Convergence / Divergence / Accommodation Theory
In his theory of ‘accommodation’ regarding conversation, Giles suggested that conversational turns are aimed at ‘accommodating’ speakers’ needs to reduce social ‘distance’ caused by accent, dialect, etc. Thus, if we speak to someone with a strong accent, we will automatically begin to use a more accented speech pattern ourselves. This is called by Giles, convergence (i.e. moving speech nearer to that of the addressee, e.g. not using RP and moving to a more colloquial style = downward convergence); the reverse is called divergence (i.e. moving speech features away perhaps to suggest a power differential). (Howard Giles, 1973)
