Let me get this straight. Someone says your Japanese is good and you reply "ieie, sukoshi WA dekimasu," right? I think people are supposed to laugh, as a courtesy, because what you're saying is "Oh, I DO speak a little." meaning, "Hey, you might be praising my Japanese as a compliment, but I do really speak it well, you know."
When someone replies to you like that, you're supposed to laugh as to imply, "Whoa, excuse my underestimation!" or as to imply, "Hey, you're doing good, man, you're doing good."
If you want them to take you more seriously, then you'd expect them to frown and say, "Hey, don't be so arrogant!"
If you wish to say, "Oh no, I only speak a little." you're supposed to say, "ieie, sukoshi shika dekimasen." or "iyaa, sukoshi dake dekimasu." or beginners in the language might simply say, "sukoshi dekimasu." These are all lame boring expressions, so they probably won't laugh but just smile.
Plus, by saying, "ieie" or "(sukoshi) wa (dekimasu" you're already implying that your Japanese is good enough to use cunning expressions as that, so of course, people would try to share a good laugh with you by implying, "Wow, your Japanese is better than I thought!"
I know you weren't asking about this specific Japanese expression, but those were the things that instantly came to my mind. If you can give us other examples, maybe we can analyse the situation in a better way.
Hope it helps.
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