The effect of humorous passages on developing learners’ reading comprehension

Sense of humor as a key factor for increasing the effect of instruction has been overlooked by research in the field of education. This study was an attempt to investigate the effects of the use of humor on EFL learners’ reading comprehension. For this purpose, a group of Iranian EFL learners were taught reading comprehension through the use of humorous passages while another group of learners were taught through neutralized passages. Eighty four students studying in different private language institutes in Takestan participated in this study. All subjects were male with ages between 16 and 19. The results of the study showed that the use of humorous texts significantly enhanced the reading comprehension performance of the EFL learners’. The results also showed that the learners’ motivation was enhanced through the use of humorous reading materials.