Tested the effectiveness of ridicule as an educational and social corrective in children's educational television programs. Found that ridicule is a potent means of educating six-year-old television viewers but is far less satisfactory in motivating four-year-olds to action or in deterring their unwanted performances. (PD)

Experiences related to pursuing excellence and a positive attitude as a campus childcare director are presented. The paper describes the emotional quotient (EQ) as a complex, multifaceted quality incorporating self- and social-awareness, empathy, optimism, and persistence that may predict one's success in certain kinds of work. Optimism may be…

Parents can help foster their children's success as readers by reading to them as much as possible. This paper, four of four on literature and the young child, discusses two ways that parents can help, stating that: reading to the child helps him or her develop and appreciate humor; and reading to the child helps him or her cope with uncomfortable…

Describes a five-year-old British television program designed for all children, but accommodating the special needs of the deaf. (RW)

Presents examples of unintentional humor from college freshman composition courses. Suggests that by pointing out miscommunications, teachers can persuade students to use standard English more effectively. (MM)

Reports on ways of having fun with the classics of literature. Describes classroom uses of parody and satire to emphasize the themes and characterizations found in Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and other noted authors. (RL)

Provides several suggestions for introducing a note of humor into the French classroom while at the same time providing writing practice. Suggestions are based on primary source materials, such as newspaper ads, advice columns, graffiti, popular literature, crossword puzzles, etc. (AM)

Three essays discuss: (1) the use of word games in the language classroom, (2) the use of humor in correcting students' errors, and (3) using comic strips in the French language classroom. (AM)

Examines the relationship between humor appreciation and self-perceptions of high school guidance counselors (N=45). Results indicate that humor appreciation was unrelated to self-perceived counselor effectiveness, with male and female counselors enjoying similar types of humor. Counselors with more education perceived themselves as having less of…

A rationale is presented for using humor as a French language teaching tool, and several class activities designed for different language skill levels and using humor as a central element are described. Some suggestions are offered for selecting appropriate instructional materials. (MSE)

Compiles listserv responses from practicing library professionals on advice to give new librarians. Encourages newcomers to join library listservs and associations, practice continuous education, actively participate in organizations, develop a sense of humor, and maintain a service attitude. Other advice includes developing outside interests and…

Discusses the use of puzzles and jokes to encourage student interest in an English-as-a-Second-Language class. The object of this project was to relate to a more human context, the playfulness that pushes aside arbitrary school time each spring when Purim comes. (CK)

Examines practices and products of school culture: jokes, hallway conversations, home-school correspondence, and interpersonal interactions between parents and teachers. These practices construct parents as functionally illiterate and further a hierarchical view of the teacher/parent relationship. Offers examples of parental and professional…

Compared to 12 normally achieving students, 12 language-impaired high school students had significantly poorer comprehension of humor elements of riddles, jokes, and puns classified according to their phonological, morphological, or syntactic elements. Especially poor were subjects' ability to grasp the nature of multimeaning words and to segment…

Comparison of advanced and intermediate Saudi Arabian students of English-as-a-Foreign-Language comprehension of humor indicated that both cultural and linguistic awareness were important to understanding humorous materials. (CB)