Nok Chin Lydia Chan
Read about research being undertaken by Nok Chin Lydia Chan, a PhD student in Applied Linguistics.
Thesis title
How do L1 and L2 speakers of English comprehend and produce familiar constructions used ironically?
Supervisors
A/Prof Anna Siyanova and Dr Stephen Skalicky
Abstract
While some studies have shown that irony requires more time to process compared to non-ironic utterances (e.g., Akimoto et al., 2012; Olkoniemi et al., 2016), some other research (e.g., Ivanko & Pexman, 2003; Kowatch et al., 2013) has found that it is not the case. It is worth noting, however, that far too much previous research has relied solely on faster processing as evidence of qualitatively different processes between ironic and non-ironic statements, and usually lack a genuine measurement of irony comprehension (Skalicky, 2023).
Apart from processing, many researchers are also interested the prosody of irony. Studies have shown that although prosodic features are also used as cues for irony in languages other than English (e.g., Chen & Boves, 2018; Li et al., 2020), these features are not necessarily used in the same way (Skalicky, 2023). Given the differences and similarities in irony prosody among languages, it is worth questioning whether irony can be detected from prosody in one’s L2 (Cheang & Pell, 2009).
Hence, this research project aims to address the above research gaps via two experimental studies. Study 1 is an extension of Kowatch et al. (2013), and it looks at how by L1 and L2 English speakers of Cantonese and Mandarin L1 backgrounds comprehend the familiar English construction ‘I just love/ hate + Noun’ when it is used ironically. Study 2, which is a production experiment adapted from Chen and Boves (2018), examines how four different constructions, viz. ‘What + AdjP’, ‘How + AdjP’, ‘Since when + VP’, and ‘As if + VP’ are produced (prosody) ironically by L1 and L2 English speakers of Cantonese and Mandarin L1 backgrounds.
Biography
Nok Chin Lydia Chan is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She holds an M.A. in English (Language Science with a specialization in English Linguistics) at Stockholm University, Sweden, and an B.A. in English with minor in Spanish at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Her research interests include Formulaic Language, Cognitive Linguistics and Psycholinguistics, Corpus Linguistics, and bi/multilingualism.
Publications
Skalicky, S., Chan, L. N. C. (2025). Measuring satirical uptake using word sentiment. Journal of Computational Social Science, 8(61). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-025-00390-y
Chan, N. C. L. (2025). Grammar “bores the crap out of me!”: A mixed-method study on the “X the Y out of Z” construction and its usage by ESL and ENL speakers. In Torsten, T. et al. (Ed.). How to do things with corpora: Methodological issues and case studies on grammar. Springer.
Chan, K. L. R., & Chan, N. C. L. (2025). Using the internet as a corpus for English teacher training under multilingualism: Challenges and potentials. In S. Karpava (Ed.), Multilingualism and multiculturalism in language education (Vol. 49, pp. 175–188). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-76043-3_9
Chan, K. L. R., & Chan, N. C. L. (2023). Preliminary study on conflations in Hong Kong English. Proceedings of the 20th AsiaTEFL – 68th TEFLIN – 5th iNELTAL Conference, 280-285.
Wang, Y., & Chan, N. C. L. (2023). Formulaic language in university seminars: A comparison of EAP textbook coverage and authentic language use in ELF settings. In M. Walková (Ed.), Linguistic approaches in EAP: Expanding the discourse (pp. 11–25). Bloomsbury.
Chan, K. L. R., & Chan, N. C. L. (2021). Segmental features of Hong Kong English: A contrastive analysis. Journal of Universal Language, 22(2), 1-44. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.1
Presentations/Invited talks
Chan, N. C. L., & Skalicky, S. (2025, July 7-11). Comparing self-perceptions of sarcasm use and elicited production of sarcasm in English and Cantonese [Paper presentation]. Thirty-fifth International Society for Humor Studies Conference, Kraków, Poland.
Chan, N. C. L., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Skalicky, S. (2025, June 22-27). Exploring L1 and L2 English speakers’ comprehension of familiar ironic phrases: Insights from mouse-tracking and reaction times [Paper presentation]. Nineteenth International Pragmatics Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
Chan, N. C. L., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Skalicky, S. (2025, March 22-25). How do L1 and L2 speakers of English comprehend familiar multi-word expressions used ironically? [Colloquium presentation]. Annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Denver, Colorado, United States.
Chan, N. C. L., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Skalicky, S. (2025, February 19-21). How do L1 and L2 speakers of English comprehend familiar English phrases used ironically? [Paper presentation]. Thirty-first annual conference of the Australasian Humour Studies Network, Adelaide, Australia.
Skalicky, S., Chan, N. C. L., & Pramastiwi, P. (2024, July 17-19). Assessing comprehension of satirical discourse through one-word descriptions: Can less be more? [Paper presentation]. 2024 Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse. Chicago, USA.
Skalicky, S., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Chan, N. C. L. (2024, February 7-9). Extending the psycholinguistic study of verbal irony to second-language contexts [Paper presentation]. Thirtieth annual conference of the Australasian Humour Studies Network, Brisbane, Australia.
Chan, N. C. L. (2023, April 14). Creative instances of Formulaic Language in ESL teaching and learning – The case of [V the N out of NP] construction [Invited guest lecture]. International Language Education Forum for MA program in International Language Education. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong.
Chan, K. L. R., & Chan, N. C. L. (2022, August 5-7). Preliminary study on conflations in Hong Kong English [Paper presentation]. Twentieth AsiaTEFL – Sixty-eighth TEFLIN – Fifth iNELTAL conference, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia.
Chan, N. C. L. (2022, June 30 – July 2). Grammar “bores the crap out of me!”: A mixed-method study of the “X the Y out of Z” construction and its usage by ESL and ENL speakers [Paper presentation]. Ninth International Conference on Grammar & Corpora 2022, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Chan, N. C. L. (2021, December 10-12). Grammar “bores the crap out of me!”: A mixed-method study on the XTYOFZ construction and its usage by ESL and ENL speakers [Paper presentation]. Sixth Asian Junior Linguistics Conference, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
Chan, N. C. L. (2021, June 18-19). Grammar “bores the crap out of me!”: A mixed-method study on the XTYOFZ construction and its usage by ESL and ENL speakers [Paper presentation]. Postgraduate Research Symposium on Linguistics, Language, and Speech 2021, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.