The function of laughter
Aki Siegel has published an article on the function of laughter when speakers from different language backgrounds talk in English. Laughter isn’t just a reaction to something funny!
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University lecturer Aki Siegel has written an article about the function of laughter.
Laughter can signal uncertainty, embarrassment, or even awareness that a word choice or pronunciation can cause misunderstanding. But, for these functions of laughter to be noticed, the listener needs to follow the topic and direction of the conversation. Findings suggest that teachers can support learners by explicitly teaching word search phrases like “What’s the word…”.
Last updated: 2026-05-26
Source: Department of English