web viewfrom the research, we could see that there are many kinds of humor, and not all the kinds...

The Effect of a Teacher’s Humor on the

Classroom Environment

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Natsumi Okamoto

2014

Contents

Abstract 4

Chapter One: The Effect of a Teacher’s Humor on the Classroom Environment

5

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Defining Humor

1.3 Types of Humor

1.4 Humor and the Classroom8

1.5 Humor and memory 11

1.6 High-context and low-context

1.7 Research Questions 13

1.8 Summary

Chapter Two: Questionnaire14

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire

2.2.2. Aim

2.2.3 Method 15

2.2.4. Results 16

2

2.3 Summary 26

Chapter Three: Conclusion27

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Summary of the results

3.3 Discussion of the results

3.3.1 Introduction

3.3.2 Discussion of the questionnaire28

3.3.3 1) About the jokes which the rate of the subjects’ understanding have changed after reading the explanation

3.3.4 2) About the jokes which subjects chose different answers for the kind of joke

3.3.5 3) About the jokes which subjects felt bad

3.4 Research Questions 32

3.5 Implications for humor effects in the classroom33

3.6 Limitation of the experiments 34

3.7 Further research

3.8 Conclusion

References 36

Appendices 38

3

Abstract

In the classrooms, teachers sometimes say humorous things to

students. However, some students don’t understand what their

teacher said, or even they don’t realize it was a joke!

In Chapter One, we discussed what humor is, what kinds there

are, and what effect humor has on the classroom. We discussed how

humor is related to the classroom atmosphere. Then, we discussed

the opinion of the experts about the best ways to use humor in the

classroom.

In Chapter Two, we presented the results of a questionnaire

about jokes. 40 subjects answered the questionnaire, and Chapter

Two showed those answers.

In Chapter Three, we discussed the results of the questionnaire

in detail. We discussed the implications for using humor in the

classroom. There were some kinds of humor subjects feel bad and

uncomfortable. In addition, we also discussed the opinions of experts.

From the research, we could see that there are many kinds of

humor, and not all the kinds are to make people laugh. Some are to

blame someone, others are insults and scorn someone. Teachers have

to use appropriate humor in the classroom, and then they can make

students’ learning attitude better.

4

Chapter One: The Effect of a Teacher’s Humor on the Classroom

Environment

1.1 Introduction

Teachers sometimes use humor in the second language

classroom. Students may sometimes laugh, sometimes enjoy, and

sometimes be made nervous by it. It is because students are still

learning the second language, and don’t know what their teacher

really means by the joke. However, using humor in the classroom is

important for both teachers and students to make good classes. There

are effective ways to use humor in the classroom.

In this thesis, we will find out what and how humor in the

classroom has effect on students and we will find out effective jokes

to use in the classroom. In this chapter, we will find out what humor

is, what kinds of humor there are, and how humor affects students.

1.2 Defining Humor

Humor is a complex phenomenon and there is no general

theory of humor or even an agreed definition. Humor is a quality of

perception that enables us to experience joy even when faced with

bad luck, very serious situation, or a critical phase.

1.3 Types of Humor

There are many types of humor. The following is an explanation

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of some types.

Farce; it is something that is intended to be seen as

ridiculous, particularly comedy based on an unlikely situation.

Farce is generally a play for making people laugh.

Example

Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the room.

The teacher says, “Why are you arguing?”

One boy answers, “We found a ten dollar bill and decided to

give it to whoever tells the biggest lie.”

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” said the teacher,

“When I was your age I didn’t even know what a lie was.”

The two boys gave the ten dollars to the teacher.

Irony; it is used when you want to blame someone and speak

ill of them. It’s the use of words to convey the opposite of

their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the

meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of

the idea.

Example

Someone makes a long story which makes you bored, you say

“Goodbye, thank you for giving me a really boring time!”

You never feel thank for the person, but saying “thank you

(the opposite statement)” can attack the person.

6

http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/literalangterm.htm

Satire; it’s witty language used to convey insults or scorn. It

uses sarcasm, ridicule, or irony. Satire doesn’t always include

a laugh. It is often used to effect political or social change, or

to prevent it. It can bring a change in society.

Example is in the appendix (A) on page 34, 35.

Puns; They are a play on words, either on different senses of

the same word or on the similar sense or sound of different

words.

Example

How about my omelet? “Eggcellent!”

As you know, omelet is made from eggs. Instead of saying

“excellent”, the person used a pun by exchanging ‘ex’ and

‘egg’.

Sarcasm; it’s a mocking, often ironic or satirical remark,

usually intended to wound as well as amuse.

Example

There is a man just one glance tells you that he has a cold.

Someone says to him, “Hey! How are you?” Then he says,

“I am well and strong, as you see!!!!”

7

Slapstick; it is a kind of comedy based on practical jokes,

collisions, clumsiness and embarrassing events. Making

people laugh by slapping someone’s head is included in this

kind.

Example

On the telephone.

A: Jack Smith will not be in school today.

Teacher: Is he sick? Who is this speaking, please?

A: This is my father speaking.

Jack should have said “This is his father speaking” to keep his

lie.

These are just some types of humor. There are many more varieties of

humor. Humor exists not only for making someone laugh but also to

insult someone. In order to know what is implied in the humor, we

need to understand what types of humor they are and what they

really mean. If not, we may not see the message in the humor, and

misunderstand.

1.4 Humor and the Classroom

The amount of humor depends on the teacher. Some teachers

use a lot of humor, others don’t. Using humor in the classroom usually

makes the class laugh, cheerful, and funny. It was revealed that

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playful humor can makes students enjoy the class, makes the

classroom atmosphere better, and motivates students for the lecture.

(Makino, 2002a) The experiment was held to investigate how

educational was the use of humor in the classroom. The subjects were

elementary and junior high school students. The subjects took a

practice lecture. As a result, humor which was related to the contents

of the lecture was very effective for students to improve their learning

and motivation to the lecture. Moreover, a teacher who uses playful

humor could be more friendly with subjects. Subjects who took a

lecture with humor continued to have more interest to learning after

the lecture. The lecture with humor has got better satisfaction and

better evaluation from teachers. (Makino,2002b) Humor makes

students learn better. Making humor in the classroom is an effective

way for students to learn with a wide range of the subjects.

Especially, humor serves as an effective means of reducing affective

barriers to language acquisition.

Kristmanson (2000) says “In order to take risks, you need a learning

environment in which you do not feel threatened or intimidated. In

order to speak, you need to feel you will be heard and that what

you’re saying is worth hearing. In order to continue your language

learning you need to feel motivated. In order to succeed, you need an

atmosphere in this topic of affect in the second language classroom.”

Kristmanson stressed the importance of the affective environment in

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second language teaching. It can’t be emphasized enough that

students are more willing to participate and take risks in using their

second language in a classroom that allows them to do so without

fear of criticism and ridicule. It’s important for the teacher to create a

“positive atmosphere” for learning. Humor, by decreasing anxiety and

stress can, contribute to this positive classroom, to class unity and

learning.

Askildson (2005) says “speech acts within human discourse. As a

natural consequence then, the employment of humor within the

context of second language pedagogy offers significant advantage to

both the language teacher and learner. Indeed, humor serves as an

effective means of reducing affective barriers to language acquisition.

This effectiveness is particularly relevant to the communicative

classroom, as humor has been shown to lower the affective filter and

stimulate the pro-social behaviors that are so necessary for success

within a communicative context. In addition to the employment of

such general humor for the creation of a conducive learning

environment, great value lies in the use of humor as a specific

pedagogical tool to illustrate and teach both formal linguistic features

as well as the cultural and pragmatic components of language so

necessary for communicative competence.”

Narula, Chaudhary, Agarwal, and Narula (2011) measured the effects

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of humor in the classroom. The objective of the study was to examine

the effectiveness of humor when used as an intervention. Their

Interventional, Randomized control trial study was carried out on 90

medical students in their fourth semester. Class was divided into two

groups, Group A and Group B by simple random sampling using a

lottery method, consisting of 45 students each. For both groups four

lectures each were delivered on the same topic, with a difference that

in Group A no intervention used while in Group B humor was used as

an intervention. The record of class attendance was maintained in

both the groups and post lecture tests were conducted. A Chi-Square

test was applied for statistical analysis. In Group B not only the

attendance of students increased from class 1 to class 4 but was also

more compared to Group A in each class and the difference was found

to be statistically significant. Post lecture test scores showed that in

Group A there was no significant difference in scores obtained by

students in class 1 and class 4, however in Group B in which humor

was used it was observed that in class 4 percentage of students

getting marks over 50% higher compared to class 1. This seems to

show that humor not only increases interest but also promotes

learning.

There are many positive effects of using humor in the classroom.

Experts showed these data and we could know what effect humor

has.

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1.5 Humor and memory

“Humor is closely related to memory, as it is usually easier to

recall an experience that occurred in a humorous context. When

recalling a television commercial, or a political joke just heard on the

subway, we are often surprised by the amount of aural and visual

information we are able to retrieve.” (Javier Munoz-Basols, 2005)

Humor in the classroom can also stay longer in memory. “There are

many benefits to using humor in the classroom. It creates a

cooperative atmosphere helping students to better relate to one

another, and it focuses them more effectively. It adds a cultural frame

to language by presenting a tone, expression and context to the

material, thus increasing cultural knowledge. Humor facilitates the

acquisition of vocabulary and helps distinguish figurative from literal

meaning.” Crossword puzzles are a good way for learning in order to

make students amused while learning. Students love ‘to act as

detectives,’ and carefully look for mistakes as if they were doing a

crossword puzzle. By simply making an activity visual and humorous,

we encourage students to be creative. As they learn while playing,

they naturally feel more relaxed.

1.6 High-context and low-context

Context is background information or knowledge. For example,

when you think about a new English word without dictionary, you

figure it out from the context. When it comes to culture and

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communication, Japanese people are in high-context culture, and

American people are in a low-context one. Japanese live in almost the

same culture, have one language, a similar life style, and they have

almost the same background, which means high-context. In contrast,

American lives in a melting pot. There are a variety of culture, living

styles, people, and way of thinking. Because of living in different life

style, Americans may not believe people have the same experience,

which means low-context communication/culture. How much

information they already know about their background information

affects the amount and kind of information that we need to include

when we send a message.

Everyone has both high-context and low-context in life. Imagine there

are 36 people in your class. You know all classmates’ name and face,

but you’ll especially be get close relation with your only six friends.

Then, you have high-context communication with the only six friends,

which is often indirect. It is because speakers already know about

each other and they can guess non-verbal communications (body

language or gesture). It takes time and energy to build high-context

to share the background. Spending the same time and sharing

background knowledge with the close friends makes high-context

communication. When you have it, saying your idea clearly will be

less important. The listening skill is more important, and the meaning

behind the words someone says is regarded as very important.

To use and make students understand humor in the classroom,

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thinking about how much information teachers and students can

share is important. Teachers should think about the situation when

they use humor and what type of humor they use.

1.7 Research Questions

These are the research questions for the thesis

1. What types of humor are there?

2. What effect do different types of teacher’s humor have on

student’s feelings?

3. Is this affected by the situation?

1.8 Summary

Chapter One discussed humor and its effect in the classroom.

There are many types, and each kind of humor has its own intention

and effect. Experts showed that humor can have the power on making

good class atmosphere and students positive attitude. Moreover,

Humor is closely related to memory, as it is usually easier to recall an

experience that occurred in a humorous context. The relations

between teachers and students are also important to use humor

effectively in the classroom.

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Chapter 2: Questionnaire

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we will find out how much students understand

jokes and how they feel about jokes.

The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of jokes

students understand and what kinds of jokes are acceptable. The

questionnaire aims to find out what is the relation between teachers

and students, what circumstance (situation) are there, and what is the

border line to the bullying. Chapter Two will find what types of jokes

are useful for students.

2.2 The questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire

40 subjects (students in English department in NDSU) answer a

questionnaire about jokes, which allows us to find out what types of

jokes they understand and not. Also we can know how they feel about

each joke.

We will discuss the experiment and the results in this chapter.

2.2.2. Aim

The aim for this questionnaire was compared the subjects’

understandings of each joke both before and after reading the

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explanation of the joke. There were a variety of jokes in the

questionnaire such as puns, irony, nonsenses, farce, sarcasm, and

slapstick. We will see what types of jokes are easy for subjects to

understand or not. Also, subjects were asked to answer how they feel

after reading each joke, which tells us what kinds of jokes are

acceptable or not.

2.2.3 Method

This was a paper questionnaire, and subjects were asked to

read 16 patterns of jokes. For each joke, they answered 3 questions

and those questions had multiple choices to answer. The

questionnaire had two parts; the first part includes only the examples

of jokes, and the second part had the examples of the same jokes

with the explanations for each joke. In the first section, they read

jokes, and answered the 3 questions. Then, they went on the second

section. They read the explanations of jokes, and answered the same

3 questions again. We will compare the data how much they can

understand jokes without reading the explanation, and how different

they feel about jokes if they understand what the joke really mean.

a) Subjects

The subjects were 40 students in English department in NDSU.

All students are third and fourth grade students. They were learning

English in NDSU. They were taking classes like OC, Composition,

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Grammar, English Literature. Some classes were in charge of native

English teacher.

b) Test design

There are 16 jokes from a variety of situations. Subjects read a

lot of kinds of jokes, for example; farce, irony, satire, puns, sarcasm,

slapstick. Then, they answer the three following questions about each

joke;

(1) Do you understand the joke? Yes Maybe No

(2) What kind of joke it is?

a) だじゃれ b) 皮肉, c) , 無意味なこと d) 茶番劇, e) いやみ, f) 悪ふざけ

(3) How do you feel about the joke?

a) funny, b) amused, c) embarrassed, d) uncomfortable, e) bad,

f) awkward ,

g) other __________

c) Procedure

40 subjects answered the questionnaire. First, they read only

jokes and answer these three questions. After that, they read the

same jokes with explanation for each joke to check they understand

what the jokes mean, and answered the same three questions.

Then the questionnaire was designed for calculating the data

and translated the results into a graphic and showed the answers by

percentage.

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2.2.3. Results

Now we will look at the data and find out if they understood

the jokes, what kind of joke they categorize, and what they feel about

each joke.

Joke A: When you came late for a class, your teacher says “You’re

very good at being late!”

The teacher uses this expression to imply ‘try not to be late’.

81% of the subjects answered ‘Yes’, which means they understand

without the explanation of this joke. After reading the explanation,

100% of the subjects could understand it. 67% thought this joke was

irony, and 33% thought it was nonsensism. 41% felt this joke was

funny, but 23% feel this was embarrassing.

Joke B: Why couldn’t Cinderella be a good soccer player?

---She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her coach was

a pumpkin.

The words ‘ball’ and ‘coach’ have double meanings. The ‘ball’ means

both サッカーボール and 舞踏会. The ‘coach’ means both 指導コーチ and

馬車.

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Only 19% of the subjects understood this joke before reading the

explanation.76% could understand with explanation. This joke was a

kind of pun. 35% knew that, and 35% thought it was a farce. 7

subjects realized that they misunderstood the joke was actually a pun

after reading the explanation. 90% felt this joke was funny and

amusing.

JOKE C: “Am I the first man you have ever loved?” he said.

“Of course,” she answered “why do men always ask the same

question?”

We can notice she actually has loved another men before.

76% of the subjects understood without the explanation, and 90%

understood with the explanation. 42% thought this joke was a kind of

slapstick, and 26% thought it was farce. After reading the explanation,

20% answered irony, 25% answered nonsensism, 30% answered

farce, 10% answered sarcasm, and 15% answered slapstick. 70% felt

this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE D: When I was young, I didn’t like going to weddings.

My grandmother would tell me, “ You’re next.”

However, she stopped doing that after I started saying the same thing

to her at funerals.

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The grandchild makes fun of his grandmother by saying “You’re next”,

meaning she’ll be the next to die.

52% of the subjects understood without the explanation, and 95% of

the subjects understood after reading the explanation. 33% of the

subjects thought this joke was irony and another 33% of the subjects

thought slapstick. 24% of the subjects answered this was a kind of

sarcasm. 33% of the subjects felt this joke was funny, but 56% of the

subjects felt bad and uncomfortable.

JOKE E: Teacher: Tell me a sentence that starts with and “I”.

Student: I is the…

Teacher: Stop! Never put ‘is’ after an “I”. Always put ‘am’ after an “I”.

Student: OK. I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

The teacher tries to teach ‘I am~’ sentence, but the student made

the sentence using the ‘I’ which means the letter ‘I’.

67% of the subjects understood this joke without the explanation.

With the explanation, 90% of the subjects could understand. 29% of

the subjects thought this joke was nonsensism and another 29% of

the subjects thought it was slapstick. 24% thought this was farce.

81% felt it was funny and amusing.

20

JOKE F: A: What do you call a deer with no eyes?

B: No idea. (No Eye Deer)

No=no i=eye dea=deer The sounds are the same.

90% answered ‘Yes’ for this joke. 95% understood this was a kind of

pun, and 95% feel it was funny and they were amused.

JOKE G: A: What do you call a dead deer with no eyes?

B: Still no idea.

‘Still’ means ‘not moving’.

Only 29% understood this joke without the explanation. With the

explanation, the number went up to 67%. 78% understood this joke

was a kind of pun, but 17% thought it was nonsensism. 88%

answered this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE H: Teacher: Today, we’re going to talk about the tenses.

Now, if I say “I am beautiful,” which tense is it?

Student: Obviously it is the past tense.

You can imagine the teacher is female and has already got old.

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90% understood without the explanation, and 100% understood with

the explanation. 43% thought this joke was irony, 29% answered

slapstick, and 24% answered sarcasm. 77% felt this joke was funny.

JOKE I: Q: Can a kangaroo jump higher than the Tokyo Skytree?

A: Yes, because the Tokyo Skytree can’t jump!

This is a pun on “higher than X.” Usually people say “A higher than”

meaning over e.g. I can jump higher than IM. But here the joke refers

to compare “how high a person vs. a building can jump.”

81% understood this joke without the explanation, and the number

didn’t change after reading the explanation. 35% thought this joke

was a kind of slapstick, and 25% thought it was nonsensism, and 20%

thought it was pun. 89% felt this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE J: Q: When does the (English) alphabet have only 25 letters?

A: At Christmas time, because it is the time of Noel. (No L)

This is pun. Noel is pronounced “No L”. If we take L from the 26 letters

of the alphabet, there are 25.

57% understood this joke without the explanation. With the

explanation, 90% could understand. 55% knew this joke was a kind of

22

pun. 20% thought it was nonsensism, and 15% thought it was farce.

86% felt this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE K: Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and only has one letter?

A: An envelope.

Letter has double meaning which is 文字 and 手紙.

62% understood without the explanation, and 76% understood with

the explanation. 67% knew this joke was a kind of pun, but 24%

thought this was nonsensism or farce. 95% felt this joke was funny

and amusing.

JOKE L: Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the room.


One boy answers, “We found a ten dollar bill and decided to give it to

whoever tells the biggest lie.”

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” said the teacher, “When I

was your age I didn’t even know what a lie was.”


The two boys thought the teacher definitely knew what a lie was! The

biggest lie was what the teacher said, so the teacher got the ten

dollars.

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70% understood without the explanation, and 81% understood after

reading the explanation. 56% thought this joke was farce, and 26%

thought it was slapstick. However, they answered 35% for farce, 25%

for slapstick, 20% for irony, and 15% for sarcasm after reading the

explanation. 90% felt this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE M: “Spell SPOT three times”

“S P O T , S P O T , S P O T”

“What do you do when you come to a green light?”

(answer is invariably-) “Stop!”

“What, at a GREEN light?”

It is like 10 回ゲーム for Japanese.

71% understood without the explanation, and 90% understood after

reading the explanation. 52% thought this joke was slapstick, and

24% thought it was farce. 91% felt this joke was funny and amusing.

JOKE N: Mary: John says I’m pretty. Andy says I’m ugly.

What do you think, Peter?

Peter: I think you’re pretty ugly.

Peter said both expressions which John and Andy said to Mary. ‘Pretty

ugly’ means ‘very ugly’.

24

48% understood without the explanation. After reading the

explanation, 90% could understand. 30% thought this joke was pun,

and 20% thought it was sarcasm, another 20% thought it was

slapstick, 15% thought it was irony, and 15% thought it was farce.

78% felt this joke was funny and amusing. 13% felt uncomfortable

about this joke.

JOKE O: Son: Dad, what is an idiot?

Dad: An idiot is a person who tries to explain his ideas in such a

strange and long way that another person who is listening to him

can’t understand him. Do you understand me?

Son: No.

Actually, the meaning of an idiot was just like his father! Because his

father was giving a long explanation which is what he says an idiot

does.

43% understood without the explanation. After reading the

explanation, 76% could understand. 24% thought this joke was irony,

nonsensism, and farce. 14% thought it was sarcasm. 82% feel this

joke was funny, but 15% feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about

this joke.

JOKE P: Mother: Does your teacher like you?

25

Son: Like me, she loves me.

Look at all those X’s on my test paper!

His teacher used X on school work to show that a written answer was

not correct, but the son grasps the X’s mean kisses.

(X mark means a kiss in letters, especially at the end of a letter like

Love, Natsumi XXX)

62% understood this joke without the explanation. With the

explanation, 95% could understand. 43% thought this joke was farce,

19% thought it was pun, 14% thought it was irony. After reading the

explanation, all subjects felt this joke was funny and amusing.

Summary tables

Table 1: The percentage of correct answers

Category % understood % not

understood

Farce 25% 75%

Irony 38% 62%

Puns 55% 45%

Nonsensism 0% 100%

Sarcasm 20% 80%

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Slapstick 24% 76%

Table 2: The percentage of people who correctly identified the type of

joke.

Pun Irony Non-

sensism

Farce Sarcasm Slapstick

A 0% 67% 0% 0% 33% 0%

B 67% 5% 5% 14% 5% 5%

C 0% 20% 25% 30% 10% 15%

D 0% 33% 5% 5% 24% 33%

E 14% 0% 29% 24% 5% 29%

F 85% 0% 10% 0% 0% 5%

G 78% 0% 17% 0% 0% 6%

H 0% 43% 0% 5% 24% 29%

I 20% 0% 25% 15% 5% 35%

J 55% 0% 20% 15% 0% 10%

K 67% 5% 14% 10% 5% 0%

L 5% 20% 0% 35% 15% 25%

M 10% 0% 14% 24% 0% 52%

N 30% 15% 0% 15% 20% 20%

O 5% 24% 24% 24% 14% 10%

P 19% 14% 10% 43% 5% 10%

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Table 3: The percentage of understanding increase with and without

explanation

With Without

A 81% 100%

B 19% 76%

C 76% 90%

D 52% 95%

E 67% 90%

F 90% 90%

G 29% 67%

H 90% 100%

I 81% 81%

J 57% 90%

K 62% 76%

L 70% 81%

M 71% 90%

N 48% 90%

O 43% 76%

P 62% 95%

From the summary table, in Table 1, we can see that puns were

the most simple and easy for subjects to understand. Looking at Table

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2, the kinds of joke they chose in each joke were very different and

there were some jokes many subjects misunderstood the kind. From

Table 3, only 19% of the subjects could understand the Joke B, which

might be the hardest joke for them to understand. We can know that

more subjects understand after reading the explanation of jokes.

2.3 Summary

We found out the percentage of understanding for each joke,

and the change of understanding after reading each explanation.

Also, we can see what they think and feel about each joke. In Chapter

Three, we’ll discuss which joke is effective to use in the classrooms.

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Chapter Three: Conclusion

3.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we discussed humor which can have an effect

on students to learn more. Lectures in which the teacher used humor

stayed in the students’ memory better. There are many types of

humor including farce, irony, sarcasm, puns, and slapstick. The

questionnaire in Chapter Two asked subjects if they understand each

type of humor, and what they feel when they heard it. To know

difference of the subjects’ reaction change, they read the same item

twice with/without explanation for each one. In this chapter we will

discuss the data from tables in Chapter Two.

3.2 Summary of the results

From the research, we could see that there were differences

among subjects when they reacted to a joke. Even in the same joke,

some felt funny and amused, others felt embarrassed or bad. There

were some jokes they were hardly able to understand.

3.3 Discussion of the results

3.3.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter we conducted questionnaire which

asked subjects to read jokes and answer the three questions. This

section will discuss what the most interesting findings in the data are

30

and analyze it in detail.

3.3.2 Discussion of the questionnaire

In this section we will look at the data in details and discuss

the following three things;

1) About the jokes which the rate of the subjects’ understanding have

changed after reading the explanation

2) About the jokes which subjects chose different answers for the kind

of joke

3) About the jokes which subjects felt it was bad

In the each following section, we will look at jokes in details and

analyze why some interesting result happened.

3.3.3 1) About the jokes which the rate of the subjects’

understanding have changed after reading the explanation

Look at Joke B.

Joke B: Why couldn’t Cinderella be a good soccer player?

---She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her

coach was a pumpkin.

When the subjects read this joke, only 19% of the subjects could

understand what this joke mean. This number is the lowest of all

results. The number went up to 76% after the subjects read the

explanation for the joke; The words ‘ball’ and ‘coach’ have double

meanings. The ‘ball’ means both サッカーボール and 舞踏会 . The

31

‘coach’ means both 指導コーチ and 馬車.

Look at Joke F and Joke G.

Joke F: A: What do you call a deer with no eyes?



90% of the subjects could understand what this joke means. The

number is pretty high, and we could know this is an easy joke for

subjects to understand. However, the next Joke G, which has similar

joke style, but it couldn’t be understood by many subjects.

Joke G: A: What do you call a dead deer with no eyes?

B: Still no idea.


Only 29% understood this joke without the explanation. With the

explanation, the number went up to 67%.

Why did many subjects not understand Joke B and Joke G?

Even though the Joke F and Joke G look quite similar, what was the

difference and why did the number of understanding change greatly

between Joke F and Joke G? The vocabulary ability is probably the

difference. The joke which includes a difficult word tends to lower the

32

subjects’ understanding. Many subjects don’t understand when they

meet words they don’t know the meaning of. In Joke B, some difficult

words subjects hardly know the meaning appeared; ‘ball’ and ‘coach’.

Almost all subjects did know the ‘ball’ meant ‘a round object that is

thrown or kicked in a game or sport’, and the ‘coach’ meant ‘someone

who trains a person or team in a sport’. However, subjects did not

seem to not know there are another meanings of the words; the ‘ball’

meant ‘a large formal occasion at which people dance’, and the

‘coach’ meant ‘a large carriage pulled by horses and used in the past

for carrying passengers’. In Joke G, we can say the same thing, which

is they didn’t know ‘still’ means ‘not moving’, and ‘still no idea’ meant

‘a dead deer with no eyes’.

3.3.4 2) About the jokes which subjects chose different

answers for the kind of joke

We looked at the jokes which subjects regarded each different

choice as the kind of joke, and discuss the reason why their answer

separated.

Look at Joke L.

Joke L: Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the

room.




33




When the subjects read this joke, 56% thought this joke was farce,

and 26% thought it was slapstick. However, after they read the

following explanation for this joke, their answers changed. First, the

explanation was like this; The two boys thought the teacher definitely

knew what the lie was! The biggest lie was what the teacher said, so

the teacher got the ten dollars. They answered 35% for farce, 25% for

slapstick, 20% for irony, and 15% for sarcasm after reading this

explanation. Before reading explanation, 56% of the subjects thought

it was farce, but the number went down to 35% after reading the

explanation.

3.3.5 3) About the jokes which subjects felt bad

Most of the jokes in the questionnaire made subjects laugh, but

there were some subjects who didn’t enjoy those jokes. In this

section, we’ll discuss the jokes which subjects felt bad,

uncomfortable, or embarrassed. Look at Joke D, N, and O. These are

the jokes some subjects felt it was bad.

Joke D: When I was young, I didn’t like going to weddings.


However, she stopped doing that after I started saying the

same thing to her at funerals.

34

33% of the subjects felt it was funny, but 56% of the subjects felt bad

and uncomfortable about this joke.

Joke N: Mary: John says I’m pretty. Andy says I’m ugly.



78% of the subjects felt it was funny and amusing, but 13% of the

subjects felt uncomfortable.

Joke O: Son: Dad, what is an idiot?

Dad: An idiot is a person who tries to explain his ideas in such

a strange and long way that another person who is listening

to him can’t understand him. Do you understand me?

Son: No.

82% of the subjects felt it was funny, but 15% felt embarrassed and

uncomfortable.

Why did some subjects feel bad about those jokes? What’s the

difference between the subjects who consider it’s funny and it’s not

funny? What part of the jokes is a problem? It depends on the

person’s character, way of thinking, and experience in the past. If

some people had a hard time to overcome their dearest

grandmother’s death, a topic like Joke D might make them feel bad,

and remind them of the tearful memory. Some might have an

inferiority complex for their looks, so they don’t want to be said about

35

it by their friends, and of course they would never like joke N. For dad

lovers, Joke O might be unbelievable and they could get bad

impressions. Moreover, some words can be associated to bad

impressions. In Joke D, N, and O, some of the words are included; for

example, ‘funerals’, ‘ugly’, and ‘idiot’. Those words affect subjects’

feelings.

3.4 Research questions

We will now answer the research questions in Chapter One.

1. What types of humor are there?

There are many types of humor; for example, farce, irony, puns,

satire, sarcasm, nonsensism, and slapstick. Each kind of humor has an

intention and effect to use, so we can choose what type is good in

every occasion.

2. What effect do different types of humor of teachers have on

student’s feelings?

Some humor amuses students and they like to hear them in the

classroom and makes them positive to study, but others don’t. There

are some kinds of humor teachers should not use in the classroom

such as severe irony or sarcasm, and difficult puns for students to

understand. Good irony warns students to be nice in the classroom

and great puns which are related to what they’re learning is useful to

make good classroom atmosphere and positive attitude for learning.

36

3. Is this affected by the situation?

Yes. It depends on the situation. If the subject of the class was a

severe and serious theme, teachers should not use any humor. Humor

is more effective in chatty class like OC class.

3.5 Implications for humor effects in the classroom

From the research, humor in the classroom has an effect on

students’ learning attitude and memory. It can make a better class

atmosphere. However, in fact, it is difficult for English learners to

understand what a teacher said with humor and what it really means.

We could see there are some kinds of jokes which are hardly

acceptable. It is because some words they don’t know included, topics

they don’t like included, or some words which make them remind of

bad memory included. The impression when subjects heard a joke

was different for each person, so humor should be used at an

appropriate time, place, and occasion. Experts showed good effect of

using humor in the classroom. Moreover, we could see that they need

to choose the type of humor in the classroom. Then humor can have a

good effect on students to learn more. In the case of this, teachers

have to refer to the experts’ suggestions.

3.6 Limitation of the experiments

There were 30 third and fourth students learning in the English

37

department in NDSU. The questionnaire may be able to research

whether the subjects are students whose native language is English,

and who are familiar with English jokes through their daily life. We can

compare the students in NDSU with the native English students how

the reaction and way of thinking to humor change. However, the

subjects in this thesis were students who are not native English

speakers and studying English.

3.7 Further research

The subjects took only paper questionnaire, but reading and

hearing the jokes would have made a different impression and

reaction. We may be able to ask the same questions by reading and

hearing them on video or experiencing them themselves first hand.

Hearing jokes on video may have more information and background

for the joke than paper, because there are face expression, body

movement, and tone of voice. If we take the video style

questionnaire, we could have some other result and findings of effect

of humor.

3.8 Conclusion

Students felt funny and amused with most kinds of jokes, but

some jokes may make students feel bad or uncomfortable. It is

because they don’t understand the joke, or they don’t like the topic.

In order to have a good effect for using humor in the classroom,

38

teachers should pay attention to some points when they use humor,

which is to avoid the difficult words and some topics like death or

someone’s ugly looks. We could see there are many kinds of humor,

and not all the kinds are to make people laugh. Some are to blame

someone, others are insults and scorn someone. Teachers have to use

appropriate humor in the classroom, and then they can make

students’ learning attitude better. The class which is conducted with

humor in a good atmosphere can be able to stay longer in students’

memory. Humor can create a good class, and students can enjoy

learning more with humor.

39

References

Askildson, L. 2005, Effects of Humor in the Language Classroom, from

http://slat.arizona.edu/sites/slat/files/page/

awp12askildson.pdf#search='Lance+Askildson.

+University+of+Arizona.'

Chiasson, P. 2002, Using Humour in the Second Language Classroom,

from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chiasson-Humour.html

Narula, Chaudhary, Agarwal, Narula, 2011. Humor as a Learning Aid in

Medical Education, from

http://njirm.pbworks.com/f/

5Humor+as+a+Learning+Aid+in+Medical+Education.pdf#search='st

udents+reaction+by+humor+in+classroom'

Sugano, Yurika. 2011 Foreign Language Learning and Understanding

of Humor

from

http://www.wilmina.ac.jp/ojc/edu/kiyo_2011/kiyo_08_PDF/

d2011_10.pdf#search='%E7%AC%91%E5%8A%87+%E4%BE%8B'

牧野幸志、ユーモアを用いた効果的な教育方法に関する基礎研究

http://kaken.nii.ac.jp/d/p/13710092.en.html

40

http://kaken.nii.ac.jp/d/p/13710092.en.html

http://www.wilmina.ac.jp/ojc/edu/kiyo_2011/kiyo_08_PDF/d2011_10.pdf#search='%E7%AC%91%E5%8A%87+%E4%BE%8B

http://www.wilmina.ac.jp/ojc/edu/kiyo_2011/kiyo_08_PDF/d2011_10.pdf#search='%E7%AC%91%E5%8A%87+%E4%BE%8B

http://njirm.pbworks.com/f/5Humor+as+a+Learning+Aid+in+Medical+Education.pdf#search='students+reaction+by+humor+in+classroom



http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chiasson-Humour.html

http://slat.arizona.edu/sites/slat/files/page/awp12askildson.pdf#search='Lance+Askildson.+University+of+Arizona



英語のジョーク、from http://eigo.zatunen.com/joke.html

The Definition of Satire and a Short Example, from

http://freezeframe34.hubpages.com/hub/The-Definition-of-Satire-and-

a-Short-Example

Sales Jokes, from

http://www.salesjokes.com/resources/sales-jokes-types-of-humour-l-z/

nonsensism.aspx

41

http://www.salesjokes.com/resources/sales-jokes-types-of-humour-l-z/nonsensism.aspx

http://www.salesjokes.com/resources/sales-jokes-types-of-humour-l-z/nonsensism.aspx

http://freezeframe34.hubpages.com/hub/The-Definition-of-Satire-and-a-Short-Example

http://freezeframe34.hubpages.com/hub/The-Definition-of-Satire-and-a-Short-Example

http://eigo.zatunen.com/joke.html

Appendix

(A) Definition of Satire

How To Get Skinny and Beautiful in No Time at all

If you really want advice on how to lose weight, watch a morbidly

obese person down a bigmac, large fries, chicken pot pie, fried

pickles, twinkies, a large soda, and an apple pie with ice cream on the

side. As they salivate and moan over their meal, you will look like a

chicken bone. Or else, it will make you so sick, you won’t be able to

eat for a week.

If you want to get skinny, take a vegan hunting. Have them load the

gun, sit in a tree stand, and work for their meal. You’ll end up eating a

dandelion salad with fresh honey from the bee hive. You might just

eat anything to stay alive.

If you want to lose thirty pounds in thirty days, get liposuction, a

tummy tuck, and a breast reduction. While you are sucking it out, also

get cheek implants, lip injections, and don’t forget to lose those

wrinkles! Get a face lift, some botox, and some permanent black

eyeliner.

If you are mad at your parents, pierce something-your nose, your

tongue, your cheek, your back, or get a tattoo on your toes.

42

Dye your hair some random color like pink and don’t even care for

one second what people think!

Take my advice and you will be skinny, beautiful, and unique in one

week- but not for long- since everyone else wants to change and

they’ll all look just like you in no time at all. (Definition of Satire,

2013)

(B) The Questionnaire

＜How To Do＞

JOKE A ～ JOKE Q までのジョークを読んで、次の３つの質問にそれぞれ答

えてください。（解答用紙は別紙です。）

１．Do you understand the joke?　 Yes Maybe No

２．What kind of joke it is?

a) だじゃれ b) 皮肉, c) , 無意味なこと d) 茶番劇, e) いやみ, f) 悪ふざけ

３．How do you feel about the joke?

a) funny, b) amused, c) embarrassed, d) uncomfortable, e) bad, f)

awkward , g) other __________

Please read these jokes and answer the questions on the

other paper.

43

JOKE A.

When you came late for a class, your teacher says “You’re very good

at being late!”

JOKE B.

Why couldn’t Cinderella be a good soccer player?

---She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her coach was

a pumpkin.

JOKE C.

“Am I the first man you have ever loved?” he said.


question?”

JOKE D.

When I was young, I didn’t like going to weddings.


However, she stopped doing that after I started saying the same thing

to her at funerals.

JOKE E.

Teacher: Tell me a sentence that starts with and “I”.


Teacher: Stop! Never put ‘is’ after an “I”. Always put ‘am’ after an “I”.

44

Student: OK. ‘I’ am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

JOKE F

A: What do you call a deer with no eyes?


JOKE G

A: What do you call a dead deer with no eyes?

B: Still no idea.

JOKE H

Teacher: Today, we’re going to talk about the tenses.



JOKE I

Q: Can a kangaroo jump higher than the Tokyo Skytree?


JOKE K

Q: When does the (English) alphabet have only 25 letters?


JOKE L

45

Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and only has one letter?

A: An envelope.

JOKE M



One boy answers, “We found a ten dollar bill and decided to give it to

whoever tells the biggest lie.”

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” said the teacher, “When I

was your age I didn’t even know what a lie was.”


JOKE N

“Spell SPOT three times”





JOKE O

Mary: John says I’m pretty. Andy says I’m ugly.



46

JOKE P

Son: Dad, what is an idiot?

Dad: An idiot is a person who tries to explain his ideas in such a

strange and long way that another person who is listening to

him can’t understand him. Do you understand me?

Son: No.

JOKE Q

Mother: Does your teacher like you?



Please read the explanations for the jokes and mark your

reactions on the second sheet.

JOKE A.

When you came late for a class, your teacher says “You’re

very good at being late!”

The teacher uses this expression to imply ‘try not to be late’.

JOKE B.

Why couldn’t Cinderella be a good soccer player?

---She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her

47

coach was a pumpkin.

The words ‘ball’ and ‘coach’ have double meanings. The ‘ball’ means

both サッカーボール and 舞踏会. The ‘coach’ means both 指導コーチ and

馬車.

JOKE C.

“Am I the first man you have ever loved?” he said.


question?”

We can notice she actually has loved another men before.

JOKE D.

When I was young, I didn’t like going to weddings.


However, she stopped doing that after I started saying the

same thing to her at funerals.

The grandchild makes fun of his grandmother by saying “You’re

next”, meaning she’ll be the next to die.

JOKE E.

Teacher: Tell me a sentence that starts with and “I”.


Teacher: Stop! Never put ‘is’ after an “I”. Always put ‘am’

after an “I”.

48

Student: OK. I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

The teacher tries to teach ‘I am~’ sentence, but the student made

the sentence using the ‘I’ which means the letter ‘I’.

JOKE F

A: What do you call a deer with no eyes?



JOKE G

A: What do you call a dead deer with no eyes?

B: Still no idea.


JOKE H

Teacher: Today, we’re going to talk about the tenses.



You can imagine the teacher is female and has already got old.

JOKE I

Q: Can a kangaroo jump higher than the Tokyo Skytree?


This is a wordplay on “higher than X.” Usually people say “A higher

49

than” meaning over e.g. I can jump higher than IM. But here the joke

refers to compare “how high a person vs. a building can jump.”

JOKE K

Q: When does the (English) alphabet have only 25 letters?


This is wordplay. Noel is pronounced “No L”. If we take L from the 26

letters of the alphabet, there are 25.

JOKE L

Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and only has one letter?

A: An envelope.

Letter has double meaning which is 文字 and 手紙.

50

JOKE M








The two boys thought the teacher definitely knew what the lie was!

The biggest lie was what the teacher said, so the teacher got the ten

dollars.

JOKE N

“Spell SPOT three times”





It is like 10 回ゲーム for Japanese.

JOKE O

Mary: John says I’m pretty. Andy says I’m ugly.

51



Peter said both expressions which John and Andy said to Mary. ‘Pretty

ugly’ means ‘very ugly’.

JOKE P

Son: Dad, what is an idiot?

Dad: An idiot is a person who tries to explain his ideas in such

a strange and long way that another person who is

listening to him can’t understand him. Do you

understand me?

Son: No.

Actually, the meaning of an idiot was just like his father! Because his

father was giving a long explanation which is what he says an idiot

does.

JOKE Q

Mother: Does your teacher like you?



His teacher used X on school work to show that a written answer was

not correct, but the son grasps X’s meaning for Kiss.

(X mark means a kiss in letters, especially at the end of a letter like

Love, Natsumi XXX)

52

web viewfrom the research, we could see that there are many kinds of humor, and not all the kinds...

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