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

在一个日益全球化的世界里，医疗保健、教育和商业领域的人们越来越需要与母语不是他们自己的人进行交流。沟通和信任的中断可能会损害患者护理，限制教育成果，并可能对企业造成高昂的成本。在以英语为共同语言的对话中，英语占主导地位的人经常改变他们的沟通方式以促进理解，这种现象被称为沟通调节。虽然研究已经记录了这些变化，但对它们对听者的影响知之甚少，需要更多的数据来了解调节促进而不是阻碍沟通的机制。例如，沟通调节既可以加强关系，也可以增加互动过程中的压力。该研究项目通过几个实验探索沟通调节的动态。其目的是推进基础知识的调节之间的主导和非主导的英语发言者，并促进成功的跨文化交际。这项研究的主要成果将是一个教育培训模块，可用于指导未来的临床医生和其他专业人员进行跨语言交流。以往关于交际调节的研究主要依赖于测量主导语者如何实现它。本项目使用虚拟现实工具来捕捉主导语者和非主导语者之间的会话动态，同时控制诸如说话者特征等变量。例如，这些研究将控制说话者的外表，并衡量参与者的内隐偏见。第二个实验将通过记录参与者在玩合作游戏时的语音调节在自然环境中的有效性。第三个实验将通过测量响应于高或低重复性交互的生物生理应激来评估重复性言语的感知。在一个不断增长的和未充分研究的人口的非主要英语发言者的背景下，这个项目将告知沟通策略的最佳实践。这些发现将适用于来自不同语言背景的成年人，以更好地驾驭医疗保健和社会互动，并更广泛地应用于公民生活，学术成功和商业。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.