Second Language Acquisition

This entry brings together the topics of humor and second language acquisition, focusing mainly on issues concerning adult and adolescent language learners, as the situation of child language learners, who are still developing both humor and linguistic competence, is too complex to address here. The term second language acquisition can be understood as encompassing all additional language learning, rather than simply a second language. It includes language learning that is undertaken in a classroom, as well as that which takes place naturalistically, without instruction. Both the use and understanding of humor represent a formidable linguistic and cultural challenge to language learners, yet it is crucial that they meet this challenge, given the important role humor plays in human interaction. This entry begins with a discussion of two topics directly related to the acquisition of a second language, focusing first on whether language learning may be facilitated if taught via the mode of humorous communication, and second, on what knowledge a learner may need to acquire about second language humor and how this knowledge might be taught. Finally, because social interaction is an important factor in language development, issues relating to learner experiences using and understanding second language humor are discussed.

Language teachers have long incorporated humor into the classroom in the belief that it facilitates learning, if only by increasing student interest and motivation. Research to confirm this has been lacking; however, since the late 1990s, applied linguists began taking an interest in this topic, often examining it under the rubric of “language play,” which frequently, although not always, entails humor. These scholars theorized that language play may be an important—perhaps even necessary—component of language acquisition, allowing learners to experiment with new voices and new ways of expressing themselves. Such experimentation is thought to destabilize the learner’s system, preventing what is known as fossilization, or the cessation of change and development in the second language. In addition, they proposed that playing with and in a new language may work to draw learners' attention to form meaning relationships within the language being studied. Noticing the way that the language is used is also important for facilitating development. A body of empirical research investigating these propositions is growing, and with it, evidence that humor can facilitate second language acquisition is beginning to mount. However, the majority of the work so far has been qualitative and descriptive and has mainly served to outline the various functions that humor and language play may have for learners, rather than to provide evidence for learning. Still, a few studies have attempted to examine within a controlled, quantitative paradigm whether encountering a new language within a humorous context makes it more memorable. The consensus of these studies, thus far, is positive.

Although probably less common than pedagogy that incorporates humor for the purposes of language acquisition, some language instructors do attempt to teach students about the linguistic and cultural norms of humor use by native speakers of the language they are learning. Until recently, most of this work had to be undertaken based merely on the intuitions that teachers or textbook writers had regarding native uses of humor. This is far from ideal, as intuitions about language use are notoriously poor, yet it is only recently that textbook writers have begun relying on research reports of sociolinguistic behaviors in compiling textbooks. Another problem is the lack of such systematic, sociolinguistic research with respect to humor. While the forms and functions of humor in some languages, such as English and Japanese, are developing a substantial body of research from which course developers may draw, for many other languages such work is scant or nonexistent. However, teachers may remedy this by undertaking, along with their students, [Page 673]investigations of humor use in the language they are studying. Students might be asked, for instance, to observe interactions (either live or via various forms of media, including the Internet, film, books, and television) and analyze for themselves such things as how humor is contextualized, who uses what type of humor with whom, and how different types of humor are responded to. Studies of this type of instruction with regard to other linguistic behaviors like giving and responding to compliments show that it is effective in improving learners' awareness of and performance in these types of interactions. As of this writing, however, no such research exists concerning the effectiveness of a humor curriculum.

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