Humor plays a central role in social interaction, not only as a means to have fun and to amuse, but also to accomplish other social goals such as building rapport, negotiating power relations, and easing tensions. While humor is thought to be universal, humor styles, topics, and cues, along with when and with whom humor is employed can vary across cultures. Further, in intercultural interactions, the background information necessary to understand and appreciate humor may not be shared by humorists and their interlocutors. For these and other reasons, humor can be challenging to successfully comprehend and produce for emerging bilingual speakers. At the same time, research on second language (L2) humor reveals that speakers at all levels of L2 proficiency can and do creatively draw on their communicative repertoires to engage in humor in a variety of contexts such as everyday conversation, computer-mediated communication, and workplace and classroom interactions.
Much of what we currently know about L2 humor is based on qualitative research focused on instances of humor that emerged in naturalistic discourse. However, as the number of studies on L2 humor has increased in recent years, approaches to researching L2 humor have become more varied. In this talk, I will begin by highlighting key questions that scholarship on L2 humor has addressed and then discuss what research has uncovered about these critical issues, foregrounding recent empirical, methodological, and theoretical advances. I will conclude by arguing for the value of taking humor seriously and suggesting ways in which future research can contribute to our understanding of L2 humor and its role in language learning and teaching.
Humor plays a central role in social interaction, not only as a means to have fun and to amuse, but also to accomplish other social goals such as building rapport, negotiating power relations, and easing tensions. While humor is thought to be universal, humor styles, topics, and cues, along with when and with whom humor is employed can vary across cultures. Further, in intercultural interactions, the background information necessary to understand and appreciate humor may not be shared by humorists and their interlocutors. For these and other reasons, humor can be challenging to successfully comprehend and produce for emerging bilingual speakers. At the same time, research on second language (L2) humor reveals that speakers at all levels of L2 proficiency can and do creatively draw on their communicative repertoires to engage in humor in a variety of contexts such as everyday conversation, computer-mediated communication, and workplace and classroom interactions.
Much of what we currently know about L2 humor is based on qualitative research focused on instances of humor that emerged in naturalistic discourse. However, as the number of studies on L2 humor has increased in recent years, approaches to researching L2 humor have become more varied. In this talk, I will begin by highlighting key questions that scholarship on L2 humor has addressed and then discuss what research has uncovered about these critical issues, foregrounding recent empirical, methodological, and theoretical advances. I will conclude by arguing for the value of taking humor seriously and suggesting ways in which future research can contribute to our understanding of L2 humor and its role in language learning and teaching.
Aula Magna EuroSLA 31 susanne.obermayer@unifr.chTechnical Issues?
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