Evaluating the Dynamics of Speech Accommodation: Evidence from Mixed-reality and Naturalistic L1-L2 Interactions

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In an increasingly global world, people in healthcare, education, and business progressively need to communicate with people whose primary language is not their own. Breakdowns in communication and trust can harm patient care, limit educational outcomes, and can be costly to businesses. In conversations where English is used as the common language, dominant English speakers often change their way of communicating to facilitate comprehension, a phenomenon described as communication accommodation. While research has documented these changes, very little is known about their impact on the listener, and more data is needed on the mechanisms by which accommodation facilitates rather than hinders communication. For instance, communication accommodation could either strengthen relationships or increase stress during interactions. This research project explores the dynamics of communication accommodation through several experiments. The aim is to advance basic knowledge on accommodation between dominant and non-dominant English speakers and to promote successful intercultural communication. A primary outcome of this research will be an educational training module that can be used to instruct future clinicians and other professionals on cross-language communication. Previous research on communication accommodation has predominantly relied on measuring how dominant speakers implement it. This project uses a virtual reality tool to capture conversational dynamics between dominant and non-dominant English speakers while controlling for variables such as speaker characteristics. For instance, the studies will control for the speaker's physical appearance and measure participants' implicit biases. A second experiment will examine the effectiveness of speech accommodation in a naturalistic setting by recording participants while they play a cooperative game. A third experiment will evaluate the perception of accommodative speech by measuring biophysiological stress in response to high or low accommodative interactions. In the context of a growing and understudied population of non-dominant English speakers, this project will inform best practices in communication strategies. These findings will apply to adults from a variety of linguistic backgrounds to better navigate healthcare and social interactions, with broader applications to civic life, academic success, and business.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.