Keywords
L2 humour
humour competency
humour convergence
How to Cite
Abstract
Although L2 learners report having great difficulty responding to humour, research on this area is lacking. There is also a relative lack of studies on whether there is the need for humour instruction for European learners of other European languages. Therefore, this pilot study explored instruction on humour responses for learners of French at a Dutch university. Participants reported that humour instruction is warranted in their B2-level French class.
References
Bell, N. (2009a). Impolite responses to failed humor. In D. Chiaro & N. R. Norrick (Eds.), Humor in interaction (pp. 143-163). John Benjamins.
Bell, N. (2009b). Responses to failed humor. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1825–1836.
Bell, N. (2013). Responses to incomprehensible humor. Journal of Pragmatics, 57, 176–189.
Bell, N., & Attardo, S. (2010). Failed humor: Issues in non-native speakers' appreciation and understanding of humor. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7(3), 432-447. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2010.019
Bell, N. D., & Pomerantz, A. (2016). Humor in the classroom: A guide for language teachers and educational researchers. Routledge.
Coolidge, A. A., Montagnolo, C., & Attardo, S. (2023). Comedic convergence: Humor responses to verbal irony in text messages. Language Sciences, 99, 101566.
Davies, C. E. (2004). Developing awareness of crosscultural pragmatics: The case of American/German sociable interaction. Multilingua, 23(3), 207-231, https://doi.org/10.1515/mult.2004.010
Ellis, R., Zhu, Y., Shintani, N., & Roever, C. (2021). A study of Chinese learners’ ability to comprehend irony. Journal of Pragmatics, 172, 7-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.11.003
Kim, J., & Lantolf, J. P. (2016). Developing conceptual understanding of sarcasm in L2 English through explicit instruction. Language Teaching Research, 22(2), 208-229. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816675521
Hay, J. (2001). The pragmatics of humor support. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14(1), 55-82. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.14.1.55
Mullan, K., & Béal, C. (2022). Humor in intercultural interactions. In I. Kecskes, (Ed.). Cambridge handbook of intercultural pragmatics (pp. 301-333). Cambridge University Press.
Prichard, C., & Rucynski, J. (2020). Humor competency training for sarcasm and jocularity. In J. Rucynski Jr. & C. Prichard (Eds.), Bridging the humor barrier: Humor competency training in English language teaching (pp. 165-192). Lexington Books.
Prichard, C., Rucynski, J., & Gagatko, E. (2024). The effect of instruction on L2 learners’ ability to use verbal irony online. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 37(4), 577-599. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2024-0011.
Rucynski, J., & Prichard, C. (2020). Bridging the humor barrier: Humor competency training in English language teaching. Lexington Books.
Ruch, W., Ott, C., Accoce, J., & Bariaud, F. (1991). Cross-national comparison of humor categories: France and Germany. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 4(3-4), 391-414. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1991.4.3-4.391
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 The European Journal of Humour Research