This article describes a Microsoft Excel-based application that uses humorous voice synthesis and timed competition to make it more fun and engaging to learn management science decision criteria. In addition to providing immediate feedback and easily customizable tips that facilitate self-learning, the software randomly generates both the problem…

The recent improvements in technology and their integration in language learning have played a facilitating role in vocabulary acquisition. Quizlet, an online teacher-/student-friendly tool, is one of the leading applications in vocabulary acquisition. Along with the effectiveness of visualization in acquiring vocabulary, humor has been also…

In addition to the undergraduate programs provided by faculties of education, in Turkey, Pedagogical Formation Education Certificate Programs are also provided by these faculties. Graduates of such programs are positioned as teachers in Turkey, the same as the graduates of faculties of education. Individual differences of teachers are of great…

This study examined the total, direct, and indirect effects of humour on burnout among 539 school teachers. As predicted, those with high humour reported significantly lower levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation but higher levels of personal accomplishment. Self-esteem consistently explained parts of the associations between humour…

Laughing with students can help them connect on a deeper level with the teacher and the learning. This article offers the following four strategies to incorporate humor into teaching: (1) Integrate humorous bits to boost engagement; (2) Choose humorous materials; (3) Create interest with humorous web tools and apps; and (4) Teach with silly…

Generation Z (Gen Z) represents something of a quintessence for the broken promises that now seem to make up the promise of higher education. But if despair indicates the dark side of generational malaise around things like civic engagement, community, and student learning, the dark humor that has emerged out of these generations points to modes…

Research in computer mediated communication and sociolinguistics, have increasingly highlighted the concept of establishing an "online identity" through specific language use. However, while emojis or common netspeak abbreviations are often the focus of research concerned with cyber language, no studies have considered the function…

This study aimed at bringing together the notions of language play and focus on form (FonF) through a cross-sectional investigation of playful language-related episodes (PLREs). PLREs, as a remarkably under-explored aspect of second language (L2) learners' focus on form, peer interaction and language play, were analyzed in an Iranian EFL context…

Background: There is some evidence that humor can be used effectively in teaching, to maintain student interest in the material and potentially to reduce academic stress. Purpose: To examine the relationship between students' appreciation of a professor's use of humor and course evaluations. Methods: 128 undergraduate and graduate students…

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children's humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We…

Guided by emotional response theory, this study examined how students' emotional responses mediated the relationship between their instructors' dramatic teaching behaviors (i.e., humor, self-disclosure, narrative) and their approach-avoidance behaviors (i.e., oral in-class participation, out-of-class communication, classroom citizenship…

The study of marginalia has not been widely discussed in social sciences research and occupies a marginal space in terms of methodological legitimacy. We highlight the value of paying attention to the ways in which participants "speak back" to the researcher. This paper draws on marginalia found in surveys written or drawn by young…

Creative manipulations of language have long been recognized as important aspects of second language development. Research has largely examined playful language within adult foreign language classrooms; however, less attention has been given to the pragmatic use of humor among adolescent multilingual learners of English. Drawing on oral…

Humor is not only instinctive and a basic human need, but it also is very good medicine. Laughter boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, and is linked to healthy functioning organs. [This article was written with Mylo Redwater Smith.]

Teachers' cultural backgrounds can result in challenges in establishing positive teacher-student relationships in cross-cultural settings. The context for this study is based on the everyday practice of teachers and students in the classrooms of diverse Australian schools, where issues of cross-cultural teacher-student relationships have been…