Psychology and ELT: Humour: ‘…It’s not a laughing matter…’
Nick Michelioudakis, Greece
Nick Micheiloudakis (MSc, Dip RSA) is a teacher / trainer based in Greece. His interests include comedies, student motivation, as well as Social and Evolutionary Psychology.
E-mail: nickmi@ath.forthnet.gr , his site www.michelioudakis.org
Menu
A woman’s take on men
Dunbar’s discoveries
Applications in the field of ELT
Empathy and association
References
‘Men are like fine wine; they all start out like grapes and it’s our job to stamp on them and keep them in the dark till they mature into something that you’d like to have dinner with!’ (* Reading a joke is one thing – listening to it is quite another! Go to YouTube and type ‘Comedy for ELT – Jokes 1’! )
Isn’t this joke brilliant?! :) Never mind the wheel – for my money jokes are the greatest invention ever (and apparently they predate that other celebrated invention!) Of course jokes have been used by all kinds of people from managers to educators as a way of breaking the monotony and lightening up things. But are jokes and humour generally simply ‘light relief’? Scientists do not think so. Far from a mere distraction which helps us get on with more serious stuff, recent research shows that humour has a powerful cohesive effect which enables people to get close to and bond with many others simultaneously. Read on!
Paul Bloom once said that there are two mysteries about humans: why we sleep and why we laugh (Bloom – Yale Talks: Psychology 17) Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology Robin Dunbar suspected that the latter might have to do with endorphins; these chemicals play a key role in bonding people together (Dunbar 2012). Normally it is touch that does it; the grooming primates engage in triggers the release of endorphines and clearly facilitates group living – and it is the same for humans. Research on couples showed that W holding their partner’s hand had higher pain threshold levels (a reliable measure of the presence of these chemicals).
The thing about humans however is that we live in large groups – what might work for chimps as an endorphine-releasing mechanism (grooming) would not work for us. So we came up with language. Yet language can be dull stuff; but then apparently humans made the real breakthrough – they invented humour! (ibid.) According to Dunbar, jokes and laughter helped us trigger the endorphine mechanism in many people simultaneously! But how important is it?
Laughter and emoticons
Research by members of Dunbar’s research group found that interactions involving humour were significantly more satisfying that others which lacked this element. Reported happiness by participants was significantly higher in the former cases than in the latter, regardless of whether the exchanges were face-to-face, on the phone or in written form (sms / e-mails). Even the simple addition of a smiley ( ) could increase the happiness rating by 30%! (ibid.)
Effects of laughter in real life
Research in labs is one thing, but even real-life studies have shown similar effects. For instance, people were tested after attending various events and it was found that after watching a stand-up comedy gig their pain threshold was higher than after they had watched a dull documentary (endorphines again! – ibid.)
We have long known that mirth / laughter are contagious (see for instance the use of laugh tracks in comedies – Cialdini 2001) and that it has a ‘bonding’ function. Now we know the mechanism as well!
While some might conclude from the above that ‘nature knows best’ / ‘so many monkeys cannot be wrong’ and advocate the use of massage in the classroom, I think it would be safer if we focused on the human invention (humour!) and tried to harness its potential. Here are some ideas (more can be found in Medgyes 2002):
Speaking – Use Jokes!
Jokes are simply excellent and I am surprised they do not make up a greater part of our students’ (Ss) ‘diet’. They are short, very versatile and now they are so readily accessible that one can find as many as one wants on the level and topic that s/he wants. They can be used to introduce a topic, as transition activities or indeed for reading practice. However jokes are meant to be shared orally and they are ideal for the development of speaking skills for two reasons: a) Ss do not memorise the whole joke, but rather the idea and the punchline; then they have to construct the language every time they repeat it. b) to tell a joke well, Ss have to ‘colour’ their voice, which they do not normally have to do. So jokes are excellent for the development of prosodic features such as stress, intonation etc. [NB: For ideas about how to use jokes (and actual worksheets) see the article ‘Using Jokes in Class’ on my website, as well as Watcyn-Jones 2000].
Writing – ‘Twist’ the activities
Not everybody is as witty as Oscar Wilde or Woody Allen. Yet even Ss with an average sense of humour can produce something funny given the right guidance. I think the key is to take an ‘ordinary’ activity and ‘twist’ it. For instance, instead of getting Ss to write an ordinary ad, why not ask them to write one about an imaginary product? (e.g. a device for helping them cheat at tests!) And while getting them to compose a job application for an ordinary job might be boring, things are very different if the ‘job’ was a bizarre one – e.g. a bank robber, or a wife (!) Similarly, instead of asking Ss to write an ordinary fairy tale, you could ask them to write ‘Cinderella’ with the roles reversed (i.e where Cinderella is a spoilt brat and her stepmother a kind woman)! I once did it with a B2-level class, and one of the Ss had Cinderella arrive at the ball on a Harley Davidson wearing a tight, leather outfit! Her classmates roared with laughter when she read it aloud… [NB: None of these ideas are my own; they can be found (along with many other excellent ones) in Hadfiend & Hadfield 1990]
Listening – Use ‘Comedy for ELT’
Let’s face it: around 95% of the L material we use in class fails what I consider to be the motivational litmus test: ‘Would you want to do/listen to this if you were not in a classroom?’ Granted, such material may be a) well suited for low-level Ss who might find funny material hard to understand or b) specially selected/prepared to meet certain Ss’ needs or develop specific sub-skills. Yet at higher levels at least, there is no reason at all why we should not make use of the excellent comedy material out there. And now we can! I have selected some of the best audio/video sketches and uploaded them on YouTube – you can find them under ‘Comedy for ELT’. No preparation is needed on the T’s part; if you like a particular sketch, you can then visit my site and download the relevant handout (and perhaps adapt it as you see fit) [NB: For tips on how best to use this material, you can read the article ‘Using Comedies in Class’ on my website].
Reading – Use funny texts
Things are not much better when it comes to R in coursebooks; funny texts are very few and very far between! Here there are few shortcuts – we will have to do some work ourselves. There are a number of writers whose style is brilliantly funny, such as James Thurber, Jerome Jerome, or (my favourite) Bill Bryson and I would strongly recommend that we adapt some of their texts for classroom use. But in addition, there are literally millions of funny texts which circulate on the net and which we are happy to read, forward to others or share on our FB wall, but which we never use in class! Why??! Even if the activities we prepare are not nearly as good as the ones prepared by professional material developers, our Ss are bound to benefit because of the texts’ high motivational value! [NB: You can find some easy ideas of how to prepare simple activities for R texts in the article ‘Exams – Reading Texts’]
So important is humour that the acronym GSOH (Good Sense OF Humour) features prominently in ‘Lonely Hearts Ads’ (Meston & Buss 2009). The writers speculate that it may be indicative of empathy; to crack jokes effectively you have to have the ability to get inside the other person’s mind. Be that as it may, one thing is for certain – humour can help forge powerful positive associations (which is why it is used so extensively in advertising!) So, if you want your Ss to keep coming to your classes, make sure you add a good dollop of this key ingredient in your lesson plans. And as I want you to keep reading my articles, here is a last joke: ‘If there had been 3 Wise Women, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a meal and brought some practical gifts!!’ * – Excellent! :)
Bloom, P. “Yale Courses – Psychology” [17: Self & Others, Part II] YouTube
Cialdini, R. “Influence – Science and Practice”, Allyn & Bacon 2001
Dunbar, R. “The Science of Love and Betrayal” Faber & Faber 2012
Hadfield, C. & Hadfield, J. “Writing Games” Nelson 1990
Keillor, G. “A Few More Pretty Good Jokes” [CD] Highbridge 2002
Medgyes, P. “Laughing Matters” Cambridge 2002
Meston, C. & Buss, D. “Why Women Have Sex” Bodley Head 2009
Watcyn-Jones, P. “Fun Class Activities for Teachers” Books 1 & 2 Pearson 2000
Nick’s site: www.michelioudakis.org
Please check the Improving English through Humour course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How the Motivate your Students course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Building Positive Group Dynamics course at Pilgrims website.
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