Delving into Pedagogical Levity: An Inquiry into the Interplay of Experience and Humor in Iranian EFL Teachers' Classroom Beliefs and Practices

Authors
Reza Taherkhani
Masoumeh Moghimi
Bu-Ali Sina University
Abstract
The impact of humor on language acquisition has been documented in scholarly accounts. Hence, this study investigated Iranian pre-service and high-experienced and low-experienced in-service EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices of humor in the classroom. In order to collect data, the researchers adopted four distinct instruments including pedagogical humor questionnaire, semi-structured interview, observation checklist, and field notes. A total of 182 Iranian EFL teachers participated completed the questionnaires, while 10 in-service EFL teachers engaged in semi-structured interviews. Additionally, the second researcher observed 36 classes. The results indicated that both pre-service and in-service EFL teachers believed that humor was effective. Notably, high-experienced in-service EFL teachers displayed more pronounced positive beliefs in humor compared to their pre-service and low-experienced counterparts. The results also disclosed that humor was a routine practice for high-experienced teachers. Based on the findings of the present study, it can be suggested that it is essential to train and educate both pre-service and in-service EFL teachers in order to integrate humor into different EFL classrooms.
Keywords
Beliefs
Humor
Practices
Pre-service teachers
In-service teachers