Perception of General Pragmatic Characteristics of Online Sarcasm among Iranian EFL/ESL Learners and English Native Speakers

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Zeinab Esmaeili ¹ , Mohsen Shahrokhi ² , Maryam Farnia ³

1 - Department of English, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahreza, Iran
2 - Department of English, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahreza, Iran.
3 - Department of English Language and Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2022-07-01 Accepted : 2022-09-04 Published : 2023-11-01

Keywords: EFL/ESL learners, General Pragmatic Characteristics, Online sarcasm, Sarcasm recognition,

Abstract :

This study sought to identify the general pragmatic characteristic of sarcasm that English native speakers and Iranian EFL/ESL learners draw on in the recognition of online sarcasm. In so doing, a Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data for subsequent analysis; also, qualitative thematic analysis was done on the data collected through a semi-structured interview. The participants consisted of three groups of EFL and ESL learners as well as native English speakers (each consisting of 9 members) who were selected through snowball sampling at BA or MA degrees. The findings indicated that the total frequency uses of pragmatic characteristics were significantly different among the three groups. Moreover, the results revealed that, among other pragmatic characteristics, Victim, Insincerity, Antecedent, and Negative Attitude, have a more statistically significant contribution to the recognition of online sarcasm. The study bears implications for policymakers, curriculum planners, material developers, EFL/ESL teachers, and researchers.

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