Cultural aspects of humor in sitcoms

Level: Intermediate and above Aim: Encourage students to notice social and cultural cues in order to better understand humor in short clips or humorous texts Class time: 30-40 minutes Preparation time: 20 minutes Resources: Humorous clips from movies or sitcoms (see examples in the Procedures section), graphic organizer for taking notes (Appendix) Rationale: It is often the social and cultural cues, not the language, which make humorous exchanges difficult to understand. By watching humorous clips, students can get a deeper understanding of the cultural contents of humor.