Humor support in synchronous computer-mediated classroom discussions
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Ilona Vandergriff,
und
Carolin Fuchs,
Abstract
Computer-mediated communication (CMC), more than other media, has been associated with humor and joking (e.g., Crystal 2001, 2005; Danet 1998, 2001; del-Teso-Craviotto 2006; Fisher et al. 2000; Georgakopoulou 2005; Hancock 2004; Herring 1999, 2001; North 2007; Rellstab 2007; Rouzie 2001; Sotillo 2000). In text-based synchronous CMC, paralinguistic, gestural, mimetic, or other nonverbal cues are either lacking or are transcribed in some form (e.g., LOL ‘laugh out loud’). Adopting Hay's (2001) analytical framework, we look at how foreign language learners in synchronous computer-mediated discussions provide humor support in a unimodal environment. The data show that CMC participants did not transcribe laughter or other emotive reactions to humor by using emoticons or verbal glosses. Instead, they supported humor by producing more humor, a strategy also attested in the face-to-face environment (Hay 2001). Participants also responded to humor tokens with “silence”, a strategy which may signal lack of humor support but can also be caused by a technical glitch, among other things. In addition, the analysis shows a link between humor appreciation, on the one hand, and agreement with the humorist's stance, on the other (see Hay 2001).
©[2012] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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- Masthead
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- The Aristocrats!: Comedy, grotesqueries and political inversions of the masculine code
- Disclosure humor and distortion humor: A reversal theory analysis
- Humor support in synchronous computer-mediated classroom discussions
- Humor perception in bilinguals: Is language more than a code?
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- Book Reviews
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Satire and definition
- The Aristocrats!: Comedy, grotesqueries and political inversions of the masculine code
- Disclosure humor and distortion humor: A reversal theory analysis
- Humor support in synchronous computer-mediated classroom discussions
- Humor perception in bilinguals: Is language more than a code?
- Humor use in power-differentiated interactions
- Childhood experiences of professional comedians: Peer and parent relationships and humor use
- Book Reviews
