Accomodation Theory

Accommodation theory is a theory about how to adjust when communicating between speaker and
listener. In other words, it happens when people adjust their way of speaking to suit the people whom
they are talking to, who might differ in terms of the age gap, gender and also social roles.

As for effects, ways and problems in communication, including:

1. Speech Convergence

The meaning of speech convergence is the effect which the current talks, the listener can catch the
messages conveyed by the speaker. Converging towards the speech of another person is usually a polite
speech strategy. It implies that the addressee’s speech is acceptable and worth imitating.

To get the speech convergence, between speaker and listener must have shared the same knowledge.

Example: When P1 (speaker) spoke to P2 (listener) about "Mega mind". If P1 or P2 alone who has the
concept of Mega mind, then when speak about Mega mind, will not be convergence.

Another example is

 A travel agent who wants to gain her customer’s orders

 An interviewer who wants to gain his interviewee’s cooperation

2. Speakers Accommodate
Speakers Accommodate is the way speakers to match the language with the capability to whom
listener. So that the intended message or meaning that can be accepted by listener and missed
communication does not occur in the talks. So the speaker must be well-adjusted when
communicating with listener.
Example :
- When people simplify their vocabulary and grammar in talking to foreigners or children, to
make it easier for foreigners or children to understand and communicate with the people.
- in the state - a multilingual country, like Singapore, India or Zaire, with variations language,
people there choose a language that is comfortable to use when communicating with its
addressee.
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3. Speech Divergence
Speech divergence is the effect where when making conversation, the listener cannot grasp the
significance, meaning or message of the speaker. So there is no convergence of communication
in the conversation and lead to missed communication.
Example : - When the Arab nations issued an one of their oil product to the world not in English,
but in Arabic.

4. Accommodation Problems
There are several examples of problems in communication, including missed communication. Missed
communication is a situation where the message from the speaker can not be understand by the listener
for not having shared the same knowledge and concepts. If the case is not disconnected communication
occurs in the spoken conversation, the listener can ask the speaker directly. But if the case of incoherent
communication occurs in a written text for example when we read the book, the reader can try to find
the content of the message intended by the writer is to look for shared knowledge by searching on the
internet or reading books.