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The purpose of this study is to compare the occurrence of laughter in classes of Japanese as a second language taught by teacher trainees and experienced teachers in terms of classroom dynamics. The data for this study is taken from a database based on the transcription of video recordings of the two types teaching to the same class. One is the lessons of seven teacher trainees and the other is the lesson of an experienced teacher as a case study. The relationship between the three hypothetical laughter types and class management is investigated. Statistical analysis was applied to the data to contrast the classroom discourse. From the results we can see that Type-A Laughter accounts for most of the laughter in both classrooms, Type-B Laughter is used by the teacher in the experienced teacher's class, and Type C is used by the students in the teacher trainees' lessons.These results of this investigation indicate the strong class management of the experienced teacher in comparison to the teacher trainees.

This thesis explores the functions of laughter in Japanese communication. In orientation it contrasts markedly with previous studies and is the first study to have been based on such a large volume of data. In this paper I have focused on laughter as it serves to maintain a co-operative relationship between the participants in a conversation. I find that in the process of communication, people necessarily have to lay themselves open to others, and in doing so they become conscious of the barrier surrounding and protecting their field, i.e. their 'inner world'. I hypothesise that in Japanese at least it is consciousness of this barrier that causes the occurrence of laughter in discourse. In other words, people laugh as part of the process of opening up to others, and also to show their intention to be co-operative. By laughing, people are either confirming that they belong to the same in-group, or they are pretending to belong to the same in-group in order to show co-operation. In my model, laughter is classified: A: Joyful laughter for identifying with the in-group B: Balancing laughter for easing tension C: Laughter as a cover-up. A is also divided into 3 subcategories, B into 3, and C into 2 according to the subject of the utterance and the direction of movement into the protective barrier. Two types of statistical analysis were applied to the data in order to the test the validity of the classification. Keywords: interpersonal communication; laughter; field; barrier; co-operation; joy; balancing; cover-up gender