Blackwell Reference Online

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We constantly interact with people from different social groups to our own: cultures, ethnic groups, genders, ages, occupations, organizations, even clubs (→  Intercultural and Intergroup Communication ). We may wish to affiliate with another person or group, or to distinguish ourselves from them. We express this motivation through language and communication, and through our interpretation of others’ communication. The main communication dimensions considered here are intergroup (versus interpersonal) and accommodation (versus nonaccommodation). The main theory describing and explaining them is →  Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT: Giles 1973 ; see Gallois et al. 2005 , for a review). Interest in intergroup processes originated in cross-cultural communication studies by linguists, sociologists, and psychologists. Most people in the world speak two or more languages, many using different languages for different purposes ( diglossia ). Even monolingual people change accent or communication style in different social contexts. Language and style change to signal important group memberships. For example, a French–English bilingual in Canada may switch from English to French to signal the importance of being French Canadian, and may even refuse to speak English to an English Canadian. Other choices include changing accent, using more or less formal language, jargon or slang, ... log in or subscribe to read full text