Incorporating humour-based activities in EFL textbooks: effectiveness and pedagogical values

Abstract

This study aims at measuring the amount of incorporation of humour in the different activities designed in the Algerian EFL textbook for the third-year secondary education pupils. Humour has become a recognised teaching tool in language education. However, its incorporation is usually limited to some complementary activities to formal lessons. For this reason, this study was conducted to get an in-depth knowledge about how humour is positioned and recognised in the teaching materials. A corpus analysis of the secondary school Algerian textbook of English that is currently being utilised to teach third year was conducted. Focus of the analysis was on detecting how humour is incorporated with its different types and the pedagogical aims it fulfils. Results reveal that humour occupies a significant place in the textbook. It existed in different forms and was integrated to enhance the teaching of the four language skills. The study’s results prove that the humour-based approach is effective and has many pedagogical values. Therefore, it was recommended to be utilised in foreign languages’ teaching in particular and in teaching humanities-related subjects in general.