Second language experience impacts first language irony comprehension among bilingual adults.

Abstract

Recently, core components of irony processing (e.g., mental-state reasoning, executive control, and metalinguistic awareness) have been tentatively linked to bilingual experience. Thus, we investigated whether bilingual experience modulates irony comprehension during first language reading, and also how bilingual adults comprehend irony in positive vs. negative contexts (i.e., ironic compliments vs. criticisms, respectively). We deliver 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 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. 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, potential sources may be rooted in flexible social cognition or executive functions.

Processing of irony in text: A systematic review of eye-tracking studies.

“…From studies involving patient populations, only the control group was included. In all the studies included, the participants were native speakers of the language used in the experiment; studies did not provide information on whether participants were monolingual or multilingual (see Tiv, Deodato, Rouillard, Wiebe, & Titone, in press). Descriptive statistics were not reported in two studies, and they were requested directly from the authors.…”

The role of mentalizing capacity and ecological language diversity on irony comprehension in bilingual adults

“…Our findings indicate bilingual adults generally use sarcastic irony for similar functions as monolinguals (Tiv et al, 2019 ). In previous work, we examined how bilingual speakers comprehend ironic language (Tiv et al, 2020 ). Tiv et al ( 2020 ) tested bilinguals on an irony reading and comprehension task in their first language, English.…”

“…In previous work, we examined how bilingual speakers comprehend ironic language (Tiv et al, 2020 ). Tiv et al ( 2020 ) tested bilinguals on an irony reading and comprehension task in their first language, English. Bilingual adults rated ironic criticisms as more sensible than ironic compliments, and their responses were faster for ironic criticisms.…”

“…In one study, we discovered a positive relationship between second language proficiency and self-reported general sarcastic irony use, irrespective of language (Tiv et al, 2019 ). In another study, proficiency in the second language predicted on-line first language irony comprehension, such that high proficiency bilinguals found ironic statements more sensible than low proficiency bilinguals and they were faster to respond to ironic compliments (Tiv et al, 2020 ). Related work on second language reading of metaphor, another pragmatic element, also evidenced how individual differences in second language proficiency modulated reading patterns (Olkoniemi et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Irony is ubiquitous in everyday conversations (Gibbs, 2000 ), canonical literature (Müller, 2017 ), and political dialogue (Nuolijärvi & Tiittula, 2011 ). Decades of cross-disciplinary research have revealed that irony comprehension is shaped by a complex interplay of factors (Dews & Winner, 1995 ; Dress et al, 2008 ; Katz et al, 2013 ; Olkoniemi & Kaakinen, 2021 ; Olkoniemi et al, 2016 ; Pexman, 2008 ; Pexman & Olineck, 2002 ; Shamay-Tsoory et al, 2005 ), including, recently, bilingual experiences (Tiv et al, 2019 , 2020 , 2021b ). In this paper, we examine the relationship between individual differences related to bilingual experience, specifically mentalizing capacity and neighborhood language diversity, and irony processing among a sample of bilingual adults living in a linguistically diverse region, Montréal, Canada.…”