Humor and Play in Language Classroom Interaction: A Review of the Literature

• Main Author: Elizabeth Reddington
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbia University Libraries 2018-12-01
• Series: Working Papers in Applied Linguistics and TESOL
• Subjects: Applied linguistics; Second language acquisition; SLA; Wit and humor in education; Education; Philosophy; Classroom education
• Online Access: https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D81274JH/download

The past two decades have seen a growing interest in the role of humor and play in second- language (L2) learning and teaching. Vega (1990) went as far as to propose viewing humor as a fifth element of communicative competence; more recently, Cook (2000) has argued that language play should be regarded as “both a means and an end of language learning” (p. 204). Teachers have, in fact, long been advised to introduce elements of humor and play into the language classroom (e.g., Holmes, 1980; Schmitz, 2002; Trachtenberg 1979). However, as Bell (2009, 2011, 2013) has pointed out, such recommendations have largely been based on assumptions and intuitions rather than empirical research. Studies of specific pedagogical interventions have generally been lacking (Bell, 2013).