Humoristic Translanguaging in Intercultural Communication in Qatar: Merits, Limitations, and Its Potential Contribution to Policy Development

Abstract

This paper deals with the merits and limitations of a pedagogical practice that has been developed in the context of teaching undergraduate sociolinguistics courses in a state tertiary education institute in the State of Qatar. This practice is called humoristic translanguaging, and it translates into the humoristic use of a diverse set of verbal, semiotic, and sociocultural resources that people know by degree and can use to enhance their linguistic input/output. Such an approach is practice-based, and the meanings that are shaped in the context of this interaction are created through an assemblage of diverse linguistic, semiotic, and sociocultural resources. Three major purposes of humoristic translanguaging have been identified in my datasets: the creation of classroom climate and efficiency of teaching, the breaking down of the rigidity of hierarchical structures by humanizing and personalizing interpersonal communication, and the delivery of sanctions and other necessary unpleasantries to students. Having provided evidence in favor of the idea that humoristic translanguaging can work successfully as a pedagogical strategy in the tertiary education classroom, I offer this as a suggestion of a strategy teachers but also students in TESOL can use as a resource to secure their autonomy and constant motivation to improve their respective teaching and learning performance.