Effects of Using Humor in Teaching Speaking Skills on EFL Learners’ Speaking Anxiety

Speaking clearly leads to communicating clearly. However, learning to speak clearly in a foreign or second language is one of the greatest challenges for a learner and often evokes great anxiety. Accordingly, this study is a survey-based investigation of the effects of using humor to teach speaking skills on the speaking anxiety of Saudi Arabian EFL undergraduate students. The objective of this research was to determine how humor affects them and whether it helps them feel less anxious. A quantitative survey methodology was used in this study to fits with the research objectives and questions. The experiment took place over three consecutive weeks, with three hours of instruction each week. 43 freshmen rated their agreement with the FLSAQ's 18 items on a 5-point Likert scale, reflecting fears and self-perceptions about English speaking. Prior to the intervention, speaking anxiety levels among the students were typically neutral to mildly low. Following the application of humor, the post-test results revealed that the pre-test mean (Mean = 48.67) was significantly higher than the post-test mean (Mean = 38.86) and the t-test results between them is statistically significant (t = 3.04, p = 0.003), indicating that humor had a positive effect on reducing speaking anxiety. These results give teachers a solid framework for teaching speaking skills in ways that will lessen speaking anxiety, which can create a comfortable classroom environment in which communication is valued over correctness, thereby reducing students’ fear of making mistakes, increasing their active participation, and in the process promoting their speaking skills.