THE CAT? communication accommodation theory.

THE CAT? communication accommodation theory.
 Why on purpose would you distance yourself from another speaker?


We are aware in some way or another that our speech changes when we speak to different people, for example we speak slower to a foreign person.
Explaining why we do this was developed by Howard Giles in the 1970's. He developed a theory called the communication Accommodation theory, or more commonly known by linguists as the CAT.  The CAT describes how we speak to people to accommodate the way in which we speak to each other to style the listener. We can change our accent, rates and the types of words we use.

To make this as simple as possible, speech accommodation theory is broken down into two main elements, these are Convergence and Divergence.
Convergence is when we change our speech similar to that of the other speaker. We shift our speech so they resemble more like those we are speaking to. For example when speaking to a child, we are aware that when speaking to a child we use simplified constructions and do not use complex sentences, this information is from a AS level website by Beth Kemp, we can do this by changing the pitch of our speaking voice. Another example of convergence is when an informal person speaks to a person with a formal voice, the voice of the informal will become more formal.

Downward convergence is not as popular as upward convergence; this is when you would change your speaking voice to accommodate a larger group. For example if you were a formal speaking person and you started working in an office of non formal speaking people, you would tone town your speaking voice to accommodate the others and fit in more, which relates to Giles theory of why we do this being 'Similarity-Attraction', so we appear more attractive to the others - making it easier to fit in.

Upward speaking is more common, although similar. Upward convergence is when a individual changes the way they speak to accommodate another individual. For example a person interviews someone with a very strong Scottish accent, the Scottish person will tone down their accent to accommodate the other speaker.

Divergence can occur unconsciously or consciously. Divergence is when the speaker exaggerates their accent maybe to assert regional loyalty or speaks in a more formal voice to assert power. When this happens consciously its more interesting, this is because it makes you wonder why the speaker feels the need to change their speech. Why on purpose would you distance yourself from another speaker? This is a question that linguists struggle with. Is this because of asserting power, regional loyalty, or is the speaker feeling unsure about themselves.

Howard Giles has come up with four theories of why speakers may do this, The first being 'Similarity-Attraction' this simply means that the more similar we sound like the person we are speaking to the more chance of attraction.  The second theory is 'Social Exchange Process', this is when a regional person with a strong accent will tone down their accent, like previously mentioned, therefore when speaking know to speak with the option that will have the best possible outcome, for example the Scottish job interview, with a very strong Scottish accent in London for example would not work in his favour and therefore possibly unconsciously uses the social exchange process.
The other types of theories to explain this include 'Causal Attribution Process' and 'Process of Intergroup Distinctiveness 'that are a little harder to understand, where the speaker assesses the other speakers speech and behavior to respond off that, and that we change our speech to differentiate ourselves from other social groups.

No matter how hard you could try, speech will always change dependent on who you are speaking too, so next time you hear a conversation taking place, take a listen and see what you notice.  

Lauren Minshall.