Linguistic Accommodation

Accommodation is the process whereby a listener makes adjustments in response to behavior of the speaker. In the area of linguistics we might broadly label as theoretical pragmatics, within which we include much of formal semantics and philosophy of language, accommodation is the mechanism whereby hearers modify their representation of the conversational background so as to match assumptions that the speaker has made. The most pervasive type of accommodation involves presupposition, when a speaker takes some type of information for granted. Accommodation of presuppositions occurs when the listener adjusts their knowledge state in order to match the information that a speaker has presupposed. For example, if a speaker says, “I have to go pick up my sister from the airport,” there is a presupposition triggered that the speaker has a sister. If the listener is not already aware of the existence of the sister, they must accommodate this information by adjusting their information state accordingly. Two dominant approaches to modeling presupposition behavior have emerged in the past few decades, resulting in two broad understandings of accommodation. For a class of dynamic semantic theories, accommodation is a process that involves satisfaction in local contexts. On the other hand, a wave of research on presupposition as anaphora relies on a notion of accommodation as the creation of antecedents to enable anaphoric resolution that would otherwise fail. Within both understandings of accommodation, the particular mechanisms can also vary. Some accounts weigh the plausibility of material to be accommodated, some accounts weigh the alternative contexts within which material might be accommodated, and some weigh the amount of descriptive content contributed by the presupposition. Besides accommodation in theoretical pragmatics, a broader notion of accommodation is prominent in sociolinguistics, as well as further afield from linguistics in social psychology and anthropology. This notion includes not only the beliefs of the interlocutors, but also many other aspects of speech style and communicative behavior more generally. This literature primarily draws from communication accommodation theory (CAT), according to which a speaker adjusts their communicative behavior based on that of their interlocuter. Commonly, this adjustment involves mirroring, but interlocutors may also adjust to make differences salient rather than emphasizing similarity. While theoretical pragmatic and sociolinguistic accommodation are distinct notions with independent intellectual histories, presupposition accommodation can be seen as a special case of sociolinguistic accommodation. Both involve a hearer’s adjustment in response to a speaker. However, the former is more restrictive, concerning only adjustment to increase similarity, and only adjustment of aspects of what Lewis termed the conversational scoreboard, within which he includes the beliefs of the speaker and hearer.

Communicating across educational boundaries: accommodation patterns in adolescents’ online interactions

This paper studies linguistic accommodation patterns in a large corpus of private online conversations produced by Flemish secondary school students. We use Poisson models to examine whether the teenagers adjust their writing style depending on their interlocutor’s educational profile, while also taking into account the extent to which these adaptation patterns are influenced by the authors’ own educational background or by other aspects of their socio-demographic profiles. The corpus does reveal accommodation patterns, but the adjustments do not always mirror variation patterns related to educational profiles. While salient features like expressive markers seem to lead to pattern-matching, less salient features appear less prone to ‘adequate’ adjustment. Lack of familiarity with the online behavior of students from other educational tracks is a factor too, since online communication clearly proceeds primarily within ‘same-education’ networks. The focus on cross-educational communication is quite unique in this respect and highly relevant from a sociological perspective.

Pluricentric communication beyond the standard language paradigm: perceptions of linguistic accommodation between speakers from Argentina and Spain in a mobility context

Globalisation and late-modernity have brought profound socio-political, economic, cultural as well as linguistic transformations. An intensification of mobility and transnational migration around the globe has added a complexity to linguistic interactions and repertoires that can be better analysed with non-essentialist approaches. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to expand the research agenda on pluricentricity beyond the standard language paradigm, which is based on the western conceptualisation of languages as clearly definable and discrete entities. In this respect, we address pluricentricity from the speaker’s perspective as opposed to the traditional perspective focused on standard-setting centres and peripheries. In this article, we adopt a communicative-based perspective on pluricentricity and focus on the potential accommodation behaviour of Spanish speakers from Argentina and Spain in mobility contexts. We conducted 39 semi-structured interviews to access perceptions and attitudes regarding the possible negotiations of short-term convergent norms and the creation of a spontaneous translanguaging space. We assume that awareness of one’s own repertoire as well as tolerance towards the perceived markers of the respective interlocutors’ repertoire are necessary conditions for successful pluricentric communication.

Cross-Cultural Business Proposal Strategies In Practice

This study attempts to identify some best practices for developing and delivering business proposals in different cross-cultural environments. Interviewing seven international business people, analyzing proposal documents and reviewing relevant literature has resulted in the discovery of some commonalities in the proposal process, which do not line up with theoretical assertions in all cases. Findings suggest that business people appeal to potential clients and partners through methods of cultural and linguistic accommodation, and these strategies emerge informally through personal experience.

Cross-Cultural Business Proposal Strategies In Practice

This study attempts to identify some best practices for developing and delivering business proposals in different cross-cultural environments. Interviewing seven international business people, analyzing proposal documents and reviewing relevant literature has resulted in the discovery of some commonalities in the proposal process, which do not line up with theoretical assertions in all cases. Findings suggest that business people appeal to potential clients and partners through methods of cultural and linguistic accommodation, and these strategies emerge informally through personal experience.

“Oh, I don’t even know how to say this in Spanish”

In the absence of complex and diverse Latinx characters in entertainment media, film and television representations of Latinxs’ culture and language typically embody limiting and harmful stereotypes. However, the highly praised U.S.-based romantic comedy-drama “Jane the Virgin” offers a very different representation. With believable characters and complex linguistic dynamics, the show provides a positive and relatively realistic representation both of Latinxs across generations and of their linguistic repertoires as documented in community studies of Latinx language. Through an analysis of the linguistic practices of Latinx characters in “Jane the Virgin,” including patterns of intergenerational language shift, linguistic accommodation, and codeswitching, it is argued that the show acknowledges and treats as unmarked the linguistic complexity of Latinx families and communities. At the same time, the show oversimplifies this complexity in some ways, creating a representation that may be perceived as authentic despite its divergence from real-world Latinx language use.

Why to speak French to French speakers? Outgroup vitality, motivation and linguistic accommodation in the Aosta Valley

Using a communication accommodation theory framework, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between perceived French vitality, cognitive and affective motivations for convergence, French skills, and convergence to French speakers among a group of young Italian speakers in the Aosta-Valley, Italy. Questionnaire data were collected among secondary school students in the city of Aosta (N = 169). The findings indicated that perceived French vitality resulted in greater cognitive motivation for speaking French, which, in turn, led to an increased use of French with French speakers. Additionally, and contrary to expectations, cognitive motivation had a greater impact on actual language use among those who reported poor French skills than among those reporting good French skills. At the same time, and also contrary to expectations, affective motivation did not predict language choice. Findings and implications are discussed in relation the bilingual accommodation.

Federalism at the Crossroads: Crisis of the Linguistic Minorities in India

Polyglot federations face a challenge in reconciling between the national identities and regional identities. Demand for a second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) in India in 2015 by some groups bears testimony to this fact. On the question of political remapping in post-independence period, the constitutional ancestors sought to save India from another religious bigotry and the menace of casteism. The emergence of language as a viable alternative gained momentum in Nagpur session (1920) of the Indian National Congress (INC). But subsequent years encountered with a difficulty in adopting territorial solution for accommodating India’s multilingual identities. Pre-constitutional, extra-constitutional and constitutional arrangements have faced the challenge of linguistic accommodation. Dar Commission warned the risk of federal remapping with existing linguistic pocket corridors in the states. Inter-state migration has proliferated the problem over the years. Even the SRC could not provide adequate safeguards for large number of linguistic minorities living in all states (Kerala becomes exception with 97.03% linguistic majorities). There new minority emerged and accommodated but with limits. Census report of 2011 shows India having 19,569 languages which stood 1369 after linguistic scrutiny. Territorial machinations appear inadequate to satisfy all linguistic groups but only to incur huge expenditure. Indian federalism seems deficient in non-territorial power sharing which has succeeded in countries like Belgium in the form of Consociational representation. With its promise of inclusivity by means of a possible alternative it demands the attention of the policy makers as well as the academia.