Bachelorarbeit, 2016
75 Seiten, Note: 1,3
This thesis investigates the comprehension of ironic utterances, specifically focusing on the debate between two prominent psycholinguistic models: Giora's graded salience hypothesis and Gibbs' direct access view. The study aims to explore whether the literal meaning is always accessed first, or if contextual information can directly lead to the ironic interpretation. An online questionnaire study is conducted to examine how participants interpret sentences containing explicit negation of extreme/highly positive assessments, both in isolation and within a context of disagreement.
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the central question of how ironic utterances are interpreted: Do we process the literal meaning first, or can context lead directly to the ironic interpretation? It outlines the two main approaches to figurative language processing—Giora's graded salience hypothesis and Gibbs' direct access view—which posit different models for how the brain processes irony. The chapter establishes the context of the debate surrounding bottom-up (data-driven) and top-down (context-driven) processing in language comprehension and sets the stage for the thesis's investigation into these competing theories.
2. Empirical findings: Figurative language comprehension: This chapter delves into the characteristics of irony, offering definitions and exploring the functions and cues that signal ironic interpretations. It then provides detailed explanations of the three major psycholinguistic models of irony comprehension: the standard pragmatic model (prioritizing literal meaning), the direct access view (allowing direct access to ironic meaning based on context), and the graded salience hypothesis (always accessing the most salient meaning first, regardless of context). This section lays the theoretical groundwork for the empirical study described in the following chapter, highlighting the complexities and contradictions within existing research.
3. Online study: This chapter details the methodology and results of an online questionnaire study designed to test the competing hypotheses presented in Chapter 2. Participants were presented with sentences containing explicit negation of positive assessments, both in isolation and within a context suggesting disagreement. The chapter meticulously outlines the experimental procedure, participant demographics, and statistical analysis of the results. The findings demonstrate how the presence or absence of preceding contextual cues significantly influences the participants' interpretation of the target sentences, offering crucial empirical data to evaluate the validity of the competing theoretical models.
Irony comprehension, figurative language processing, graded salience hypothesis, direct access view, context effects, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, literal meaning, nonliteral meaning, online study, experimental methodology, negation, contextual cues, bottom-up processing, top-down processing.
This thesis investigates the comprehension of ironic utterances, specifically focusing on the debate between Giora's graded salience hypothesis and Gibbs' direct access view regarding how the brain processes irony. It explores whether literal meaning is always accessed first or if contextual information can directly lead to the ironic interpretation.
The study aims to determine the role of context in processing ironic language, compare the graded salience hypothesis and the direct access view, and analyze how contextual cues influence the interpretation of ironic sentences. It also examines the impact of sentence position (first vs. second turn) and the interplay between literal and nonliteral meaning in irony comprehension.
The research employs an online questionnaire study. Participants were presented with sentences containing explicit negation of positive assessments, both in isolation and within a context suggesting disagreement. The study meticulously outlines the experimental procedure, participant demographics, and statistical analysis of the results.
The findings demonstrate how the presence or absence of preceding contextual cues significantly influences participants' interpretation of the target sentences. This provides empirical data to evaluate the validity of the competing theoretical models (graded salience hypothesis and direct access view).
The thesis focuses on three psycholinguistic models of irony comprehension: the standard pragmatic model (prioritizing literal meaning), the direct access view (allowing direct access to ironic meaning based on context), and the graded salience hypothesis (always accessing the most salient meaning first, regardless of context).
The thesis explores the definitions, functions, and cues that signal ironic interpretations. It examines how these features contribute to the complexities and contradictions within existing research on irony comprehension.
The thesis is structured into three main chapters: an introduction outlining the central research question and theoretical frameworks; an empirical findings chapter detailing the characteristics of irony and the competing psycholinguistic models; and a chapter presenting the methodology, results, and discussion of an online questionnaire study designed to test these models.
Keywords include: Irony comprehension, figurative language processing, graded salience hypothesis, direct access view, context effects, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, literal meaning, nonliteral meaning, online study, experimental methodology, negation, contextual cues, bottom-up processing, top-down processing.
The thesis contributes to the understanding of irony comprehension by providing empirical evidence to evaluate the competing theoretical models of Giora and Gibbs. It sheds light on the role of context and the interplay between literal and nonliteral meaning in the interpretation of ironic utterances.
Der GRIN Verlag hat sich seit 1998 auf die Veröffentlichung akademischer eBooks und Bücher spezialisiert. Der GRIN Verlag steht damit als erstes Unternehmen für User Generated Quality Content. Die Verlagsseiten GRIN.com, Hausarbeiten.de und Diplomarbeiten24 bieten für Hochschullehrer, Absolventen und Studenten die ideale Plattform, wissenschaftliche Texte wie Hausarbeiten, Referate, Bachelorarbeiten, Masterarbeiten, Diplomarbeiten, Dissertationen und wissenschaftliche Aufsätze einem breiten Publikum zu präsentieren.
Kostenfreie Veröffentlichung: Hausarbeit, Bachelorarbeit, Diplomarbeit, Dissertation, Masterarbeit, Interpretation oder Referat jetzt veröffentlichen!
Kommentare