The Use Of Humor In Foreign Language Teaching

The central theme of this thesis is the humorous contextualization of Foreign Language Teaching. The purpose of language use is to convey meaning in a variety of context while language that is introduced and taught in meaningful contexts enables the learner to acquire competency in using language for real world communication purposes. On the other hand, language learning must take place in an environment where learners are"off the defensive"and the affective filter (anxiety) is low in order for the input to be noticed and gain access to the learner's thinking (Krashen, 1982)[1]. Humor can no doubt help to create such a low-anxiety environment for the foreign language teaching and learning. This thesis has brought to the forefront a renewed focus on humorous context in Foreign Language Teaching.This thesis consists of four chapters.The thesis begins with the review of the study on humor and context in chapter one. After detailed illustration of the three conventional humor theories,that is, superiority theory, relief theory and incongruity theory, the thesis gives account of the linguistic studies on humor. The thesis also gives account of different scholars'theories on context, such as Bronislaw Malinowski, J.R.Firth, M.A.K. Halliday, Hymes and R.Jakobson.Chapter two is the theoretical support of the thesis. In this chapter, what is humor, classification of humor and functions of humor are explained in detail. At the same time, classification of context and the context of Foreign Language Teaching are further illustrated. In this thesis, context is mainly divided into two groups: linguistic context and non-linguistic context, paving the way for the next two chapters.Chapter three is the main body of the thesis. This chapter deals with using humor in vocabulary teaching and culture teaching respectively. The relationship between context and meaning is first explained and then the thesis discusses humor caused by context-based ambiguity. Context restricts meaning and meaning manifests context. The speaker and the hearer use context wittingly or unwittingly to cause ambiguity, thus bringing forth humor. Then the thesis educes the enlightenment for vocabulary teaching: students can grasp the different meanings of a word after they understand the humor. The next part illustrates what is culture and the relationship between language and culture and goes on with the explication of the cultural context of humor and the enlightenment for culture teaching: it is very important to teach culture in the process of foreign language teaching because language and culture are clearly fused; one reflects the other. Many scholars, based on their own study on culture teaching and learning, propose different views about the strategy of culture teaching and what should be taught in a culture-teaching classroom. In this thesis, the content of culture teaching through jokes is illustrated from these three aspects: cultural knowledge contained in the joke, cultural perspectives in the joke and culture-loaded words in the joke.The last chapter discusses the application of humor in Foreign Language Teaching in general. Humor is the lubrication for the harmonious relationship between the teacher and the students. It can help students retain subject matters and arouse the students'interest in learning a foreign language (English). So using humor in the classroom is an effective teaching tool. The thesis also points out some suggestions for teachers to develop a sense of humor and for appropriate use of humor in class: make humor an integral part of the class, rather than something special; using humor has to be well prepared: when the teacher organizes the teaching plan, he needs to consider how to use the relevant humor materials and when to use them; don't over-use it in order not to dilute the learning content and teaching goal, etc.In the end this thesis summarizes that language teaching and learning should take place in a humorous context. More and more emphasis has been put on the human aspect of language teaching and learning. What matters more than teaching method, it is argued, is the interaction between teacher and learner, and the personal characteristics of the learner. The role of language teacher has developed from a director and model in traditional language teaching to a facilitator in contemporary language teaching. This changed role implies that a teacher should not only know about the foreign language, but also know how language learning takes place and how to surround his students with the best possible conditions for his learning. Teaching language in a humorous context can no doubt arouse the students'positive emotional factors and facilitate the language learning process.