English for Satirical Purposes: Humour, Culture and Language Learning at the Faculty of Political Science

In the light of the current concerns about ESP methodological issues, this paper presents a culture-focused approach to English language teaching adopted at the Faculty of Political Science in the University of Naples Federico II. A series of humorous texts (jokes, parodies, songs and sketches) were selected as language materials and prompted groupwork discussion according to a semiotic and Critical Discourse Analysis framework. The written assignment also enabled the students to express their viewpoints on socio-political matters and at the same time improve their language skills.