Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
i VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY — HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE EXPLORING TEACHERS’ USE OF HUMOR IN EFL CLASSROOM COMMUNICATIO[.]
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY — HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE EXPLORING TEACHERS’ USE OF HUMOR IN EFL CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY IN AN URBAN LANGUAGE CENTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By DANG LE VY Supervised by LE XUAN QUYNH, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2022 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Le Xuan Quynh for his invaluable advice, continuous support, and patience throughout the writing of this thesis I have benefited from his wealth of knowledge and I am very proud to learn from him I would also like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support during the production of my study Finally, I am thankful to the teacher and student participants for taking time to participate in my research Without their help, it would be impossible for me to complete my work i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “EXPLORING TEACHERS’ USE OF HUMOR IN EFL CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY IN AN URBAN LANGUAGE CENTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY” is my own work The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, May 2022 Đặng Lê Vy ii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Đặng Lê Vy, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of the Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original copy of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan, or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, May 2022 Đặng Lê Vy iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ii RETENTION OF USE iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix ABSTRACT x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aim of the study 1.2.1 Statement of the problem 1.2.2 Research questions 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of humor 2.1.1 Definition of humor 2.1.2 Types of humor 2.1.3 Cultural differences in humor usage 10 2.2 Classroom communication 11 2.2.1 Understanding classroom communication 11 2.2.2 Modes of classroom communication 12 iv 2.3 The incorporation of humor in EFL classroom communication 14 2.3.1 Humor in education 14 2.3.2 Humor in EFL classroom communication 14 2.3.3 Previous studies in the Vietnamese context 16 2.4 Conceptual framework 17 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Research questions 20 3.2 Research design 20 3.3 Research site and participants 21 3.4 Research tools 22 3.5 Data collection procedure 24 3.6 Data analysis scheme 26 3.7 Summary of the research methodology 27 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29 4.1 Findings 29 4.1.1 Findings from class observation 29 4.1.1.1 Teacher 1’s class observation 29 4.1.1.2 Teacher 2’s class observation 39 4.1.1.3 Teacher 3’s class observation 43 4.1.1.4 Summary of class observation findings 49 4.1.2 Findings from teachers’ and students’ interviews 50 4.1.2.1 Findings from teachers’ interviews 50 4.1.2.2 Summary of findings from teachers’ interviews 57 4.1.2.3 Findings from focus group interviews 58 4.1.2.4 Summary of findings from focus group interviews 66 v 4.2 Discussion 67 4.2.1 Teachers’ use of humor in EFL classroom communication 67 4.2.2 Teachers’ perceptions about the use of humor in classroom communication 70 4.2.3 Students’ perceptions about the teachers’ use of humor in classroom communication 71 4.2.4 Summary of findings discussion 72 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 74 5.1 Summary of findings 74 5.2 Pedagogical implications 75 5.3 Limitations 77 5.4 Recommendations for further study 77 REFERENCES 79 APPENDICES 88 Appendix A: Gorham and Christophel’s (1990) humor categories …….……88 Appendix B: Fieldnotes protocol ……………………………………………89 Appendix C: Teacher interview protocol …….………………………………90 Appendix D: Student focus group interview protocol ………………….……91 Appendix E: Transcription conventions …… ………………………………92 Appendix F: Teacher interview transcript sample …… …………………….93 Appendix G: Student interview transcript sample ……………………………96 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language ELT: English language teaching L1: First language L2: Second language RQ1: Research question RQ2: Research question RQ3: Research question T: Teacher vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework 19 Figure 3.1 Summary of the research methodology 28 Figure 4.1 Teachers’ humor usage 49 Figure 4.2 Teachers’ perceptions of the use of humor 57 Figure 4.3 Students’ perceptions of teachers’ humor 66 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Data collection timeline 26 Table 4.1 Types of humor used by teacher 30 Table 4.2 Types of humor used by teacher 44 Table 4.3 Types of teacher-initiated humor reported by the students 59 ix Negi, J S (2010) The role of teachers’ non-verbal communication in ELT classroom Journal of NELTA, 14(1), 101-110 Neuliep, J (1991) An examination of the content of high school teachers’ humor in the classroom and the development of an inductively derived taxonomy of classroom humor Communication Education, 40(4), 343–355 Nguyen T H (2002) Vietnam: Cultural background for ESL/EFL teachers Review of Vietnamese Studies, 2(1), 1-6 Norton, R W (1983) Communicator style: Theory, applications, and measures Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Nussbaum, J F., Holladay, S J., & Comadena, M E (1987) Classroom verbal behavior of highly effective teachers Journal of Thought, 22(4), 73-80 Perkes, V (1981) Analysis of humor in teaching California Journal of Teacher Education, 8(2), 13-35 Petraki, E & Pham, N H H (2016) Do Asian EFL teachers use humor in the classroom? A case study of Vietnamese EFL university teachers System, 61, 98109 Pham, N H H (2014) The use of humor in EFL teaching: A case study of Vietnamese university teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices (Doctoral dissertation, University of Canberra, Australia) Pham, N K T (2020) Vietnamese students’ perspectives on teachers’ using humor in English classrooms In T N A, Nguyen (Ed), ELT for lifelong learning in the new decade (pp 491-508) Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: VNU-HCM Press Pianta, R C., Hamre, B K., & Mintz, S (2012) Classroom assessment scoring system (CLASS): Secondary manual Charlottesville: Teachstone Praag, V L., Stevens, P A J., & Houtte, V M (2017) How humor makes or breaks student-teacher relationships: A classroom ethnography in Belgium Teaching and Teacher Education, 66, 393–401 84 Provine, Robert (1996, January-February) Laughter: A Scientific Investigation American scientist, 84, 38-45 Puro, P., & Bloome, D (1987) Understanding classroom communication Theory into Practice, 26(1), 26-31 Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/1477078 Rafiee, M., Kassaian, Z., & Dastjerdi, H (2010) The application of humorous songs in EFL classrooms and its effects on listening comprehension English Language Teaching, 3(4), 100-108 Raskin V (1985) Semantic mechanisms of humor Holland: D Reidel Publishing Company Richards, K (2006) Being the teacher: Identity and classroom conversation Applied Linguistics, 27(1), 51–77 Ruggieri, C A (1999) Laugh and learn: Using humor to teach tragedy English Journal, 88(4), 53–59 Salkind, N J (2010) Encyclopedia of research design Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Sauter, D A., Eisner, F., Ekman, P., Scott, S K (2010) Cross-cultural recognition of basic emotions through nonverbal emotional vocalizations Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(6), 2408-2412 Schmitz, J R (2002) Humor as a pedagogical tool in foreign language and translation courses International Journal of Humor Research, 15(1), 89-113 Seitz, S (2015) Pixilated partnerships, overcoming obstacles in qualitative interviews via Skype: a research note Qualitative Research, 16(2), 229-235 Shade, R A (1996) License to laughter Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Sinclair, J & Coulthard, M (1975) Towards an analysis of discourse Oxford: Oxford University Press Stake, R E (1995) The art of case study research Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE 85 Stroud, R (2013) The Laughing EFL Classroom: Potential Benefits and Barriers Canadian Center of Science and Education, 6(10), 72-85 doi:10.5539/elt.v6n10p72 Swanson, B (2013) Spanish teachers's sense of humor and student performance on the national Spanish exams Foreign Language Annals, 46(2), 146-166 Ulloth, K J (2002) The benefits of humor in nursing education Journal of nursing education, 41(11), 476-481 Vaughn, S., Schumn, J S & Sinagub, J (1996) Focus group interviews in education and psychology Thousand Oaks: SAGE Victoria, M (2019) The use of humor in the off-task spaces of the language classroom ELT Journal, 73(2), 186-196 doi:10.1093/elt/ccy054 Wagner, M., & Urios-Aparisi, E (2011) The use of humor in the foreign language classroom: Funny and effective? Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 24(4), 399-434 Walsh, S (2011) Exploring classroom discourse: Language in action Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Wanzer, M., Frymier, A., Irwin, J (2010) An explanation of the relationship between instructor humor and student learning: Instructional humor processing theory Communication education, 59(1), 1-18 doi:10.1080/03634520903367238 Waring, H Z (2009) Moving out of IRF: A single case analysis Language Learning, 59(4), 796-824 Waring, H Z (2013) Doing being playful in the second language classroom Applied Linguistics, 34(2), 191-210 doi:10.1093/applin/ams047 Wells, G (1993) Reevaluating the IRF sequence: A proposal for the articulation of theories of activity and discourse for the analysis of teaching and learning in the classroom Linguistics and Education, 5(1), 1-37 86 Wells, G, & Arauz, M R (2006) Dialogue in the classroom The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(3), 379-428 Witt, L P (2016) Communication and learning Berlin, Boston: Mouton Wrench, J., Richmond, V., Gorham, J (2009) Communication, Affect, & Learning in the classroom (3 ed.) San Francisco, CA: Creative Commons Wulf, D (2010) A humor competence curriculum TESOL Quarterly, 44(1), 155–169 doi:10.5054/tq.2010.215250 Yin, R K (1989) Case study research: Design and method Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Zhang, W & Xu, X (2011) Chinese EFL learners' perceptions of humor in teaching and learning In Z Lu, W Zhang, & A Crippen (Ed), Issues in English language teaching and learning at tertiary level (pp 312-323) Hung Hom, Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Ziv, A (1988) Teaching and learning with humor: Experiment and replication Journal of experimental education, 57(1), 5-13 87 APPENDICES APPENDIX A GORHAM AND CHRISTOPHEL’S (1990) HUMOR CATEGORIES 88 APPENDIX B FIELDNOTES PROTOCOL Fieldnotes for classroom observation Setting: Class ……… (number of students:……; level:…… ; topic:………… ) Name of teacher: Role of observer: nonparticipant Time: from…… to …… Time Date: Description of humor 7:50 The teacher exaggerated p.m his voice (to stress on Students’ response Scattered smiles Note In Vietnamese, Target Pronunciation words’ pronunciation) 89 APPENDIX C TEACHER INTERVIEW PROTOCOL Title: Time of the interview: Date: Place: A classroom in an urban language center in HCM city Interviewer: Interviewee: [The purpose of this interview is to find teachers’ perceptions of incorporating humor into teaching.] This interview will take about 30 minutes.] Questions: Do you incorporate humor in classroom communication? If yes, how/ when/ why you use humor in the classroom? What you think about the suitability of humor in classroom communication? How is your teaching different with and without the use of humor? Does the use of humor affect subject delivery? How/ How not so? If there is a training section about techniques to integrate humor in classroom communication, will you attend? Why or Why not? 90 APPENDIX D STUDENTS FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW PROTOCOL Title: Time of the interview: Date: Place: No of students: Note: [The purpose of this interview is to find students’ perceptions of teachers’ incorporating humor in classroom communication.] This discussion will take about 30 minutes.] Guiding questions: Can you use some adjectives to describe your English class atmosphere? Does your teacher use humor in classroom communication? If yes, can you remind me of some humor instances in the last lesson/ throughout the course? If no, move to question 3 Why you think your teacher uses or does not use humor in classroom communication? What you think about the appropriateness of using humor in classroom communication? What you suggest about teachers’ use of humor in classroom communication? 91 APPENDIX E TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS (Bell & Pomerantz, 2016) 92 APPENDIX F TEACHER INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SAMPLE […] Do you use humor in classroom communication? - Yes, I Sometimes I don’t I don’t know that I’m using I don’t exactly know that I’m using humor But of course, you can know since your students are laughing Yeah, they are laughing, so you know you are using humor… It’s not about the words that you say, it’s about the actions that you sometimes So what form of humor you usually use in your classroom? - Oh, probably for me … jokes Jokes - Yeah, jokes and stuff like that Or sometimes it’s the action that you The action Like body language? - Body language Like say, for example, our topic is diarrhea, oh, our topic is “A doctor’s visit” They need to the action about that Because some students they cannot interpret, they cannot translate those words If you interpret them by body language, they can understand, and sometimes it turns out very funny Besides body language and jokes, is there any other form of humor that you use? - Hmm…, jokes, body language, hmmm… No, no more, probably just jokes and body language Are there any other kinds of humor that are appropriate in the classroom, maybe you know but you don’t usually use? - Umm, maybe games There are some games, a lot of games Some games the students cannot… Like say for example, we played whisper games It turned 93 out to be funny It depends…maybe the teacher Like say, for example, there was this game about complaints We had the topic “complaints” Maybe days or days ago This class has already finished and the girl needs to whisper, oh, she whispered: “It’s too far, I don’t like it” Then “It’s too far, I don’t like it” “I don’t like it, it’s too far” (body movements to the action of whispering to the next one in line) “I don’t like it, it’s too far” But when it reached the first person to write it on the board She said, “I don’t like to eat bombs” Everyone was laughing, you know, some games turn out, oh most of the games turn out to be funny It’s a source of amusement to the class - Yeah, and sometimes they tend to know their mistakes also, even though it’s really funny but they know their mistakes So it’s a good thing about humor Are there any other benefits? - Ah I think it makes the class less boring Well, because we teach communication class, so some of the students, they just came from work, say for example, because you teach at night Even in the morning, the students not feel enthusiastic if But maybe in the morning, because the students are older, they are eager to learn more than lazy But the evening classes, I think it needs more games More games and more activities for them to stand up So to bring some fun to the class, - Yeah, some fun to the class, or sometimes it’s just normal It’s normal for me I think it depends on the teacher on how to make it more humorous It depends on the personality of the teacher, sometimes it depends on your personality If the teacher, let’s say, a person who is not humorous, as a teacher can he or she use humor intentionally in the classroom? 94 - I think so, intentionally she can Like, jokes Do jokes she can But people are really humorous, like, even just some simple actions but it’s really funny to look at them I see So you prepare those jokes or does it just spring to your mind? - No, I don’t usually prepare them, but I learn them from other people From what I see Yeah, like say for example from a friend of mine Like I observed his class Something that he said Yeah, sometimes I copy them Or sometimes we it together That’s great Do you use it with this class and another class or it’s just like for certain topics you use the same joke? - Ahh, actually no Umm, it depends It depends on the class In some classes, they cannot catch up Of course, I cannot translate them into Vietnamese It was really awkward if you made a joke, very funny but they didn’t understand Only you laughing or only two people are laughing And after that, they will translate them and ahhhhh They, they laugh after that I felt very awkward for that so I think it’s very appropriate for the lower level students to make the jokes by action, simple, simple humor So the forms of humor depend on - the level The level of the learners - Yeah, the level of the learners It’s more appropriate for the lower level to understand the humor by actions that you They easily laugh like that But if you make more humorous sentences Maybe it’s more applicable for a higher level […] 95 APPENDIX G STUDENT INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SAMPLE (Vietnamese version) […] Câu hỏi 1: Giáo viên bạn có sử dụng hài hước giao tiếp lớp học không? Đan: Đối với thân em em thấy ít, có hài hước cái, ơ, giảng Theo em nghĩ cô sợ vui là, đâm bạn nhây nhây nhây, lố học Nên em thấy cô nghiêm túc giảng Tân: Anh anh thấy um lớp học có nhiều độ tuổi khác nhau, nhiều ngành nghề khác Nên việc tương tác á, tùy vào số lớp Giống lớp cô người tương tác nhiều Nhiều khơng cần phải, giống hài hước, người chủ động Giống người tương tác qua lại với Còn số lớp là, nghe nói là, người tương tác mà giáo viên lại khơng hài hước, khơng kích thích um , khơng khí lớp lên nữa, cảm giác việc học bị ảnh hưởng phần Đan: có hài hước lúc giảng khơng? Tân: Ít, cơ dạy ngữ pháp Đúng hông Cô dạy ngữ pháp nhiều, với từ vựng nhiều Thành thử học mình, nói chung cũng cần tập trung nhiều để… lúc mà thảo luận nhóm tất người tương tác qua lại lẫn nhau, mà thảo luận nhóm xem có cần hỗ trợ khơng thơi Cịn em sao? Nho: Theo em thì, mà nói hài hước em nghĩ khơng nên hài hước q Đôi phải hài hước để giảm số căng thẳng Đơi lớp học căng thẳng q học khơng tới nơi tới chốn, từ khơng vơ nhiều, em nghĩ hài hước nên có 96 Nhàn: Theo anh hài hước có hai kiểu sử dụng lời nói, hay sử dụng hành động, ngơn ngữ thể để gây hài hước Nhưng mà theo quan điểm với thời gian học vấn đề hài hước á, người, riêng người đấy, khơng phải có khiếu Cũng hành động đấy, mà người gây cười, mang vui, thích thú Nhưng mà người làm lại khơng đáp ứng Bản thân học lớp vừa á, giáo cái … hài hước khơng có nhiều Bản thân lớp á, may mắn vào lớp có nhiều thành phần hài hước Nên nghĩ lúc vui, Thành lúc thấy thoải mái học Bởi dân làm cũng, làm căng thẳng q rồi, đến phần để học, phần để giải trí sau làm việc căng thẳng thơi Kiểu cung may mắn vào lớp Vậy cịn Na sao? Na: Cịn chị chị nghĩ giống anh Nhàn Cũng khơng phải có tính hài hước Theo X chị thấy người … Đan: vui vẻ (Những người khác gật đầu đồng ý.) Na: … vui vẻ, mà có chững chạc nên X cách mà cổ dạy người q thân thiện, hịa đồng với nên cô không cần cố gắng tạo tiếng cười với người Nếu mà cô cố gắng tạo tiếng cười thêm phần gượng gạo Do tính khơng thích umm, Tân: nhây nhây Na: nhây vậy, chị nghĩ với thời lượng học mà mà cố tình làm trị nhiều q làm lỗng học, lỗng tính chất mà cần nêu trong, cần đề Nói chung chị nghĩ yếu tố gây hài phải lúc, chỗ Có ví dụ cụ thể, hành động hay lời nói mà hài hước giáo viên khơng ạ? 97 Đan: cho em nói trước nha Em em không thấy Không thấy câu nói hài hước Tân: mà đến từ giáo viên Na: òi, em khơng nhớ Tân: Có thể có mà số lần q khơng nhớ Đan: kiểu tụi hài hước tương tác qua lại thơi mà khơng có nói câu hài hước Nho: em khơng nhớ Tân: em nhớ lần cô Lúc mà lớp học tiết chủ đề bn bán đồ Thì có quay clip bé Liêm Na: Là quay lại thơi xong rồi, Đan: mà quay lại khoảnh khắc hài hước Na: Đúng ịi Cái dễ thương Liêm dễ thương, Tân: Cô dễ thương […] 98