Interlingual Sarcasm: Prosodic Production of Sarcasm by Dutch Learners of English

Abstract

Whether second language learners are able to produce sarcasm effectively in their second language is a question which has received little attention from academics so far. Furthermore, the role of intonation in this context is unclear. The present study was conducted to shed light on the question whether L2-learners are able to express sarcasm using intonation which is recognisable to native speakers. To his end, sarcastic responses of Dutch learners of English of intermediate and advanced L2 proficiency levels were recorded and rated on degree of sarcasm by Dutch and British judges. The results of analyses indicated that Dutch learners of English possibly retain a Dutch intonation of sarcasm in English. Furthermore, the results suggest that sentences containing particle discourse markers are easier to express in a sarcastic manner than other types of sentences.