Potent Roles of Humor in EFL Classes in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study of Lebanese Perspectives

This paper attempts to scrutinize the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors and learners on the use of humor in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts in building a harmonious relationship between instructors and students, lowering affective barriers to learning, keeping students attentive to class activities, developing creativity and increasing instructional effectiveness as well as students’ learning. It also aims to describe the instructors’ experiences in employing it in their classrooms and to determine the students’ perspectives on its potent roles in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 13 EFL instructors, working at 1 public and 4 private universities in Lebanon, and 86 EFL students participated in the study.  To describe and quantify their perceptions on the potent roles of employing humor in EFL classes, two online surveys of two sets of questions each, including closed-ended and open-ended, and four focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL instructors and students have positive attitudes towards integrating humor as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it creates an open communication climate, captures students’ interest in the subject matter, boosts attention, reduces anxiety, makes the instructor more approachable, and yields better instructor evaluation; however, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers to use humor artfully

Potent Roles of Humor in EFL Classes in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study of Lebanese Perspectives

This paper attempts to scrutinize the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors and learners on the use of humor in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts in building a harmonious relationship between instructors and students, lowering affective barriers to learning, keeping students attentive to class activities, developing creativity and increasing instructional effectiveness as well as students’ learning. It also aims to describe the instructors’ experiences in employing it in their classrooms and to determine the students’ perspectives on its potent roles in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 13 EFL instructors, working at 1 public and 4 private universities in Lebanon, and 86 EFL students participated in the study.  To describe and quantify their perceptions on the potent roles of employing humor in EFL classes, two online surveys of two sets of questions each, including closed-ended and open-ended, and four focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL instructors and students have positive attitudes towards integrating humor as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it creates an open communication climate, captures students’ interest in the subject matter, boosts attention, reduces anxiety, makes the instructor more approachable, and yields better instructor evaluation; however, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers to use humor artfully

Potent Roles of Humor in EFL Classes in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study of Lebanese Perspectives

This paper focuses on scrutinizing the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors and learners on the use of humor in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts. It is used in building a harmonious relationship between instructors and students, lowering affective barriers to learning, keeping students attentive to class activities, developing creativity and increasing instructional effectiveness as well as students’ learning. It also aims to describe the instructors’ experiences in employing it in their classrooms and to determine the students’ perspectives on its potent roles in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 13 EFL instructors, working at 1 public and 4 private universities in Lebanon, and 86 EFL students participated in the study.  To describe and quantify their perceptions of the potent roles of employing humor in EFL classes, two online surveys of two sets of questions each, including closed-ended and open-ended, and four focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL instructors and students have positive attitudes towards integrating humor as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes. This is because it creates an open communication climate, captures students’ interest in the subject matter, boosts attention, reduces anxiety, makes the instructor more approachable, and yields better instructor evaluation. The findings of this study also revealed the need to train teachers to use humor artfully

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in a Morphology Course - An Analytical Study from University Students’ Perspectives

This paper attempts to scrutinize the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in a morphology course in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts in providing learners with personalized learning paths centered on their needs and strengths, offering automated feedback on activities and assignments, supplying study resources and extra material, furnishing adaptive assessments, and most importantly, identifying common errors in students’ responses that allow instructors to acknowledge the learning gaps and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. It also aims to determine the students’ perspectives on AI’s potent role in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 62 EFL students at the public university in Lebanon participated in the study. To describe and quantify their perceptions on integrating AI in a morphology course, an online survey including closed-ended and open-ended questions, and two focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL students have positive attitudes towards integrating AI in a morphology course as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it provides a good source of information and aids in the teaching and learning process; however, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers and students to use AI technologies keeping in mind the potent role of the instructor in class

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in a Morphology Course - An Analytical Study from University Students’ Perspectives

This paper attempts to scrutinize the attitudes and opinions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in a morphology course in higher education in Lebanon as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts in providing learners with personalized learning paths centered on their needs and strengths, offering automated feedback on activities and assignments, supplying study resources and extra material, furnishing adaptive assessments, and most importantly, identifying common errors in students’ responses that allow instructors to acknowledge the learning gaps and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. It also aims to determine the students’ perspectives on AI’s potent role in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 62 EFL students at the public university in Lebanon participated in the study. To describe and quantify their perceptions on integrating AI in a morphology course, an online survey including closed-ended and open-ended questions, and two focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL students have positive attitudes towards integrating AI in a morphology course as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it provides a good source of information and aids in the teaching and learning process; however, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers and students to use AI technologies keeping in mind the potent role of the instructor in class

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in a Morphology Course - An Analytical Study of University Students’ Perspective

This paper focuses on scrutinizing the attitudes and opinions of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in a morphology course in higher education in Lebanon. Specifically, it examines AI as a pedagogical tool in classrooms to provide learners with personalized learning paths centered on their needs and strengths, offer automated feedback on activities and assignments, supply study resources and extra material, furnish adaptive assessments, and most importantly, identify common errors in students’ responses that allow instructors to acknowledge the learning gaps and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. It also aims to determine the students’ perspectives on AI’s potent role in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 62 EFL students at the public university in Lebanon participated in the study. To describe and quantify their perceptions of integrating AI in a morphology course, an online survey, including closed-ended and open-ended questions, and two focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL students have positive attitudes towards integrating AI in a morphology course as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it provides a good source of information and aids in the teaching and learning process. However, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers and students to use AI technologies, keeping in mind the potent role of the instructor in class