Communication Accommodation Theory Paper

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Communication accommodation theory and face-negotiation theory supply principles that guide actions while communicating with one another within a diverse community. The melting pot of the United States contains a deeply diverse community that these theories apply to every single person. In order to live in a communication stable nation we need to accommodate others with our behaviors, we need to evade conflict and let the Lord handle it. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be …show more content…

Accommodation is “the constant movement toward or away from others by changing your communicative behavior” (Griffin, 2012). Communication accommodation theory gives two accommodating strategies that illustrate the human tendency to adjust their behavior while interacting. Convergence “is a strategy by which you adapt your communication behavior in such a way as to become more similar to another person” (Griffin, 2012). This strategy can include speech pace, tone, pitch, and nonverbal behaviors. This type of accommodation is employed to match the receiver of a message in hopes of better being understood or to gaining approval. Divergence is another strategy that is “a communication strategy of accentuating the differences between your and another person” (Griffin, 2012). This is the contrast of convergence because this strategy allows people to retain their identity within the conversation. This tactic is often employed in debates or when people are expressing their differences. This theory helps to define how commutators adapt to one another which benefit the understanding of the dynamics of speech behavior. There is an underlying appreciation to accommodate people when conversing, with this method the message can be relayed …show more content…

This theory helps to recognize how the different cultures throughout the world respond to conflict when their face is at risk. This theory asserts that “specific verbal and nonverbal messages that help to maintain and restore face loss, and to uphold and honor face gain” (Griffin, 2012), is called facework. Your behaviors, actions, reactions, and messages are all a part of the facework concept. When a person’s identify is called into question it may lead to conflict and the face-negotiation theory explains the different ways people respond to conflict. Ting-Tommey, the theorist responsible for the face-negation theory has divided cultures into two groups, the collectivism and the individualism cultures; these are the different ways that members of the culture see themselves. Theorist Triandis believes that Japanese culture values community rather than self-identify whereas American culture values individualism. Thus, “Ting-Toomey built her theory around the foundational idea that people from collectivistic/high-context cultures are different in the way they manage face and conflict situations than individualistic/ low-context cultures” (Griffin, 2012). This theory emphasizes five conflict managing events that are used in response to situations where conflicts arise; they are avoiding, obliging,

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