Speaker
Description
112 foreign language learners and 24 native speakers completed a test measuring their ability to understand irony in English. Whereas the NSs could access ironic meaning directly and rapidly, even those learners with advanced language proficiency had difficulty in recognizing irony and needed to rely on explicit processing strategies. The study indicates that the ability to understand irony is unlikely to develop without explicit instruction and the opportunity to experience it in communicative exchanges.
Summary
Irony is a late-acquired pragmatic feature. A group of top level Chinese university students and 24 native speakers of English took a newly developed Irony Test consisting of 20 assessment items. Data collected were the scores on the different items along with response times. Results showed that the NSs could access ironic meaning directly and rapidly, suggesting that implicit processing is involved, but even those learners with advanced language proficiency relied on explicit processing strategies.
| Commercial Promotion | No |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Teaching Context | College and university education |
