3Th article that pertains to my reserach proposal - Assignment Example

Humor in the Foreign Language room Main Problem in Study and Purpose The study by Rafiee, Kassaian and Dastjerdi the main purpose of the study was to identify the effectiveness of using humorous songs in an EFL classroom. The purpose was to understand the effects of using humorous songs to teach listening comprehension and immediate and delayed recall skills. The authors suggest that using humor is a very good way to make sure that students are gaining these skills. The authors suggest that because the curriculum has changed, “humor was implicitly reintroduced alongside a new emphasis on its authentic, relaxed and creative effects in language learning” (Rafiee, Kassaian and Dastjerdi, 2010, p. 100). The use of humor in this context provides a way to bring student interest to lessons and to motivate students.

HypothesisThe authors did not state a specific hypothesis but they did provide two research questions that they felt they wanted to understand. These two questions were:1. Does applying humorous song in EFL classrooms improve learners listening comprehension?2. Does applying humorous song in EFL classrooms have a greater effect on the learners immediate recall compared to their delayed recall? ((Rafiee, Kassaian and Dastjerdi, 2010, p. 101).These two questions were the focus of the study and the authors continued to refer back to them as they conducted their study.

Research Method Used All students began by filling out a questionnaire about their background and they were given a standardized listening test (TOEFL Test, version 2009) to determine a baseline for their “listening proficiency level” (Rafiee, Kassaian and Dastjerdi, 2010, p. 102). Once students received instruction through the use of humorous songs, they were given the TOEFL listening test a second time. Participants had not previously participated in listening tests. Students were told that they would listen to a passage for several minutes and then they would be instructed to immediately do coursework.

Teachers did not ask questions after the listening task in order to make sure that they were relaxed while listening. Students listened to 17, 90 minute sessions. After the first task, students were asked to listen to the passages again and repeat the task in order to have a pre- and post-test sample. After a three week interval, students were asked to take the TOEFL test again to measure their immediate ability to recall the information.Subjects Involved There were 30 female participants in this study and they were all studying English at the Iranian Institutes of English language.

The age group of participants was between 15 and 25. The participants were given a number between one and 30 and they were randomly chosen for two groups. The first group was comprised of those students who had odd numbers and these were seen as the control group. The second group was comprised of those students who had even numbers were used as the experimental group.Summary of Findings and other Information The researchers found that students in the experimental group were able to retain more information than those in the control group.

The researchers pointed out that humorous songs did have a “moderately large effect” (Rafiee, Kassaian and Dastjerdi, 2010, p. 103) on the students’ listening comprehension skills. In terms of their second question, they were not able to prove that there was any significant difference in students’ ability to recall quickly or in a delayed capacity.How this Relates to My ResearchThis is another article about humor in the foreign language classroom. Since my research will be about using humor in a Spanish language classroom this article fits well because it talks about students 15-25 and uses humorous songs.

There were a few articles dated 2005-2009 that could be used for my research. ReferencesRafiee, M., Kassaian, Z., & Dastjerdi, H. (2010). The application of humorous song in EFL classrooms and its effects on listening comprehension. English Language Teaching, 3(4), 100-108. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.