Social Impressions of English Irony: A Comparison between L1 and L2 Perceptions

Irony plays a critical role in social communication, yet its perceived politeness and appropriateness vary across linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This study investigated how Canadian L1 English speakers and advanced Chinese L2 English speakers evaluate ironic (sarcastic, teasing) versus literal statements in audiovisual conversations. Participants rated video-recorded utterances on politeness, appropriateness, and their own likelihood of using them. Stimuli varied by communicative intent (positive vs. negative) and delivery style (literal vs. ironic). Both groups judged literal and positive statements as more polite and appropriate than ironic and negative ones. However, only L1 speakers reported reduced willingness to use irony, suggesting a perception-usage mismatch among L2 users. Sarcastic remarks were judged less polite than literal negative ones, indicating that audiovisual cues may override the mitigating effect of positive surface language, contrary to the Tinge Hypothesis. These findings highlight the role of paralinguistic information in pragmatic evaluations and suggest that L2 speakers accommodate target norms in perception while retaining culturally grounded strategies in projected usage. Results contribute to intercultural pragmatics and L2 sociopragmatic development.