Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study
This paper reports on an exploratory study examining joke identification, appreciation and comprehension by Spanish intermediate ESL learners. The study is based on a relevance-theoretic classification of jokes, which assumes that humorousness results from manipulation of three parametres: make-sen...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies
2022-04-01
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| Series: | The European Journal of Humour Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.europeanjournalofhumour.org/ejhr/article/view/633 |
| _version_ | 1811332433837031424 |
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| author | Santiago Arróniz Parra Manuel Padilla Cruz |
| author_facet | Santiago Arróniz Parra Manuel Padilla Cruz |
| author_sort | Santiago Arróniz Parra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This paper reports on an exploratory study examining joke identification, appreciation and comprehension by Spanish intermediate ESL learners. The study is based on a relevance-theoretic classification of jokes, which assumes that humorousness results from manipulation of three parametres: make-sense frames, cultural information and utterance interpretation. It firstly ascertains whether Spanish ESL learners recognise orally-delivered samples of seven types of purportedly jocular texts. Secondly, it examines whether these learners actually regard such texts as comical and why. Finally, it looks into the learners’ interpretative problems in order to single out which joke type(s) is/are more challenging. The study relies on quantitative and qualitative data elicited through an online questionnaire comprising four tasks. The results indicate no correlation between joke identification and appreciation, and independence of successful joke recognition from sophisticated interpretative skills. Jokes involving invalidation of an activated make-sense frame were most easily identified and found most funny, but jokes exploiting cancellation of an initial, seemingly plausible, interpretation posed more difficulties.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:36:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27ef4f2b377f4d12bc6f6c6bd69a115c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2307-700X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:36:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Cracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The European Journal of Humour Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-27ef4f2b377f4d12bc6f6c6bd69a115c2022-12-22T02:39:24ZengCracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language StudiesThe European Journal of Humour Research2307-700X2022-04-0110110.7592/EJHR2022.10.1.633Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory studySantiago Arróniz Parra0Manuel Padilla Cruz1Indiana UniversityUniversidad de Sevilla This paper reports on an exploratory study examining joke identification, appreciation and comprehension by Spanish intermediate ESL learners. The study is based on a relevance-theoretic classification of jokes, which assumes that humorousness results from manipulation of three parametres: make-sense frames, cultural information and utterance interpretation. It firstly ascertains whether Spanish ESL learners recognise orally-delivered samples of seven types of purportedly jocular texts. Secondly, it examines whether these learners actually regard such texts as comical and why. Finally, it looks into the learners’ interpretative problems in order to single out which joke type(s) is/are more challenging. The study relies on quantitative and qualitative data elicited through an online questionnaire comprising four tasks. The results indicate no correlation between joke identification and appreciation, and independence of successful joke recognition from sophisticated interpretative skills. Jokes involving invalidation of an activated make-sense frame were most easily identified and found most funny, but jokes exploiting cancellation of an initial, seemingly plausible, interpretation posed more difficulties. https://www.europeanjournalofhumour.org/ejhr/article/view/633ESL learnersrelevance theoryjoke identificationjoke comprehensionjoke appreciation |
| spellingShingle | Santiago Arróniz Parra Manuel Padilla Cruz Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study The European Journal of Humour Research ESL learners relevance theory joke identification joke comprehension joke appreciation |
| title | Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study |
| title_full | Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study |
| title_fullStr | Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study |
| title_short | Joke identification, comprehension and appreciation by Spanish intermediate ESL learners: an exploratory study |
| title_sort | joke identification comprehension and appreciation by spanish intermediate esl learners an exploratory study |
| topic | ESL learners relevance theory joke identification joke comprehension joke appreciation |
| url | https://www.europeanjournalofhumour.org/ejhr/article/view/633 |
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