This research investigates the impacts of humor as a communication strategy for teachers in the context of university English learning. The study employs a mixed-methods approach utilizing questionnaires and interviews. The primary aim is to explore the effects of incorporating humor into the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. A…

In this article, the author shares his fear that students will become accustomed to an educational experience that lacks joy and fun as a result of the changes made to education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He and his teaching colleagues have noticed that when students are learning virtually, they act much more as receivers of knowledge than…

In this study, we investigated how various teaching behaviors influence student interest as a situational variable. Specifically, we studied how behaviors related to "catch" interest (i.e., ephemeral aspects of the learning environment such as instructor humor, nonverbal immediacy, intellectual stimulation) and "hold" interest…

Although research has investigated laughter in professional communication settings, fewer studies have explored laughter-talk in second language (L2) classrooms. This study examines L2 university students' use of laughter-talk in peer group conversation to understand the linguistics of affect and its interactional effects. The author draws upon…

Despite the popular belief that fun has a positive impact in learning contexts, empirical research on fun in the classroom has been limited. To extend research in this area, the goal of this study was to develop and validate a new scale to assess fun in the classroom and examine its relationship with student engagement. The multi-stage scale…

Humor has not always been looked on with favor in academia. For centuries, the "ideal" professor was a paragon of serious academic pursuit with no time for frivolous commentary. There was nothing funny about the rigors of learning. However, a growing body of literature is emerging that documents the potential positive effects of the systematic and…

For decades, feminist teachers have been working in a chilly political climate. Rightwing critics claim that women's studies programs suffer from "insularity and narrowness, ideological bias, and a tendency toward misinformation." In the mainstream media, feminism is both vilified and trivialized. It's no wonder that many students doubt that…

A three-year study evaluated the effectiveness of 10 systematic strategies for using humor as a teaching tool. Student ratings at the end of three undergraduate and five graduate statistics courses assessed the extent to which each strategy reduced anxiety, improved the ability to learn, and made it possible to perform one's best on problems and…

Five environmental characteristics resulting in communication barriers are suggested: make the space "small;" create a supportive climate; let receivers become senders; "get personal;" and get them involved. Communication solutions and a variety of faculty techniques enhance communication in large classes. (MLW)

Examination of specific role of humor in college classroom and its effect on learning and communicative climate highlights academic classroom instruction, objectives of academic bibliographic instruction, positive learning environment and bibliographic instruction classroom, prevalence of humor in college classroom, and how classroom humor affects…

Given the important role of the affective variables in the process of learning, this paper examines ways of overcoming negative effects (i.e. anxiety, boredom) of the contextual factors. Exemplifying the uses of humor through context-specific, purpose-driven jokes, it maintains that humor can be utilized to produce a resourceful, encouraging and…