Developing conceptual understanding of sarcasm in L2 English through explicit instruction

This article reports on a pedagogical project aimed at helping second language (L2) learners of English develop the ability to detect and appropriately interpret spoken sarcasm. The study used a pre- and posttest procedure to assess the development of learners’ ability to both detect sarcasm and impute appropriate speaker intentions and attitudes conveyed through sarcastic utterances as result of a 10-week instructional program. The study also used interviews to gauge changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of English sarcasm. Beyond improving learners’ ability in the L2, a side effect of the project was that learners reported an enhanced awareness of the use and functions of sarcasm in their first language (L1), Korean.