What can laughter teach us about language? | Cartoons and fun stories in linguistics

In this animated episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christina and Dominic explore how creative cartoons, comic strips and children’s shows can teach us about language, communication, cognition and learning itself.

- How does a curious mouse turn science into storytelling?

- Why do comic strips, from Peanuts to XKCD, make such powerful teaching tools?

- How can greeny green aliens help us understand how humans categorize the world?

- In what way do rubber ducks reveal that we often use language without thinking too much about it?

From “Die Sendung mit der Maus” to Dr. Seuss, from Calvin and Hobbes’ unexpected wisdom to XKCD’s scientific wit, the hosts show how humor helps us understand language and makes learning fun.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode22

This podcast episode is based on the following article:

Sanchez-Stockhammer, Christina. 2010. Comic linguistics: Comics and cartoons in academic teaching. In Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke & Gideon Haberkorn (eds.), Comics as a nexus of cultures, 274-281. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Mentioned in this episode:

- Käptn Blaubär

- Die Sendung mit der Maus

- Sesame Street

- Mr Rogers‘ Neighbourhood

- The secret of Zoe’s dice (Viererkniffel): „Sendung mit der Maus“ episode with voiceover by Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer and her students. https://www.wdrmaus.de/extras/maus_international/englisch.php5. [8:20 min]

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(25)

What does punctuation reveal about writing? | The hidden fingerprints of texts

In this punctuation-packed episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christina and Dominic explore how language varies depending on communicative context – and why tiny marks on a page can make all th...

8 Elo 44min

How much can you say with 100 words? | Phrasebooks as keys to new languages

In this travel-ready episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christina and Dominic ask a deceptively simple question: if you could learn only 100 words of a language, which ones would you choose?- W...

25 Kesä 39min

What is a "salad salad"? | Copies, quotes, and plagiarism

In this duplicative (but never dull) episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christinaand Dominic explore the fascinating world of copying – from plagiarism tophotocopies, and from fairy tales to “s...

27 Maalis 38min

Can a robotic arm lose face? | The linguistics of politeness

In this futuristic episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christina and Dominic investigate how we talk to machines – and what our language reveals about the way we see them.- Do we treat AI and ro...

20 Helmi 1h

Does punctuation matter? | To hyphenate or not to hyphenate

In this episode, Christina and Dominic make a point of exploring the tiny dots and lines that we find in writing. They uncover the history, humor, and hidden powers of punctuation marks – especially t...

3 Helmi 44min

Are you working hard or hardly working? | Adverbs and data visualization

In this adverbially adventurous episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes, Christina and Dominic dig deep into one of grammar’s dustiest drawers: the adverb category, which combines such different word...

12 Joulu 202535min

What’s in a name? | How naming customs differ around the world

In this episode, Christina and Dominic tackle the fascinating – and sometimes funny – ways names reflect identity, culture, and even fashion trends.- Can names have meaning, or do they just point to p...

2 Marras 202539min