The effect of humour strategies on speaking anxiety in EFL classes

Abstract

English is an international language around the world (Crystal, 2020). Therefore, people have to learn how to speak English and how to communicate with other people who are from different countries or nationalities. However, there is not enough opportunities for education to speak English in Turkey. English language teaching in Turkey is usually carried out by just teaching grammar rules.. So, it can bring about some problems as learners can’t speak English, or even if they can speak English, people are always afraid of making mistakes. Especially, they try to avoid making mistakes with grammar rules. The more learners focus on grammar while they are speaking, the more they can have some anxiety about speaking. Hence, most of the learners who learn English have anxiety about speaking. Though we have English classes from primary school to university, we can’t speak English and it makes learners nervous while they are speaking. At this point, humour strategies can help to decrease speaking anxiety in t learners. Humour strategies can have some positive impact on overcoming speaking anxiety. The research aims to investigate the positive effects of humour strategies on speaking anxiety of English preparatory class 1st-year students studying at Necmettin Erbakan University School of Foreign Language. This study has been conducted with the participation of 250 university prep class students aged between 18-21. A mixed method has been used to collect data. Data has been collected through a survey of anxiety scale, a humour strategies scale, and interview questions.