Teaching in a monolingual/monocultural, non-English
speaking environment can at times be frustrating. You
want your students to genuinely communicate with each
other in socially acceptable ways, and at the same time become
more aware of cultural traits. For the former purpose,
the L1 naturally outstrips the L2 in communicative efficiency;
and, as regards the latter, the only way cultural experiences
unknown to the students can be introduced into
the classroom is by the teacher. Even when the explanation
of cultural and sociolinguistic skills is explicit, the students
are usually left practicing formulaic speech with other
members of the class whose reactions are not representative
of the L2 speakers and often not even natural. We are
quite familiar with stilted dialogues roleplayed by students
sounding something like this:
Would you be so kind as to lend me your pen?
Yes.
Thank you.
What is needed in a classroom is a reaction that is real
because it is spontaneous. This is where jokes and funny
stories (see Footnote 1 below) can come in handy. In a classroom
setting made up of students from the same linguistic
and cultural background, a laugh or a groan is at least a
more immediate and sincere response to a speech act than
the granting of an invented request or the acceptance of an
unowned apology.
1. Here I distinguish between “jokes,” which are usually two liners of
the “Why did the chicken cross the road?” variety, and “funny stories,”
which are also commonly called “jokes,” but which consist of more extended
narrative, drama, repetition, etc.
Funny stories are part of our linguistic heritage and
even follow certain recognized scenarios. “Have you heard
the one about the…” is often the opening; and the ending is
a laugh, an exaggerated groan, or even an apologetic “I don’t
get it.” Moreover, they are really common mini-narratives,
and they are meant to be told over and over again and so
lend themselves naturally to rephrasing—a “macro-drill”
that students rarely have the opportunity to perform in
class.
เรื่องราวที่มีความสนุกสนาน ตลกขบขัน จะช่วยให้ผู้เรียนมีความมุ่งมั่นในการตอบสนองเรื่องราวต่างๆได้เป็นอย่างดี
From : English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2
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