Recognizing Communicative Intentions Lies at the Heart of Irony Processing; and Bilinguals Might do it Better: A Literature Review

Abstract

Bilinguals perform better in interpreting intentions, the pillar of irony comprehension. As bilingualism becomes normal, exploring the role of the second language (L2) in irony comprehension seems invaluable. Evidence suggests that L2 proficiency impacts irony processing in the native language (L1). Some studies highlight the positive role of L2 proficiency in L2 irony processing - irony comprehension may proceed comparably in L1 and L2 provided one is highly proficient in both languages. While some evidence shows that irony processing is less efficient in L2, other suggests that the processing difficulty in L1 and L2 is attenuated. I review various studies exploring irony comprehension in the bilingual context. It is suggested that bilinguals may be privileged irony comprehenders due to a better developed mentalizing capacity. Bilingual irony processing evidence is inconclusive and needs further exploration.

Keywords

• irony
• irony processing
• bilingualism
• theory of mind
• l2 proficiency