Sarcastic or Sincere? The Effect of Explicit Training on the Prosodic Perception of English Sarcasm.

Abstract

Prosodic cues play a significant role in the expression of sarcasm. While native speakers are able to recognize sarcasm purely based on prosody, second language learners are reported to experience difficulty. Nevertheless, prosody and sarcasm are not included in school curricula. Several studies have been conducted on explicit training of prosodic markers of sarcasm and indicate that it can be beneficial to second language learners’ production and perception of sarcasm. No research has yet been done on the perception of Dutch intermediate learners of English. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect explicit training can have on this specific group of learners. We tested whether explicit training in the prosodic markers of English sarcasm can enhance the ability of Dutch intermediate L2 learners of English to perceive sarcasm in English. In addition, the factors of sentence type and gender speaker were taken into account. This study consisted of a pre-test – explicit training – post-test paradigm and included a control group who did not receive the training. The results showed no significant effect of training on participants’ perception of English sarcasm. The results did indicate that sincere sentences are easier to recognize compared to sarcastic sentences.