Teacher Attitudes to Humor in L2 English Discussion Classes

This paper describes an investigation into the attitudes of instructors teaching L2 English discussion class (EDC) at Rikkyo University to the use of humor in their classes.A survey was conducted which aimed to discover whether use of humor was widespread in the program, and if so, whether this was supported by pedagogic or personal reasons.It was found that the majority of teachers do either actively try to use humor, or take opportunities to do so when they arise.In contrast, respondents were mostly undecided or in disagreement as to whether students should be responsible for generating humor.There was agreement that teacher-generated humor (TGH) contributes to an enjoyable learning atmosphere and that students are more likely to learn when they enjoy their class.However, many respondents felt that humor was not a prerequisite of an enjoyable class.Further reasons for humor use that were selected in the survey showed that in addition to learner outcome oriented goals, teachers also have personal motivations for generating humor in class.These findings will be further discussed below and some personal perspectives shared on the implementation of TGH in class.