Bridging the Humor Barrier - by John Rucynski & Caleb Prichard (Paperback)

About the Book

Humor competence in the target language is an overlooked tool for English language learners to communicate confidently and proficiently in English. In this innovative edited collection, language teachers and researchers from around the globe share their latest research on help...

Book Synopsis

Humor competence in the target language is an overlooked tool for English language learners to communicate confidently and proficiently in English. In this innovative edited collection, language teachers and researchers from around the globe share their latest research on helping learners to overcome the humor barrier.

Review Quotes

Highly recommended not only for researchers and students working on language teaching, linguistics, pragmatics, and intercultural communication, but also for language teachers who could be inspired and motivated by the different approaches included therein.

In Bridging the Humor Barrier, readers can find a comprehensive introduction into teaching about humor in their classrooms and providing their students the skills they need in order to understand and produce their own humorous conversations. In addition, its articles and plethora of sources used throughout the text serves as a solid jumping point for those who wish to delve into researching further into the topic. It balances this research well with practical guidelines and suggestions, resulting in a well-rounded text that would be a welcome addition in any language educator's collection. This text should be of interest to all language educators, as well as educators at large who wish to incorporate culturally literate, culturally sensitive humor into their teaching practices.

"As our world is becoming more divided between the conservatives and the progressives, we need a tool to help us all see the common ground. Humor, language play, satire, sarcasm, irony, and parody all require people to see an issue from more than a single perspective. Bridging the Humor Barrior is a perfect tool for allowing advanced English learners around the world not only to develop sophisticated English language skills, but also to better understand cultural and political differences."

"I found the book to be an original contribution that belongs in the library of all humor scholars interested in the intersection of teaching English in an intercultural setting and humor. It is a very rich collection of articles, with a wide breadth of methodologies and goals, which fills a significant gap in the literature."

About the Author

John Rucynski Jr. is associate professor in the Center for Liberal Arts and Language Education at Okayama University.

Caleb Prichard is associate professor in the Center for Liberal Arts and Language Education at Okayama University.