ACCOMMODATION STRATEGIES IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Abstract

The paper examines accommodation strategies adopted by speakers in their interactions. In oral discourse, the speech of speakers is often similar to the speech pattern of their addressees or they differ from it. The process is referred to as speech accommodation. A speaker is said to converge to the speech of the addressee if the speech is similar or to diverge when it is away from it. Many factors motivate accommodation. A person can be induced or can induce another to judge him or her more favourably by reducing differences between the two done possibly to gain social approval. This is convergence behaviour. Conversely, if a person desired to be judged less favourably, the shift in behaviour will be away from the behaviour of the person or others. A desire to get on well with others and make them comfortable is another. Using Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People, this study seeks to identify the accommodation strategies adopted by the characters and the motivations for the strategies. It also seeks to determine the impacts on the behaviour of the interlocutors. To achieve these objectives, eight sample excerpts purposively selected from the text were used as data. Findings revealed that convergent and divergent strategies identified were mainly motivated by topic under discussion, a desire to get on well with others and make them comfortable, the topic under discussion, the setting and a desire to be judged less favourably informed by social distance. In conclusion, convergence accommodation strategy adopted by the interlocutors strengthened their solidarity and cordial relationship while divergence strategy encouraged ill-feelings.