A study on the use of humour in motivating students to learn english

Abstract

Throughout the years, a lot of research has been looking at the significance of effective atmosphere in second language classroom. We often overlook the fact that humour is a vital element in attaining a supportive learning environment that can benefit students. There is limited research conducted on the effectiveness of the use of humour in ESL classroom, especially in the context of motivating the students to learn, in which the students are used as the indicator and method in gaining insights as they are the ones who experienced the learning process. Thus, this study was conducted to look at students' views towards the effects of humour on their intrinsic motivation to learn English. A survey was conducted using questionnaires adapted from Deci & Ryan's (2003) Intrinsic Motivation Inventory Test (IMI) on 70 students of various programmes from the Faculty of Education, UiTM. The acquired data were then compared based on each of the programmes in the Faculty of Education, UiTM. The findings from this study revealed that majority of the respondents strongly agree that humour has positive effects on students' intrinsic motivation in learning English. The positive responses received from the respondents indicate that humour is indeed an effective teaching tool in promoting intrinsic motivation in learning second language.