Abstract
This paper focuses on an approach to using joke-telling in ESL classes. A joke is a speech act which requires a great deal of communicative competence on the part of the speaker and the hearer. The comprehension no less than the telling of a joke also requires a fair degree of sociolinguistic familiarity with the target culture. Like other speech acts, the telling of jokes involves certain formulae which differ from language to language and from culture to culture. Thus, as this paper will demonstrate, the use of jokes as teaching material within the ESL class serves as a vehicle to promote 1) fluency-the simple paraphrasing of a joke in itself is a valuable structured oral exercise, 2) sociolinguistic rules -being able to understand or get a joke is a measure of the hearer's aural competence and sophistication in the TL, and 3) an appreciation and understanding of certain values in American culture, of which the joke is an important conveyor.
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