Classroom humor as an occasion for intercultural reflection: learner-reported episodes in L2 Spanish

Abstract This study examines when and how learner-reported humorous episodes in university Spanish classes involve intercultural meaning-making. Drawing on Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), Beecroft’s concept of savoir agir , and McConachy’s account of metapragmatic awareness, the study analyzes 96 retrospective questionnaire responses using a hybrid deductive–inductive codebook analysis. Episodes were classified for evidence of culturally or languaculturally situated interpretation, comparison, evaluation, discovery, or adaptation, with humor mechanisms and functions coded separately. 22 episodes contained intercultural evidence, 17 were insufficient or ambiguous, and 57 contained no such evidence. Savoir comprendre was the most frequent primary ICC component, accounting for 16 of the 22 evidence-present episodes; savoirs , savoir agir , and savoir s’engager were less frequent. Metapragmatic awareness appeared in 50 responses and extended beyond the intercultural subset, showing that reflection on intention, audience, appropriateness, face, or interactional effects was not necessarily intercultural. The findings suggest that humor becomes relevant to ICC when learners engage with culturally situated meanings and expectations, while other episodes remain important for pragmatic, relational, affective, and pedagogical functions. The study positions humor as a potential occasion for intercultural reflection in L2 classrooms.