Dont Even Ask:

Humor and Pragmatics in

Japanese Junior High School
English Textbooks
Scott Gardner
Okayama University
Okayama, Japan

This work supported by

JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25370729

Pragmatics (speech act)

instruction in language teaching
By and large, the conventional approach to teaching speech acts . . . is
inadequate.
Crandall & Basturkmen, 2004
We have a responsibility to try and develop our students pragmatic
competence.
Murray, 2010
[There is a] need for more support of learners in their efforts to acquire
pragmatic ability.
Cohen, 2005
Without instruction in pragmatics, learners do not achieve sufficient ability
in a range of pragmatic areas.
Bardovi-Harlig, 2001, cited in Rose, 2005

Why put humor in a (language

learning) textbook?

Prevent boredom? (Wanzer, 2002; Torok et al., 2004)

Improve retention? (Abed, 1994; Atir, 2010; Ozdogru & McMorris, 2013)
As cruel in-jokes to make fun of innocent kids
in ways they cant understand? (no data yet)
As examples of target language humor, for
understanding of culture as well as language
usage?

Humor & pragmatics in

language learning textbooks
It is the responsibility of instructors and textbook
writers to take advantage of the growing
research base on humor in native English
speaker interaction to help their students as
they grapple with this aspect of the L2.
Bell, 2009

Humor disappearing from

language learning textbooks?
Publishers think every learner is a potential
customer. . . and every teacher is a customer
with a multiplier effect. If the teachers fond of
the book, shell tell the school and students to
buy that book. And not the other one which she
hates for the revolting jokes in it. Better play
safe. Better do without humour.
Medgyes, 2001

Appeal of Access to English

(Ills, 2008)
Students like the series because the story is
funny and the texts are humorous
Arthur and foreign language learners share
in alien world and clumsiness
not only semantic meaning and grammatical
structure but also pragmatic use of language

Textbooks
New Crown English Series
(1,2,3). Takahashi, S., et al.
(2011). Tokyo: Sanseido.

Sunshine English Course

(1,2,3). Matsuhata, H., et al.
(2013). Tokyo: Kairyudo.

New Horizon English Course

(1,2,3). Kasajima, J., et al.
(2012). Tokyo: Tokyo
Shoseki.

Total English New Edition

(1,2,3). Yada, H., et al.
(2013). Tokyo: Gakko Tosho.

One World English Course

(1,2,3). Matsumoto, S., et al.
(2012). Tokyo: Kyouiku
Shuppan.

All of these texts (and a few others) are

officially approved by Japans Ministry of
Education.

New Crown 3

New Horizon 3

New Crown 2

Total English 2

New Horizon 2

Sunshine 1

Sunshine 1

New Crown 3

One World 2

One World 3

One World 3

One World 2

One World 2

The foreign-language classroom is a world in its own

right. The moment we hop on this merry-go-round,
were obliged to shed our real identity.... Were
children turned into adults, or adults turned into
children.... Its a world turned upside down, where
abnormality is the standard norm. Everything is put
between inverted commas. This game is terribly funny.
Medgyes, 2001

References
Abed, F. 1994. Visual puns as interactive illustrations: Their effects on recognition memory. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 9(1), 4560.
Atir, S. (2010). Memory for information paired with humorous, relevant jokes. Unpublished thesis, Yale University.
Bell, N. (2005). Exploring L2 Language play as an aid to SLL: A case study of humour in NSNNS interaction. Applied Linguistics, 26(2), 192-218.
Bell, N. (2009). Learning about and through humor in the second language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 13(3), 241-258.
Bell, N. (2011). Humor scholarship and TESOL: Applying findings and establishing a research agenda. TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 134-159.
Cohen, A. D. (2005). Strategies for learning and performing L2 speech acts. Intercultural Pragmatics, 2-3, 275-301.
Crandall, E., & Basturkmen, H. (2004). Evaluating pragmatics-focused materials. ELT Journal, 58(1), 38-49.
Davies, C. E. (2003). How English-learners joke with native speakers: An interactional sociolinguistic perspective on humor as collaborative discourse across cultures.
Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 1361-1385.
Dynel, M. (2011). Pragmatics and linguistic research into humour. In Dynel, M. (Ed.), The pragmatics of humour across discourse domains (pp. 1-15). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.
Ills, . (2008). What makes a coursebook series stand the test of time? ELT Journal, 63(2), 145-153.
Gallucci, S. (2011). Language learning, identities and emotions during the year abroad: Case studies of British ERASMUS students in Italy. Unpublished doctoral thesis,
University of Birmingham.
Katayama, H. (2009). A cross-cultural analysis of humor in stand-up comedy in the United States and Japan. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education, 2(2), 125142.
Medgyes, P. (2001). Hows this for fun? The role of humour in the ELT classroom and ELT teaching materials. In Bax, M., & Zwart, J-W. (Eds.), Reflections on language
and language learning: In honour of Arthur van Essen (pp. 105-119). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Norrick, N. R., & Chiaro, D. (Eds.) (2009). Humor in interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Murray, N. (2010). Pragmatics, awareness raising, and the Cooperative Principle. ELT Journal, 64(3), 293-301.
Oshima, K. (2013). An examination for styles of Japanese humor: Japans funniest story project from 2010 to 2011. Intercultural Communication Studies, 22(2), 91-109.
Ozdogru, A. A., & McMorris, R. F. (2013). Humorous cartoons in college textbooks: Student perceptions and learning. Humor, 26(1): 135 154.
Rose, K. R. (2005). On the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. System, 33, 385-399.
Suzuki, T. (2012). Introduction to English speech acts: Strategies for thanking, apologizing, requesting, and inviting [
]. Tokyo: Nanun-do.
Torok, S. E., McMorris, R. F., & Lin, W. C. (2004). Is humor an appreciated teaching tool? Perceptions of professors teaching styles and use of humor. College
Teaching, 52, 14/20.
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. Chesebro & J. C. McCroskey
(Eds.), Communication for teachers (pp. 116-125). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

This work supported by

JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number
25370729

New Crown 1

New Crown 3

New Horizon 1

Total English 1