Native speaker–non-native speaker interaction: More than one type of accommodation

Abstract

The leading studies in sociolinguistics and conversation analysis regarding the accommodation theory in an Italian context (Grassi, 2007; Orletti, 2000; Vietti, 2008) provided the source and inspiration for this study. Two fieldwork studies will be discussed, in which the two opposing purposes – convergence or divergence – that accommodation strategies can be used for, are clearly apparent. All data is in Italian and was taken from a corpus of spontaneous conversations between native speakers (NS) and non-native speakers (NNS), observed and recorded in the urban context of the city of Turin. This represents a typical case of interethnic communication, one where issues of multilingualism and multiculturalism come to the fore. Two contexts in particular will be examined: a formal one in which NS adults interact with NNS adults at a railway station information desk, and an informal one where NNS adolescents converse with both NNS adolescents and NS adults. In the latter, the accommodation strategies will primarily be related to phonetic segments with strong symbolic value; whereas in the former, multiple accommodation strategies are used, among which most frequently the management of the linguistic code and the use of prosodic aspects.