Abstract:
The present study aims at investigating the effectiveness of humour to ease cultural
competence development. Accordingly, it is hypothesised that if EFL students were taught
with humour, this would enhance their English cultural competence. The research is based on
a quasi-experimental design that made use of a questionnaire, a pre-test, and a post-test, as
research tools, to examine a sample of 46 second year students enrolled in the Department of
English, Faculty of Letters and Languages, University of Frères Mentouri, Constantine1
during the academic year 2016-2017. Since little 'c' culture does not have a place in the
curriculum, the two experimental groups were equally treated under the same conditions to
maintain the principle of the one group pre-test post-test design, on the one hand, and to
guarantee an exposure of all the subjects to all variables (humour and culture), on the other
hand. This was the result of piloting the study in the academic year 2015-2016. The results of
the questionnaire showed that the students were in favour of the incorporation of humour
inside their classrooms for the powerful effect it has in generating an appealing atmosphere to
receive cultural information. Moreover, the findings obtained from the t-test and the
Orientation Cultural Model of Hammer (2007-2011) disclosed a significant improvement in
the students' cultural competence, which confirms that humour has a considerable role in
bridging the gap between learning a foreign language and learning its culture.
