecdotes and prepared jokes are no longer widespread among the younger
generations.
Table 3.2.2. Humorous Lesson Elements, Chosen by Students.
Respondents Percentage
Spontaneous funny remark 37 72,55%
Prepared joke, anecdote 21 41,18%
Funny lesson activity (e.g. role
play, song, game) 30 58,82%
Comic posters (e.g. for
introducing the rules of a
classroom) 32 62,75%
Other option 1 1,96%

Eventually, students were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed or disagreed to
the following statements:
1. Fun lessons make it more interesting to participate;
2. Humour helps to make the environment of the classroom more positive;
3. Creating positive classroom environment makes me work more productively;
4. Teachers should use humour in the English language lessons.
Similarly in the questionnaires for teachers, described previously in Chapter 3.1, four
options were given – agree, rather agree, rather disagree and disagree. This was done for the
respondents to be able to evaluate the given statements more accurately.
After the answers were coded, the author of the Paper was able to find correlations
between attitudes towards each of the statements (see Table 3.2.3). Cronbach-Alpha test
indicated a satisfactory level of reliability (0,733896872).

22
 Table 3.2.3. Correlations between Attitudes towards Statements 1-4.

1. 2. 3. 4.
1. 1 0,41237033 0,25974715 0,434163
2. 1 -0,0061399 0,424956
3. 1 0,509282
4. 1

Evidently, there were satisfactory correlations between all of the statements except
number three. Students believe that their productivity at the lessons is unrelated to classroom
environment, although they might consider classroom environment to be positively impacted
by humour.

0% 2% IPAH
10%
1-1,35
1,35-1,7
18% 1,7-2,05
70% 2,05-2,4
2,4-2,75

Figure 3.2.2. A Division of Respondents by the Index of Positive Attitude towards

Humour (IPAH).
Just as it was done previously, students’ answers were coded and an Index of Positive
Attitude towards Humour (IPAH) was calculated in order to detect the division of the
opinions among the respondents. Positive attitude towards humour is represented by a lesser
IPAH number. A division of respondents by IPAH are demonstrated in Figure 3.2.2.
As it can be seen, more than two thirds of the students have a very positive attitude
towards fun lessons and agree that it has a positive effect on the classroom environment,
therefore they suggest the English language teachers to use it. Chi Test results have also
indicated that in 95% probability diapason there are no differences observed between the

23
answers of female and male students (CHITEST= 0,323046075, alfa=0,05).

flexibility, variety
be positive
more fun
allow students' input
be yourself
to be funny
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Number of mentions

Figure 3.2.3. The Most Common Guidelines for Applying Humour in the English
Language Lessons Given by Students.
Eventually, students were asked to give some guidelines for teachers, who are willing
to apply humour in the English language lessons (see Figure 3.2.3). During the content
analysis, the most popular suggestions were for teachers to have a positive attitude and
perception, and simply to have more fun during the lessons (13 mentions). In addition, the
respondents were highlighting a significance of premising students to contribute, accepting
their humour (11 mentions), embracing one’s personality and acting according to it (9
mentions) and being flexible and varying fun and learning (6 mentions). Unpredictably, only
5 students stated that being funny matters, unlike the author of the Paper expected. It
highlights that humour is not a matter of laughter alone, but is rather an instrument for
creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom and enjoying the learning process.
During the analysis of the questionnaires for students and for teachers, some similarities
and differences were noticed. Therefore, to have a more complete picture of the matter, it was
decided to execute a comparative study of both respondents’ group answers.

3.3 Comparative Analysis of Students’ and Teachers’ Opinions and

Suggestions for Applying Humour in English Language Lessons

After analysing the results of the questionnaires for both students and the English
language teachers, the author of the paper noticed several likenesses and differences between
believes and opinions of the respondents’ groups. First of all, humour definitions revealed
dissimilarity of the perceptions of a phenomenon (see Figure 3.3.1).

24
 35,00%
30,00%
25,00%
20,00%
15,00%
10,00%
5,00% Students
0,00%
Teachers

Figure 3.3.1. Comparison of Teachers’ and Students’ Definitions of Humour.

Although the first 4 key words are seemingly more widespread among both
respondents’ groups, other 3 are evidently showing the difference. Students are more likely to
understand humour as unusual point of view on various life situations; teachers were more
concerned about the entertainment and amusement, which humour brings into the classroom.
Despite some differences in the perception and definition of humour, both groups
showed similar attitudes towards it. A vast majority of the respondents from both research
samples admitted that humour is necessary in the English language lessons (94,34% teachers
and 92,16% students). Consequently, both questionnaires reviled a tendency of positive
perception of humour’s impact on classroom environment, learning processes and its
necessity to be applied in English lessons. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that humour is
positively perceived by the participants of English language lessons, making the second
research question of the Paper answered.

part of the lesson

self-critisism
know the class
know the line
to be funny
flexibility, variety
be positive
more fun
allow students' input
be yourself

0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00%

Teachers Students

Figure 3.3.2. Comparison of Teachers’ and Students’ Guidelines for Using Humour
in English Language Lessons.
25
 On the basis of the questionnaire results, the author of the Paper contrasted and
compared the guidelines, which were provided by both students and teachers (see Figure
3.3.2). Examining the graphic depiction of guidelines, it becomes obvious that respondents
have different conceptions of what has to be taken into account in order to implement humour
for create a positive classroom environment. Both groups emphasize the importance for
teachers to act according to their beliefs and personality, and also to allow students participate
and use their humour in the lessons. However, students’ suggestions for allowing their input
were more frequent, leading to the idea that students are willing to contribute to the positive
classroom environment more than they are currently allowed to.
In the process of comparative analysis the author of the Paper discovered, that teachers
are focusing more on limitations and adaptation of humour for the needs of the particular
situation. This is evident by investigating the guidelines: knowing the class – humour,
appropriate to the level and age of the group; planning humour as a part of the lesson plan –
fitting it in the gridline; knowing the line with the students - not to distract from learning, nor
to harm one’s feelings; not being defensive and being able to laugh at one’s own
shortcomings – overcoming psychological barriers.
Apparently, teachers are aiming for boundaries, whereas students are looking at humour
in the classroom from a different perspective. They highlighted the importance of positive
attitude of the teacher, having more fun than they are currently coming into contact with,
being flexible and only then students insisted that humour during in English language lessons
ought to be funny. In other words, students are striving for freedom, acceptance, positive
attitude and an opportunity to contribute, whereas teachers are concentrating on the
limitations and restrictions. Nevertheless, the third research question is answered by eliciting
the tips for application of humour in order to improve the atmosphere of the classroom. Thus,
the guidelines, provided by both research groups are corresponding to the ones the author of
the Paper came across during the literature study (see Chapter 2).

26
Conclusion

The first chapter discovered that classroom atmosphere has three major components:
physical atmosphere (classroom organization, seating, tools, etc.), instructional atmosphere
(tasks and explanations given by the teacher) and psychological atmosphere (mood,
relationships between students and teacher) (Firestone, 2003). As this Term Paper focuses on
the psychological learning environment, it was revealed that in order to make the atmosphere
of the lesson positive, positivity and acceptance are essential, which could be achieved by the
usage of humour.
The second chapter exposes that humour is facilitating students’ interests and it also
makes learning process more engaging, as well as creates a bond between intellectual and
emotional aspects of learning (Rogers, 2006). Moreover, this chapter provided a clarification,
that humour should not be forced, and it also should not be aimed against anyone, but it rather
has to be natural, positive and encouraging.
Next, the third chapter described the data gained from the empirical research among
teachers of English language and secondary school students of Latvia, which took place in
spring 2016, where opinions and attitudes about humour were exposed, analysed, and some
practical guidelines for teachers were elaborated.
The results of the survey have highlighted, that both students and teachers agree that
humour has a positive impact on the classroom environment and had an affirmative attitude
towards its application. Concerning guidelines, teachers were emphasizing lines and limits for
humour, whereas students highlighted the necessity of having more positivity and fun during
the lessons. Summing up, the following guidelines for teachers were elaborated:
1. To be natural and not to force humour;
2. To allow students to contribute their sense of humour for creating a positive
classroom environment;
3. To look positively on things, to have a positive attitude;
4. To increase the amount of fun;
5. Before applying humour, teachers should know their class, their interests, their
sense of humour, some specific characteristics;
6. To include humour into the lesson plan;
7. To use self-irony and not to be afraid to laugh at oneself;
8. To be flexible and to include a various humorous aspects in the lesson;

27
 9. To know the line, where humour is no longer a facilitator of a positive classroom
environment, and becomes a disruption or an offence for someone;
10. When including something humorous, teachers should make it funny for everyone.
While the research was conducted, the author of the Paper noticed that some
respondents among the students struggled with revealing their opinions and forming
guidelines due to the language barrier and difficulties with formulating sentences in Latvian,
therefore, alternatively a Russian version of the questionnaire should have been provided.
Hence, this particular survey exposed only statements of the research sample, making it
challenging to understand if the opinions and guidelines are being actually practiced in
schools. To discover the current situation and the effect of humour on the classroom
environment, the author of the Paper suggests conducting an action research, implementing
the guidelines, which were exposed in this research.

28
Bibliography
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11. Fraser, B. J. (1998) Classroom Environment Instruments: Development, Validity, and
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19. McGrath, S. (2013) Humour in the Classroom. [online] Available at:
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31
APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Online Questionnaire for Teachers
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Tnr7RG6hXmg2c7rPAlDZF_7_sy9dEp_TZKye5Lsggiw/e
dit

32
 Appendix 2
Online Questionnaire for Students
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AoJSzxXxHzt8DTX8gvxQ9bF9vLFiTZbyNnIPH-5M-
hY/viewform

33
 Appendix 3
Content Analysis of the Questionnaire for Teachers: Question 7

know self- studen part of

know the the criticis t's be the
Nr 7. What tips for applying humour in English lessons could you share? line class m input natural lesson
1. Some students may become unpredictable when the teacher uses jokes during the lesson.
So, it is better to know the class well enough when applying humour.
1 2. Humour during the lessons must not hurt anyone's feelings. 1
Teacher should learn to laugh at himself, that shows that teachers are not like insensitive
humans but also are having sense of humour. I like to add some humurous items to tests for
2 example in multiple answers I sometimes add one extra multiple choice which is funny. 1 1
Know the line(usually it`s further away than you think, so be brave); don`t give them the
3 opportunity to turn humour into circus act. 1
4 Just don't be too serious
5 Spontaneous jokes for creating positive environment.
6 ....
When having a discussion about a certain topic, you may implement examples from your own
personal experience or try asking for examples from students that would include a funny story,
7 event etc. Students love funny stories. 1 1
Do not try to be funny, let it come naturally. If you are not funny by nature then better leave it
8 for other teachers/students 1
Keep in mind students' age peculiarities and background knowldge when involving humour in
9 the activities. 1
Differences between Cultures and countries are funny so discuss the differences and
10 similarities or stereotypes :) 1
11 Not much :) my humor is too specific
12 Making own jokes during learning new grammar aspects. 1

It is difficult to give some tips, but it is very helpful if teacher has the sense of humour and uses
it in the different situations. Sometimes the sense of humour help to avoid problem sutuations.
13 Teacher has to be positive and give a chance to students to tell jokes or smth like this 1
It can be from a task where children have to finish sentences, for example, If I would be a
parent... I got some quite funny answers to this sentences. Roles plays can also be funny,
projects. I think if a teacher is a persons who like to joke herself/himself than any lesson will
14 be humoristic. 1
Learn to understand humour, be aware of present day humour, accumulate good examples,
sort out different humour styles, use humor as a pedagogic and methodological tool. Collect
15 books with humorous stories, sentence examples, role plays etc. Humour works! :D
16 none
Show funny pictures/ cartoons/ movies, which might be related to the topic of the lesson..
17 Bring funny book/ text extract.. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself 1 1
18 Use student jokes to your own adventage 1
Not to get carried away by puns, no all people like and undersand them. Be sure, that the
joke/activity is funny and appropriate and can be understood by current level learners, is
19 relevant to the theme of the lesson. 1 1 1
20 -
There are really no guidelines for it. Teacher should know their audience and when he/she sees
21 the opportunity - it should be used. 1
The teacher should feel free and comfortable with the students, only in this situation the
22 teacher can make the best jokes. 1 1
Encourage to share some topic related funny situations from life; find jokes or funny videos
23 which are related to the topic of the lesson. 1
funny videos (appropriate for the lesson topic; might be used as lead-in activity). But mostly I
think it depends on the teacher - if he/she ensures positive, encouraging atmosphere in the
lessons, then both - students and teachers are free to express themselves without hindrance,
24 including jokes, witty comments, etc. 1
25 Try to be authentic, othervise it won't work 1
Be yourself and understand the situation (is it appropriate to use humour with this particular
26 group, with this situation). 1 1 1
27 Bright personality, preparation
humour is a part of your personality - the more relaxed you behave as a teacher the more
28 positive your classroom environment is 1
29 Be open-minded and listen to your students' answers. 1
Use humour in classroom only after getting to know the class. Apply different humour
depending on the age group. There will be many teachers, students and parents who will not
understand the necessity of jokes and humour in a classroom overall, be prepared to argument
the usage of it. However, overall humour in lessons will make you a cool and funny teacher but
might damage your reputation of being a strict teacher (they might not take you serious). I
always use humour and after that classroom gets messy for few minutes but then you have to
be able to switch quickly back to the learning process as students will carry out the joke even
30 further. 1 1

34
 Most of the time I use some spontaneous remarks during the lesson. It depends on the
31 situation. The most important rule - this joke mustn't be offensive.
32 Teacher has to be in a good mood, leaving negativity behind the classroom door.
33 beat on your craft and come up with your own ideas.and,learn the F.....English.
Demonstrating funny videos, for instance, as warm-up activities, telling jokes in connection
34 what is being learnt in the lesson etc. 1
to be aware of what sense of human students has and find out about their hobbies, interests to
35 make jokes more appropriate for them 1
36 I use humor in explaining rules and I use humor in my lectures and everyday life. 1
37 When students laugh they tend to retain more of what is being taught.
Anything that can relate to what a student is experiencing in real life will help gain
38 understanding and interest in any topic! 1
You need to keep the humor at or around the level to which you are teaching, so it can be
39 understood by the class. 1 1
40 use a story that has humor in it, so you can talk about how that applies to the lesson. 1
Be very careful to not allow humor at inappropriate times...this can cause the exact opposite of
41 what your goal was intended. 1
42 Don't be afraid to be silly. 1
I think it's important to reach a child at their level. At the middle school age, kids are sarcastic
and quick, so you should try to communicate with them in that manner as well (when it's
appropriate). I even try to use some of their phrases to be on their level (not the language
though - that's inappropriate always). I use funny pictures, such as memes, to share
information with them. I also try not to take myself too seriously, and know how to laugh "with"
43 my students about things. 1 1 1 1
44 x
45 Don't make them seem scripted 1
Don't push it! If a teacher is not a "joker", a student in class could be the one who has a great
46 sense of humour, for example. 1 1
47 Don't be afraid to get silly and show your personality. 1 1
48 Funny examples when explaining a topic, a grammar piece. Funny activity, video. 1
49 Don't think that it is necessary.

50 it should come naturally and be spontaneous. planned jokes might become too fake and forced 1
51 Use student's age-appropriate humor. 1
Laughing creates a positive environment that students will want to be a part of. Instead of
52 getting angry make light of the situation with a little laughter.
53 be open not only to joke about others but also about yourself 1
6 12 7 6 12 10

35
 Appendix 4
Content Analysis of the Questionnaire for Teachers: Question 3

point of amusement(-
3. Please, give a brief definition of how you understand humour: joke funny/fun laugh/laughter view/attitude ing)
Joke, funny expressions, pictures. 1 1
Anything that may amuse people in order to keep them open and evoke laughter. 1 1
If it`s funny I laugh. 1 1
A nice joke at the right time 1
Laugh! 1
When you can amuse other people 1
Humour is making jokes, making clever and witty remarks; looking at the bright/funny
side of things to keep things in balance. 1 1 1
Making fun of a serious situation in a way that it lightens the problem. 1
Jokes, word games and anecdotical situations. 1
Saying things as they are or basically saying the truth. The humor comes in the way
you present it or say it.
Ability to make things more fun 1
funny jokes, ability to understand jokes 1 1
I have no problems with understanding humour

I am very sarcastic so for me humour usually is something sarcastic and my students

know that. In my lessons I try to joke and do tasks that would make them laugh. 1 1
Viewpoint of the world, people, events made pleasurable 1
It depends where this humour is applied. In the classroom, it can be joke about the
teacher herself or if there is a silence in classroom and joke about the silence. 1
it is what determines our attitude towards life 1
Jokes, laughter 1 1
Humour is the best way out of an awkward situation.
-
Well, if we speak about the classroom environment, I see it as a great tool which helps
to break the ice, relax students, award them; create and establish "friendly"
relationships.
It's an intellectual characteristic of an individual. It's a jolly fantasy of one's mind.
Being able to look at things from another point of view. 1
witty comments, jokes that make other people smile or laugh 1 1
An action that makes others laugh 1
Something, which provokes laughter, positive atmosphere, improves the mood. 1
Positive attitude 1
words or actions of one particular person which make other people laugh or smile 1
Ability to look simply at serious things. 1

36
A humour is a quality that some possess to make somebody laugh or to entertain/
amuse others. 1 1
It is something that makes my life and job more positive, joyful, ridiculous and
sometimes easier.
Good humour makes one laugh and feel happy. 1
black.my sense of humor is outstanding.
Humour- the ability to view several things in a comic, entertaining way. 1 1
something that makes others laugh 1
To be amused. When I find laughter in something. 1 1
Funny comments or statements. 1
I don't always get it at first. Takes me a minute.
It is a constant state of mind.
being amusing or amused 1
I do not always understand traditional jokes and sometimes have a hard time
understanding other people's sense of humor. 1
Something that provokes a positive response, laughter, smiling. 1
I'm not really sure I understand this question. I don't know how to explain how I
"understand" humour. I can say that I'm sarcastic and silly with my students, and
sometimes I've been known to be cheesy just for the sake of it. I try not to take things
too seriously, and have a sense of humour about what I can.
Humor in the classroom can be an effective way to engage students and activate their
learning. It helps students feel more comfortable and open to learning. Humor can also
ease any tension in the classroom.
background knowledge and facial expressions as well as tone of voice
Humour is something that makes people smile. It should't be offensive, but funny. 1
Things that can make you laugh 1
Something witty and funny said in just the right moment 1
It's when a person makes funny jokes. 1 1
humor is capability to understand jokes and make them in a way they are funny and
doesn't offend others. 1 1
It makes everything in life better.
Laughing is good for you soul and health. 1
jokes that does not offend anyone and can make a good laughter 1 1
13 11 17 7 6

37
 Appendix 5
Content Analysis of the Questionnaire for Students: Question 3

responde good unusual, life

nta smile, mood, out of situation
numurs 3. Kas, Tavuprāt, ir humors? fun, joy laughter jokes attitude the box s
1 Palīgs dzīvē
Tad kad varu priecaties un smieties ar saviem
2 draugiem 1 1
3 Jautrība 1
4 Юмор-это смешный шуточки и тонкий сарказм. 1
5 Humors ir joki 1
6 Kad ir smieklīgi 1
7 Pozitīva noskaņa, joki 1 1
8 12
9 Шутки,когда всем весело 1 1
10 :D 1
11 весёлое настроение! 1
12 Веселье 1
Для меня это значит, веселье, общение,
13 развлечение. 1
Для меня это значит, веселье, общение,
14 развлечение. 1
Умение разрядить обстановку своими
15 высказываниями
16 Это веселье 1
17 pozitivas emocijas 1
18 Kad ir smieklīgi 1
19 lieta, kura atvieglina dzīvi
20 Labi joki 1
21 Komiskas parādības
22 Залог жизни 1
23 Tas, kas liek smieties. 1
Kaut kas, kas raisa smiekļus&prieku, spēja labi jokot,
lai visiem būtu smieklīgi, un neviens nebūtu
24 apvainots.(humora sajūta) 1 1 1
25 Tad kad ir smieklīgi. 1
Уметь заставлять людей вспоминать смешные
26 моменты из жизни, своими словами. 1 1
27 Melns , mazliet bērnešķīgs , bet labs
Humors ir kādas personas spēja uztvert teikto ar
28 pārnestu nozīmi. 1
29 Joki, smiekli, labs garstāvoklis 1 1 1
Humors ir spēja pasmieties vai pateikt kādu smieklīgu
30 joku. 1 1

38
31 Nestandarta domasana 1
Spēja uztvert un attiecīgi reaģēt uz smieklīgām dzīves
32 situācijām. 1
Iespēja atraktīvi reaģēt un izdomāt jokus, spēja
33 improvizēt un jokot pašam. 1
34 Humors ir tas, kad visiem ir smieklīgi un jautri. 1 1
35 Māka izklaidēt cilvēkus.
36 Smiekli un asaras, pārdzīvojumi 1
37 laba noskņa, jautrība 1 1
38 kad cilveks ir spejiigs visus smīdināt un uzjautrināt 1 1
39 Pozitivs 1
40 Negaidita, nestandarta atbilde uz apkartejo vidi. 1
Humors ir speja skatities uz visu no nestandartas
41 puses. 1
42 Labie joki 1
43 Speja apsmiet dzives situacijas 1
44 Veiksmigs joks 1
45 Humors ir speciala superspeja
46 Kad ir smiekligi 1
47 Negaidita atbilde, reakcija.
Humoru, ka paradibu, manuprat, ir loti gruti definet.
Tas ir kaut kas loti neredzmas. Nevelti saka humora
"izjuta". Tas ir kaut kas ieksa, kas lauj parasto dzives
48 situaciju parverst kaut kada ipasa veida. 1
49 Neadekvata reakcija, atbilde
50 Forsais joks 1
Es uzskatu, ka humors ir speja skatities nestandarti
51 uz dzivi. 1
11 14 12 6 5 5

39
 Appendix 6
Content Analysis of the Questionnaire for Students: Question 7
allow
7. Runājot par jokiem un humoru, ko Tu to be be students' be flexibilit
ieteiktu
respondenta numurs angļu valodas skolotājiem? funny yourself imput more fun positive y, variety
1 galvenais nebūt kā klauns 1
2 Centities but ari ar humoru izjutu 1
3 Būt vairāk jautriem. 1
4 Поднимать настроение учащ имся и себе. 1
Būt pozitīviem un negatavot jokus iepriekš.
Varbūt stāstīt kādus smieklīgus dzīves
5 momentus 1 1 1
6 Jūms vājāg drusku daudz jokot...) 1
7 Būt vienkāršākiem un nepārspīlēt 1
Vairāk pozitīvisma, tad mācību stundas būs
8 interesantākas un radošākas 1
Чтобы урок не всегда проходил скучно и
нудно и чтобы не боялись сами и не
запрещ али детям разбавлять обстановку во
9 время урока,если это в тему 1 1
10 neko
узнать и понять современный молодежный
11 юмор 1
Шутить смешно потому что если не смешно
12 то тупо 1
Думаю, чтобы учитель больше смеялся,
13 чем был бы не довольным чем-то 1
Думаю, чтобы учитель больше смеялся,
14 чем был бы не довольным чем-то 1
Не сильно злиться на какие то забавные
15 комментарии 1
16 Объяснять с юмором и не кричать 1
17 Dazreiz jokot 1
18 Vairāk jokoties un mazāk mācīties 1
lai skolotāji būtu īsti, lai joks ietu no sirds un
19 tas iskatītos dabiski :) 1
Pameģināt izdarīt savu stundu citādāk,
neiekļaujot tikai tekstu, gramātiku un
standartus uzdevumus. Internetā ir daudz
jautru spēļu bērniem vai īsu uzdevumu, ja Jūs
20 negribāt tērēt uz to visu stundu :) 1
21 Vairāk jokot 1
22 Шутить смешно 1
23 Izmantot tos stundās. 1
Būt atklātiem pasmieties brītiņu kopā ar klasi.
Protams, stāstīt angļu anekdotus krievu vai
latviešu skolās ir bezjēdzīgi (jo ļoti atšķiras
humors), bet, kad gadās, neapstādināt bērnu
jatru garastāvokli, bet otrādi - censties to forši
24 izmantot :) 1 1 1
25 Vairāk patīkamu atmosfēru. 1
Использовать именно американские
26 выражения с юмористическим наклоном.
27 Vairāk jokot un smaidīt ☺☺☺😊 1
28 Būt saprotošākiem/ām 1
29 Nebūt mākslīgiem, būt cikvēkiem 1
Izmantot kādus smieklīgus attēlus no
30 interneta, kā arī parādīt kādu smieklīgu video. 1

40
 But nestandartiem un nebaidities no
31 eksperimentiem. 1
Izvēlētos jokus balstīt uz skolēnu interesēm,
32 jokot atbilstoši vecumam. 1
Nebaidīties jokot un iekļaut stundā kādu
33 smieklīgu video angļu valodā. 1 1
34 Lai stāsta smieklīgus jokus. 1
Vienmēr būt jautriem- vairāk smaidīt un pašiem
35 nebaidīties jokot. 1
36 Izmantot vairāk joku 1
37 būt pozitīviem 1
38 nebuut nuugiem, but atraisitakiem 1
39 But pozitiviem. 1
40 But tuvak skoleniem. 1
But gataviem mainit stundas planu, ja situacija
41 to prasa. 1 1
42 But jautriem 1
43 Vairak smaidit 1
44 Nebaidities smieties kopa ar klasi 1
45 But atklatiem 1
46 Smiekligi jokot 1
Nebaidities no skolenu smiekligiem
47 komentariem. 1
Darit savas stundas, nodarbibas
48 daudzveidigakas. 1
49 Bu elastigiem 1
50 Atlaut visiem jokot 1 1
51 Radit skoleniem smiekligus multfilmus 1
5 9 11 13 13 6

41