Skip to main content
Palgrave Macmillan

Spontaneous Play in the Language Classroom

Creating a Community

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

  • Treats the language classroom as a cultural context within which to examine the role of humour in the establishment and building of rapport
  • Explores the agency that adult learners exercise in taking ownership of a target language
  • Focuses on instrumental learners who operate in the international world of commercial and business transactions, where English is the lingua franca

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

eBook USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (9 chapters)

Keywords

About this book

This book investigates the importance of humour and play in the establishment of individual and group identities among adult language learners on an intensive business English course. The enclosed setting allows the emergent nature of community building and identity projection to be traced, foregrounding the important role of humorous play in these vital social processes. The book will be of interest to students and researchers of applied linguistics, second language acquisition and humour studies.

Reviews

“I believe that Hann has achieved his purpose to show readers how low-proficiency adult learners can use language to play despite their limitations. … Hann has made a valuable contribution in revealing deep insight into the meaning of laughter in the language classroom, and the ubiquitous ways in which play is present in the to-and-fro of healthy classroom communication.” (Phuong Anh Nguyen, alanz.org.nz, February 4, 2021)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    David Hann

About the author

David Hann is a Central Academic Staff Lecturer in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University, UK. His research focuses on the forms and social functions of humorous language play among non-native speakers of English in a language classroom setting. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Spontaneous Play in the Language Classroom

  • Book Subtitle: Creating a Community

  • Authors: David Hann

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26304-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-26303-4Published: 29 August 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-26306-5Published: 29 August 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-26304-1Published: 16 August 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 254

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: English, Language Education, Sociolinguistics, Self and Identity, Language Teaching

Publish with us