31
Communication Accommodation
Theory of Howard Giles
A First Look at
Communication Theory
9th edition
Em Griffin
Andrew Ledbetter
Glenn Sparks
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
A Simple Notion Becomes a
Comprehensive Communication
Theory
Slide 2
Giles launched program of lab and field
research on speech accommodation
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When don’t we adjust our speech style?
What is our motive for not accommodating?
Is accommodation always conscious?
Do others accurately perceive our intent?
Do we adjust what we say, the way we say it?
What social consequences
exist for overaccommdating?
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
A Simple Notion Becomes a
Comprehensive Communication
Theory
Slide 3
Giles offered Communication
Accommodation Theory (CAT) as
“theory of intercultural communication
that actually attends to communication”
Accommodation – constant
movement toward and away from others
by changing communicative behavior
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 4
Communication
Accommodation Strategies
Convergence – strategy through which
you adapt communication behavior to
become more similar to another person
Adopt sound and cadence of other person
Talk in a way that is easier for the other
person to grasp what you are saying
Discourse management
Satisfy other person’s emotional needs
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 5
Communication Accommodation
Strategies
Divergence – strategy of
accentuating the difference
between yourself and another person
Divergence from the norm
Speakers may persist in their original
communication style regardless of the
other person or overaccomodate to
patronize other person
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 6
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Desire for social approval main
motivation for convergence
Does not explain why we frequently
communicate in a divergent way
Does not account for fact that we
often act as representative of a group
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 7
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Social identity – group memberships
and social categories that we
use to define who we are
Tajfel and Turner: motivational continuum
with personal identity on one end of the
scale and social identity at the other end
Communication will likely become
divergent because of their need to
emphasize their distinctiveness
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Social Identity Theory
GUY TASED IN A COURTROOM
Divergent communication motivated by a
need for distinctiveness
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 9
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Initial orientation – communicator’s
predisposition to focus on either their
individual identity or group identity
during a conversation
Collectivistic cultural context
• We-centered focus emphasizes similarity
and mutual concern within the culture
• Communication to outgroup often divergent
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 10
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Initial orientation (continued)
Distressing history
of interaction
• If previous interaction is
uncomfortable, competitive
or hostile, both interactants
will tend to ascribe outcome
to other person’s social identity
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 11
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Initial orientation (continued)
Stereotypes
• The more specific and negative images
people have of an outgroup, the more
likely they are to think in terms of social
identity and resort to divergent communication
Norms for treatment of groups
• Norms – expectations about behavior
that members of a community should
(or should not) occur in particular situations
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 12
Different Motivations for
Convergence and Divergence
Initial orientation (continued)
High group solidarity/
high group dependence
• Communicators have an initial
intergroup orientation when they
have strong identification with the
group and high dependence on it for
relational warmth and sense of worth
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Initial Orientation
BLACK WOMAN GETS TASED
Divergent communication motivated by
distressing history of interaction,
stereotypes and norms or expectations for
treatment
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 14
Critique: Enormous Scope
at the Cost of Clarity
Communication accommodation theory
morphed into a theory of enormous
scope
Explanation of data
Prediction of the future
Quantitative research
Practical utility
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 15
Critique: Enormous Scope
at the Cost of Clarity
CAT (continued)
Relative simplicity – “structure and
underlying terminology are not always
represented consistently in texts and
propositions” (Gallois, Ogay, and Giles)
Testable hypothesis – “the theory
as a whole probably cannot be
tested at one time” (Gallois and Giles)
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 16
Recipient Evaluation of
Convergence and Divergence
Listeners regard convergence as
positive and divergence as negative
It is not important how the
communicator converged or diverged,
but how the other perceived the
communicator’s behavior
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 17
Recipient Evaluation of
Convergence and Divergence
Objective versus
subjective accommodation
Disconnect between what
researchers observed and what
participants heard and saw
• Giles: one does not converge toward
(or diverge from) the actual speech
of the recipient, but toward (from) one’s
stereotype about the recipient’s speech”
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 18
Recipient Evaluation of
Convergence and Divergence
Attribution theory
Our response to others’ communication
hinges on the behavior we perceive and
the intention or motive we ascribe to them
for speaking that way
Attribution – perceptual process by
which we observe what people do and then
try to figure out their intent or disposition
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Slide 19
Recipient Evaluation of
Convergence and Divergence
Attribution theory (continued)
Listeners who interpret convergence
as a speaker’s desire to break
down cultural barriers react favorably
Benefits and costs to both
convergent and divergent strategies
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Communication Accomodation
Theory
“Why Do I Like/Dislike This
Person?”
The Accent Game
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distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Like/Dislike based on ….
Environment/context of speech
Status, physical environment, communication climate
Speaker’s speech style
Accent, formality, expressiveness
Speaker’s physical ability/competence
Content knowledge and motor skills
Speaker’s effort to communicate
Adaptation/compensation for all of the above
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Voice Only Perceptions
NORTH CAROLINA WOMAN
TEXAS MAN
TRINIDAD WOMAN
SCOTLAND MAN
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Voice and Image Perceptions
BARACK OBAMA
SARAH PALIN
DONALD TRUMP
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.