从关联理论角度研究大学外语学习者对英语言语幽默的理解.docVIP

A Relevance-theory Based Research on Verbal Humor Understanding of College EFL Learners Referring to the Relevance Theory, the author of this thesis intends to study the fact that a considerable number of EFL learners in China feel confused about in stead of amused at an English humor utterance and aims to find out the major obstacles to verbal humor understanding. Thesis Structure The thesis consists of three parts. The first part focuses on the theoretical foundation of the study; the second part falls on an empirical study based on Relevance Theory; and the last part rests on suggestions of the problems according to the analysis included in the previous part. Part one begins with a general review of the Relevance Theory in Chapter 2. Some elemental concepts are included in this part, such as Ostensive-inferential Communication, Context, Cognitive Effects, Processing Effort, and Optimal Relevance. In addition, this chapter provides a basic definition of verbal humor, as well as a brief classification of humor. In Chapter 3 as the second part, the Relevance Theory is applied to the research into factors that interfere with EFL learners during the process of verbal humor understanding. In order to collect the data, a questionnaire is designed and delivered to a pool of EFL subjects. Then a further analysis is carried out to study the major obstacles to humor interpretation. 12 A Relevance-theory Based Research on Verbal Humor Understanding of College EFL Learners Based on the research findings, in Chapter 4, the author makes some suggestions on facilitating the process of humor interpretation and on achieving successful humor understanding 13 A Relevance-theory Based Research on Verbal Humor Understanding of College EFL Learners Chapter 2 Literature Review Definitions of Humor and Verbal Humor The word “humor” originates from Latin. According to The New Oxford Dictionary of English, the very meaning of “humor” is one of the four liquids (blood, phlegm, choler, mel