Theories of Adults' Understanding and Use of Irony and Sarcasm: Applications to and Evidence from Research with Children

An overview and synthesis of the literature relevant to the present understanding of children's developing ability to recognize ironic and sarcastic speech acts is the focus of this article. Several theoretical approaches to examining nonliteral language processing, outlined by linguists concerned with adults' use of discourse irony, are presented. This discussion is followed by a review of research pertaining to children's comprehension of irony and sarcasm. In the conclusion, claims made by speech act theorists and developmental researchers are integrated into a framework that can guide future investigations of pragmatic language understanding.