The Impact of Interpersonal and Intergroup Communication Accommodation on Perceptions of Chinese Students in Australia

Abstract

Using the framework of communication accommodation theory, the authors examined convergence and maintenance on evaluations of Chinese and Australian students. In Study 1, Australian students judged interactions between an Anglo-Australian and another interactant who either maintained his or converged in speech style. Results indicated that participants were aware of convergence but that speaker ethnicity (Anglo-Australian, Chinese Australian, or Chinese national) was a stronger influence on evaluations and future intentions to interact with the speaker In Study 2, Australian students judged Chinese speakers who maintained communication style or converged on interpersonal speech markers, intergroup markers, or both types of markers. Results indicated that the more participants defined themselves in intergroup terms, the more positively they judged intergroup convergence relative to interpersonal convergence and maintenance. This points to the importance of distinguishing between convergence on interpersonal and intergroup speech markers, and underlines the role of individual differences in the evaluation of convergence.