The present study examined the effect of a pedagogical intervention about humorous verbal irony in Spanish with a mixed group of 40 second language (L2) and heritage speakers of Spanish. Unlike previous studies that have considered only irony comprehension, this project incorporated both comprehension and production of irony into instruction and assessment. The intervention consisted of 2.5 hours of lessons that focused on humorous irony and irony cues. To assess effectiveness, participants completed a pretest and posttest of an irony comprehension instrument and a written production questionnaire designed to elicit humorous irony. The results from the study indicate that the intervention was beneficial in increasing participants’ accurate interpretation of irony and identification of tone of voice as an irony cue. Additionally, after instruction, participants produced significantly more irony and incorporated new resources into their ironic responses. However, participants did not increase their success in being humorous over time. No significant group differences were observed, suggesting that the instruction had similar effects for both L2 and heritage speakers.
Alba-JuezL. (2000). Some discourse strategies used to convey praise and/or positive feelings in Spanish everyday conversations. In CamposH.HerburgerE.Morales-FrontA.WalshT.J. (Eds.), Hispanic linguistics at the turn of the millennium (pp. 364–380). Cascadilla Press.
2.
Alvarado OrtegaM.B. (2012). Una propuesta de estudio para el humor en la conversación colloquial [A study proposal for humor in colloquial conversation]. ELUA, 26, 7–28.
3.
Alvarado OrtegaM.B. (2018). The pragmatics of irony in the L2 Spanish classroom. In DumitrescuD.AnduezaP.L. (Eds.), L2 Spanish pragmatics: From research to teaching (pp. 169–190). Routledge.
4.
AttardoS. (2013). Intentionality and irony. In Ruiz GurilloL.AlvaradoB. (Eds.), Irony and humor: From pragmatics to discourse (pp. 39–57). Amsterdam.
5.
AttardoS.EisterholdJ.HayJ.PoggiI. (2003). Multimodal markers of irony and sarcasm. Humor, 16, 243–260.
6.
BaenaE. (2005). A pragmatic study on verbal irony in Spanish. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
7.
Bardovi-HarligK. (2013). Developing L2 pragmatics. Language Learning, 63, 68–86.
8.
Barros GarcíaM.BachelorJ. (2018). Pragmatic instruction may not be necessary among heritage learners of Spanish: A study on requests. Journal of Foreign Language Education and Technology, 3, 163–193.
9.
BeaudrieS.FaircloughM. (Eds.). (2012). Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field. Georgetown University Press.
BellN.D.AttardoS. (2010). Failed humor: Issue in non-native speakers’ appreciation and understanding of humor. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7, 423–447.
12.
BellN.D.ShardakovaM.ShivelyR.L. (2021). The DCT as a data collection method for L2 humor production. In Félix-BrasdeferC.ShivelyR.L. (Eds.), New directions in second language pragmatics (pp. 156–178). De Gruyter.
13.
BoutonL.F. (1999). Developing nonnative speaker skills in interpreting conversational implicatures in English: Explicit teaching can ease the process. In HinkelE. (Ed.), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp. 47–70). Cambridge University Press.
14.
BowlesM.A. (2018). Outcomes of classroom Spanish heritage language instruction. In PotowskiK. (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 331–344). Routlege.
15.
Bromberek-DyzmanK.RatajK. (2016). Irony comprehension in the non-native language comes at a cost. Psychology of Language and Communication, 20, 336–353.
16.
BurgersC.van MulkenM.SchellensP. (2011). Finding irony: An introduction of the Verbal Irony Procedure (VIP). Metaphor and Symbol, 26, 186–205.
17.
CarreiraM.Hitchins ChikC. (2018). Differentiated teaching: A primer for heritage and mixed classes. In PotowskiK. (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 359–374). Routledge.
18.
ChangA. (2017). ‘Call me a little critical if you will’: Counterstories of Latinas studying abroad in Guatemala. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 16, 3–23.
19.
ChiaroD. (2009). Cultural divide or unifying factor? Humorous talk in the interaction of bilingual, cross-cultural couples. In NorrickN.ChiaroD. (Eds.), Humor in interaction (pp. 211–231). John Benjamins.
20.
CulpeperJ.MackeyA.TaguchiN. (2018). Second language pragmatics: From theory to research. Routledge.
21.
DaviesC. (2004). Developing awareness of crosscultural pragmatics: The case of American/German sociable interaction. Multilingua, 23, 207–231.
22.
DynelM. (2014). Isn’t it ironic? Defining the scope of humorous irony. Humor, 27, 619–639.
23.
DynelM. (2017). Academics vs. American scriptwriters vs. academics: A battle over the etic and emic ‘sarcasm’ and ‘irony’ labels. Language and Communication, 55, 69–87.
24.
DynelM. (2018). Irony, deception, and humor: Seeking the truth about overt and covert untruthfulness. Mouton de Gruyter.
25.
Economidou-KogetsidisM. (2013). Strategies, modification and perspective in native speakers’ requests: A comparison of WDCT and naturally occurring requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 53, 21–38.
26.
GibsonJ. (2019). Cognition, creativity, and humor. Unpublished paper presented at the Conference of the International Society for Humor Studies, Austin, TX, USA.
27.
GolatoA. (2003). Studying compliment responses: A comparison of DCTs and recordings of naturally occurring talk. Applied Linguistics, 24, 90–121.
GriceH.P. (1989). Logic and conversation. In GriceH.P. (Ed.), Studies in the way of words (pp. 22–40). Harvard University Press.
30.
Grupo GRIALE. (2011). ¿Estás de broma? 20 actividades para practicar la ironía en la clase de ELE [Are you joking? 20 activities to practice irony in the Spanish as a second language class]. Edinumen.
31.
HaimanJ. (1998). Talk is cheap: Sarcasm, alienation, and the evolution of language. Oxford University Press.
32.
IshiharaN.CohenA.D. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. Longman Applied Linguistics.
33.
KalbermattenM. (2010). Humor in verbal irony. In KoikeD.A.Rogríguez-AlfanoL. (Eds.), Dialogue in Spanish: Studies in functions and contexts (pp. 69–88). John Benjamins.
34.
KimJ. (2014). How Korean EFL learners understand sarcasm in L2 English. Journal of Pragmatics, 60, 193–206.
35.
KimJ.LantolfJ.P. (2018). Developing conceptual understanding of sarcasm in L2 English through explicit instruction. Language Teaching Research, 22, 208–229.
36.
KimM.LeeH.KimY. (2018). Learning of Korean honorifics through collaborative tasks. In TaguchiN.KimY. (Eds.), Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics (pp. 28–54). John Benjamins.
37.
Martínez-FlorA.Usó-JuanE. (2006). A comprehensive pedagogical framework to develop pragmatics in the foreign language classroom: The 6Rs approach. Applied Language Learning, 16, 39–64.
38.
MontrulS.PerpiñánS. (2011). Assessing differences and similarities between instructed heritage language learners and L2 learners in their knowledge of Spanish tense–aspect and mood (TAM) morphology. Heritage Language Journal, 8, 90–133.
39.
OgiermannE. (2018). Discourse completion tasks. In JuckerA.H.SchneiderK.P.BublitzW. (Eds.), Methods in pragmatics (pp. 229–255). De Gruyter.
40.
Padilla GarcíaX. (2008). Claves para abordar la ironía en programas de Spanish as a second language: De la competencia comunicativa a la competencia intercultural [Keys to addressing irony in Spanish as a second language programs: From communicative competence to intercultural competence]. VERBA, 35, 275–303.
41.
Padilla GarcíaX. (2009). Marcas acústico-melódicas: El tono irónico [Acoustic-melodic markers: The ironic tone]. In Ruiz GurilloL.Padilla GarcíaX.A. (Eds.), Dime cómo ironizas y te diré quién eres [Tell me how ironic and I’ll tell you who you are] (pp. 135–166). Peter Lang.
42.
Padilla GarcíaX.Alvarado OrtegaB. (2010). Being polite through irony. In KoikeD.A.Rogríguez-AlfanoL. (Eds.), Dialogue in Spanish: Studies in functions and contexts (pp. 55–68). John Benjamins.
43.
PetkovaM. (2013). Effects and perceptions of a humor competence curriculum in an intensive English program in Southern California. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Alliant International University, San Diego.
44.
RoeverC. (2005). Testing ESL pragmatics. Peter Lang.
45.
RuchW. (2008). Psychology of humor. In RaskinV. (Ed.), The primer of humor research (pp. 17–100). Mouton de Gruyter.
46.
Ruiz GurilloL. (2009). ¿Cómo se gestiona la ironía en la conversación? [How does irony work in conversation?]RILCE, 25(2), 363–377.
47.
Ruiz GurilloL. (2010). Para una aproximación neogriceana a la ironía en español [A neo-Gricean approach to irony in Spanish]. RSEL, 40, 95–124.
48.
Ruiz GurilloL. (2012). La lingüística del humor en español [The linguistics of humor in Spanish]. Arco.
49.
Ruiz GurilloL.Padilla GarcíaX. (Eds.) (2009). Dime cómo ironizas y te diré quién eres [Tell me how you’re ironic and I’ll tell you who you are]. Peter Lang.
50.
ShivelyR.L. (2013). Learning to be funny in Spanish during study abroad: L2 humor development. The Modern Language Journal, 97, 930–946.
51.
ShivelyR.L. (2018). Learning and using conversational humor in a second language during study abroad. Mouton de Gruyter.
52.
ShivelyR.L.MenkeM.R.Manzón-OmundsonS.M. (2008). Perception of irony by L2 learners of Spanish. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 101–132.
53.
SperberD.WilsonD. (1981). Irony and the use-mention distinction. In ColeP. (Ed.), Radical pragmatics (pp. 155–178). Academic Press.
54.
TaguchiN. (2005). Comprehending implied meaning in English as a foreign language. Modern Language Journal, 89, 543–562.
55.
TaguchiN. (2007). Development of speed and accuracy in pragmatic comprehension in EFL. TESOL Quarterly, 41, 313–338.
56.
TaguchiN. (2008). Cognition, language contact, and the development of pragmatic comprehension in English as a second language. Language Learning, 58, 33–71.
57.
TaguchiN.Gomez-LaichM.P.Arrufat-MarquesM.J. (2016). Comprehension of indirect meaning in Spanish as a foreign language. Foreign Language Annals, 49, 677–698.
58.
Torres SánchezM.A. (1994). La comunicación irónica: Ejemplo práctico de análisis [Ironic communication: A practical example of analysis]. Pragmalingüística, 2, 433–458.
59.
VaidJ. (2006). Joking across languages: Perspectives on humor, emotion, and bilingualism. In PavlenkoA. (Ed.), Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression, and representation (pp. 152–182). Multilingual Matters.
60.
VaidJ.ChoiH.ChenH.FriedmanM. (2008). Perceiving and responding to embarrassing predicaments across languages: Culture influences on the emotion lexicon. The Mental Lexicon, 3, 121–147.
61.
WaltersF.S. (2013). Interfaces between a discourse completion test and a conversation analysis-informed test of L2 pragmatic competence. In RossS.J.KasperG. (Eds.), Assessing second language pragmatics (pp. 172–195). Palgrave Macmillan.
62.
WigginsG.McTigheJ. (2005). Understanding by design. ASCD.
63.
WulfD. (2010). A humor competence curriculum. TESOL Quarterly, 44, 155–169.
64.
YamanakaJ. (2003). Effects of proficiency and length of residence on the pragmatic comprehension of Japanese ESL Learners. Second Language Studies, 22, 107–175.
65.
Yanguas SantosL. (2006). La ironía verbal en el aula de ELE: Una aplicación práctica a través de textos escritos [Verbal irony in the Spanish as a second language classroom: A practical application through written texts]. Unpublished masters thesis, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Madrid, Spain.
66.
YuanY. (2001). An inquiry into empirical pragmatics data-gathering methods: Written DCTs, oral DCTs, field notes, and natural conversations. Journal of Pragmatics, 33, 271–292.
67.
Yus RamosF. (2000). On reaching the intended ironic interpretation. International Journal of Communication, 10, 27–78.
