Page 14 Walker • Humor in the Foreign Language Classroom emphasize the affective filter element as expected. Rather, as I questioned my participants, three themes emerged: power distance, self-effacing humor, and willingness to communicate (WTC). These constructs, as a natural outpouring of my data, have consequently become the focus of my findings. Power Distance The concept of power distance, though less cited in language instruction research than in intercultural communication studies, is certainly at play in this French classroom (Hofstede, 2011). Power distance appears to be largely tied to class environment in this situation; the professor’s low power distance structure in class was evident in the field observations, and all four participants reported class factors related to lower power distance. Participant 1 introduced the concept of power distance unprompted, noting, “She’s…to refer to it in intercultural terms, very low power distance structure. Which works, because I have a very low power distance structure.” He further described the professor’s teaching style as “easygoing, very informal.” Participant 2 affirmed that her lighthearted humor makes the classroom very relaxed, saying, “It’s a main contributor to her classroom environment, that it can be so open—she makes jokes about herself.” Participants 3 and 4 brought up the professor’s graceful response to confrontational questions, emphasizing that she does not see correction as a threat to her authority. Participant 4 also discussed how the professor trusts and respects her students enough to give them freedom in the classroom and with homework. These findings align with Tananuraksakul’s (2013) observations that “breaking down the high degree of PD [power distance] can help boost the affective sides to some degrees” (p. 112). In this manner, the findings of lowered power distance in the classroom are still tied to the construct of the affective filter. Many of the same factors are intertwined here, including a relaxed atmosphere and more individual freedom. Self-Effacing Humor In many ways, the power distance in this classroom was affected by the professor’s particular brand of humor. Labeled “self-effacing” by Students 1 and 4, her humor is characterized by lighthearted exaggeration, usually at her own expense. According to Participants 1 and 2, it often feels spontaneous or situational—“opportunistic,” according to Student 1. The professor makes constructive use of “teachable moments” built on her own slips in class. Participant 4 mentioned that this conveys the mentality that mistakes are ways to learn. Through classroom observations, it was also evident that the professor subtly shapes their perspective of communication in the FL context by lessening the gravity surrounding language errors and presenting them as continuous opportunities instead of fatal failures. One example of this professor’s humor, noted during the observational stage of the research, involves a poorly drawn stick-figure. As part of a vocabulary illustration, the professor attempted to draw a person on the whiteboard, but many of the limbs were obviously disjointed and the head was floating ominously above the body. As the students started to chuckle at the figure, which appeared to need medical attention, the professor quickly looked back at the class and declared, “Je suis artiste! [I am an artist!]” with a dramatic wave of her hand.
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