“HOW NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS ADAPT TO HUMOR IN INTERCULTURAL INTERACTION ” Nancy D. Bell

1. “HOW NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS ADAPT TO HUMOR IN INTERCULTURAL INTERACTION”Nancy D. Bell

2. Purposes • to examine social interactions between native and non-native speakers of English as far as verbal humor is concerned • to demonstrate that humor does not create conflicts

3. Communication is based not only on linguistic competence but also on contextual factors. The way we speak and understand each other is influenced by factors such ascultural background, participants, place, time.

4. Non-native speakers’ syntactic and grammatical mistakes are due to the learner status, while misunderstandings of verbal humor are caused by the meeting of two or more ethnic groups.

5. Bell’s research on humor • Reports the way in which humor was negotiated by three NNSs of English in interaction with ENSs. • The participants were three young women studying at U.S. universities. They came from Venezuela, Thailand, Russia. All of them had a high proficiency level in English.

6. Was based on audio tapes (32 hours of interaction) • Humor was classified according to the context, function and type • Interviews were made at the beginning of the study and at the end of it

7. At the beginning of the study difficulties in the construction and comprehension of humor were expected but this was not the case.

8. Five strategies that avoided misunderstandings, offence,confusion in intercultural communication were identified : • Avoidance of taboo topics • Avoidance of potencially dangerous forms of humor • Linguistic and interactional adjustments • Clear contextualization of a play frame • Attitude of leniency

9. Avoidance of taboo topics Quips about sex and getting drunk were generally not made in order to prevent embarassement; they occurred only in group situations

10. Dangerous forms of humor Teases were generally directed to people you have a close relationship with or they are used to strenghten a bond.

11. Example Pum: you can go like Friday night oh no Saturday night Jake: Saturday night?! Pum: ((no you have to see the Soprano)) Jake: that’s Sunday night Pum: oh.

12. The use of the modal verb have tocannot be considered as an offence because Pum is speaking with her boyfriend.

13. Linguistic and interactional adjustments Attention to the choice of the topic, avoidance of confusing words, repetitions, feedback are strategies used to adjust humor to the necessities of the others

14. Contextualization of humor NNSs and NSs use smile and/or laughter and explicit statements in order to let the other know they are joking.

15. Example John: is that cool with you? Pum: (slowly) I think so Cal: HuHHHHHHHHHH (‘stupid’ voice) Pum: uh huh huh huh huh heh heh John: speak now or forever hold your peaHHHHce Cal: I’m just kidding Pum: yeah! John: I mean you don’t have to hit every single point, you know Pum: yeah

16. Cal’s tone of voice indicates that he is making fun of her. • Explicit statement when Cal admits that he is teasing her “I’m just kidding”

17. From the collected data, it emerged that people involved in a conversation seem to be tolerant towards their interlocutors. If not understood properly a joke could be interpreted as an offence. Thus, leniency is an essential element in intercultural relations. Leniency

18. Example

19. Conclusions Although we might expect humor to be a source of misunderstanding between NSs and NNSs, the study reveals that a harmless intercultural communcation is possible

20. Thanks for your attention Paola Delpero, Giulia Dorigoni, Monica Zanella