Cristina Pardo Ballester, associate professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, recently published a chapter, Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI: Enhancing Spanish Language Learning through Humor Translation Strategies, in the book Researching Generative AI in Applied Linguistics published by Iowa State University Digital Press.
The chapter investigated how generative AI (GenAI) can support students in translating humor from Spanish to English, a task that is notoriously complex due to cultural nuance, wordplay, and the need to preserve the intended humorous effect. The problem addressed is that humor translation requires creative, context-sensitive adaptation, a process often time-consuming and challenging for students with limited experience. While GenAI offers linguistic and semantic suggestions, it often falls short in accurately capturing subtle cultural references or comic intent without precise user guidance. Many students initially struggled with crafting effective prompts and critically interpreting GenAI outputs, which sometimes resulted in humorless or inaccurate translations. Through contrastive analysis and the General Theory of Verbal Humor (Attardo, 2020), the study demonstrated that successful translations preserve script opposition and logical mechanisms while adapting language and cultural context to resonate with the target audience. GenAI played a central role as a creative scaffold, actively assisting students in exploring multiple humorous renderings, guided by dynamic equivalence (Nida, 1964) and communicative function (Baer, 2017). Findings suggest that when students develop sophisticated prompt engineering strategies and critical evaluation skills, GenAI becomes an indispensable and meaningful support in the nuanced process of humor translation.
The book was edited by Department of English faculty members Carol A. Chapelle, Gulbahar Beckett, and Bethany Gray.