Humor Scholarship and TESOL: Applying Findings and Establishing a Research Agenda

Abstract

Research in the areas of second language (L2) pragmatics and of conversational humor has increased in recent decades, resulting in a strong base of knowledge from which applied linguists can draw information for teaching purposes and undertake future research. Yet, whereas empirical findings in L2 pragmatics are beginning to find their way into textbooks, recommendations and activities, intended to integrate humor into the L2 classroom with the goal of increasing learners' proficiency in the use and understanding of L2 humor, remain based on intuition alone. Despite parallel developments in L2 pragmatics and humor studies, the two areas of scholarship have largely ignored each other, with humor scholars focusing mainly on native language uses of humor, and applied linguists avoiding the study of humor by L2 users. The purpose of this article is to bring these two fields together by outlining some major linguistic and sociolinguistic findings of humor scholarship, discussing how these understandings might help us integrate humor into the L2 classroom in a principled manner, and suggesting directions for future research on humor and L2 learners.