Book Description

This dissertation study aims at elaborating on a theory of language play as an essential part of the overall communicative performance of second language (L2) learners. Real-life interactions are imbued with language play and humour. Therefore, if L2 learners are to become active participants in the day-to-day interactions of the L2 community, they need to be familiar with both transactional and goal-oriented as well as playful and fun-oriented language. Therefore, the present study reports the findings of a small scale empirical case study of nine English as a Second Language (ESL) adults university students in a conversation class, the curriculum of which had an intentional inclusion of Language play and humour. It reports the selection and implementation of authentic material from national newspapers, such as jokes, cartoons and riddles which generated a focus on language. These language play pieces embedded certain words and/or idiomatic expressions that inevitably came into focus as the students tried to understand the playfulness, the humour and the language involved. Through a pre-test/post-test design and a series of microgenetic analyses of the on-task talk of the students as they tried to unravel the meaning of the puns, this study traced in the peer-peer dialogues about language how students moved from non-comprehension to spontaneous use. By allowing students to work with and Learn from peers, the present study contributes to the line of research that concentrates on the ability of students to become active participants in their learning and on social interaction as a key mediational tool for the development of L2 communicative performance. Upon giving students the opportunity to overcome the cognitive, social and educational challenges of understanding L2 humour and language play, this study demonstrates that ESL university students can collaboratively manage their own comprehension and learning of the language involved and thus mediate each other's learning.