Communication accommodation theory explains how people use language and nonverbal cues to enhance social similarity or difference. Matching, or changing one’s speaking style to match the listener’s, is used to build rapport. This theory can be used to observe social identities and team morale, but it lacks detail and specificity.
Communication accommodation theory is a social science or linguistic theory that contemplates why and how people use language and ancillary elements such as body language to enhance social similarity or difference. Experts consider this a spin-off of something called Speech Accommodation Theory and attributed to a University of California professor. This theory builds on previous research on the use of rhetoric or language in relation to an individual’s social identity.
Part of what is involved in communication accommodation theory has to do with what some simply call “matching.” Matching is the phenomenon where a speaker changes their speaking style to more closely match those used by the listener or listeners. This is often done involuntarily, without deliberation on the part of the speaker. Speakers might change the speed of their speech, their accent or their diction or choice of words, as well as gestures and other nonlinguistic behaviors.
The theory is that this type of matching is used to build rapport. Generally speaking, it’s easy to see how this sort of arrangement can make a listener feel more comfortable, especially if that person might struggle with a more diverse set of dialects or rhetorical methods. Some experts refer to the corresponding arrangement as a “chameleon effect” and theorize that these speakers may be trying to seek listener approval.
Within the general context of the Accommodation Theory of Communication, there is also the idea that people may unconsciously or deliberately choose a way of speaking that is dramatically different from that of a listener or listeners. Social scientists might posit that these individuals are trying to assert their identity in specific contexts. Watching this type of behavior in the workplace is an example of how social scientists might use communication accommodation theory to observe social identities in groups, the effects of hierarchies, or scientific evaluations of team morale or function.
As some critics of this theory point out, communication accommodation theory is extremely broad and lacks the kind of detail found in many other types of scientific ideas. As part of the application of social sciences to communication, the Communication Accommodation Theory contemplates a vast and subjective universe: the role of conversation in human thought. While it is possible for linguists or other academics to collect data on this type of social behavior, many consider it too generalized to produce specific results that can be used for concrete applications.
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