Language accommodation strategies employed by Zambian and Chinese interactants at work places in Zambia

This article focuses on the language accommodation strategies used during interactions between the Zambian citizens and their Chinese counterparts working and living in Zambia. Available literature shows that very few studies have been undertaken on this subject. In this regard, this study sought to find out how the Chinese immigrants and their Zambian hosts managed to communicate despite language barriers. The study was guided by Giles’ Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Respondents included Zambians, between the age of 30 and 50 years, who worked and lived with Chinese migrants of the same age brackets. Conversations between the two groups were recorded, transcribed and then analysed. The most prominent accommodation strategies discovered were: accent mobility, the use of simplified words, change of diction, reduplication, the use of the base form of the verb and foreigner talk (baby talk). The results of the sudy have established that the strategies used are consistent with most studies done on language accommodation strategies elsewhere. However, unlike most host communities that expect the migrants to learn the local language and do not put much effort into accommodating the migrants, Zambian citizens seemed to go out of their way to help migrants achieve communication through downward convergence.