Second Language Experience Impacts First Language Irony Processing Among Bilingual Adults

The authors point out that core components of irony processing (e.g., mental-state reasoning, executive control, and metalinguistic awareness) have been tentatively linked to bilingual experience. Thus, they investigate whether bilingual experience modulates irony comprehension during first language (L1) reading and also how bilingual adults comprehend irony in positive versus negative contexts (i.e., ironic compliments vs. criticisms, respectively). Forty-nine bilinguals (L1 English - 37 females and 11 males) participated in their study. The participants were recruited by advertisements placed around Montreal's McGill University. The participants reported knowing at least at least one language other than English (nine reported knowing three languages, four reported knowing four languages and two reported knowing five languages). The authors found three main findings. First, bilinguals are faster at processing ironic criticisms than ironic compliments, and they find ironic criticisms more sensible than ironic compliments in their L1, much like past findings among monolinguals. Second, individual differences in bilingual experience modulate comprehension of ironic statements. Specifically, readers with high global second language (L2) proficiency find ironic statements more sensible than readers with low global L2 proficiency, regardless of the valence of the preceding context. Third, individual differences in global L2 proficiency further predict the speed of L1 irony comprehension: following a positive scenario, greater global L2 proficiency patterns with faster processing of irony compared to literal statements. The authors conclude that, together, these data suggest that second language experience may be linked to irony processing in the first language. While the precise mechanism underlying this relationship remains open, they argue that potential sources may be rooted in flexible social cognition or executive functions.

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale

Vol. 74

no. 3

September 2020

en