Thesis advisor: Jean M. Bartunek / This dissertation examines the knowledge translation from one professional community to another that has distinct priorities, values, and commutation styles: management academia to practice. More specifically, I examined knowledge translation in the form of converting peer-reviewed management research papers into practitioner-oriented research highlights. Drawing from archival and interview data, I conducted three interrelated empirical studies to investigate this phenomenon. In the first study, using the framework of Gatekeeping Theory (Lewin, 1947; Shoemaker, 1991), I examine the process and norms of how knowledge translators select from the vast amount of management research and decide which ones deserve to be translated toward practitioners. In the second study, I build on Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles, Coupland, & Coupland, 1991) to examine the processes, underlying motivations, and translation strategies of how knowledge translators conduct the knowledge conversion, especially how they manage the often conflicting demands between source knowledge producers and recipients of translated knowledge. In the third study, drawing on insights from the cross-cultural psychology literature, I examine how knowledge translators’ strategies may differ systematically when they write in two different languages toward audiences in two different cultures. This dissertation contributes to the knowledge translation literature, the academic-practitioner knowledge transfer literature, and the communication literature with insights on the micro-processes and strategies underlying knowledge translation, the generative tensions in this multi-party process, and the perceptions of and relationships between the academic and practitioner communities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

This dissertation is a theoretically driven empirical analysis of instructional communication in academic advising. It explores the effects of perceived advisor accommodation on advisee learning. Specifically, it examines whether academic advisors employ accommodation communication that influence affect, cognitive learning, and behavioral learning outcomes in advisees. Four hundred and seventeen students were asked to report on their perceptions of learning through an online cross-sectional survey that addressed communication accommodation strategies employed in the advisor/advisee experience. Results show that behavioral learning (measured by intentions) was significantly predicted by advisor inquiry of school-related content (β = .391, p < .01); advisor attentiveness (β = -.169, p < .01); affect toward advising content (β = .154, p < .01); and cognitive knowledge (β = .244, p < .01)].

Although social psychologists have made important strides towards understanding the effects of stigma on both individuals’ behaviours and their relationships with non-stigmatized groups, language patterns within this domain have largely been ignored. This thesis aims to address this gap by investigating the role that language patterns play in shaping the relationship between native and non-native speakers against the backdrop of an increasingly relevant context in which communicators with diverse language backgrounds interact: Immigration. Drawing on both communication accommodation theory (CAT) and intergroup contact theory, I investigate the processes by which language styles influence perceptions of both individuals and the groups they represent, as well as attempt to determine how language-based categorizations affect those whose language style deviates from majority group norms. Across six studies, I take the perspective of native speakers and demonstrate that perceptions of communicators based on their language are not uniform but are determined by factors including the style of language used and the speaker’s background. I then take the perspective of non-native speakers and, across two studies, show that negative perceptions of non-native accents can result in poorer interactions with the native speaking out-group as well as a reduced ability to comprehend and communicate in the host country’s language. In sum, the eight studies presented in this thesis demonstrate that perceptions related to one’s style of language can be detrimental to the relationship between native and non-native speakers and by extension host country natives and immigrants. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The aim of this project was to examine which factors are important in influencing communication between health professionals and patients. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) was the theoretical framework adopted in this project. CAT proposes that individuals are influenced by their personal and social identities and that, in many cases, it is an individual's group or social identity that is most salient in an interaction. The underlying theoretical assumption in this project was that communication between health professionals and patients is characterised by intergroup rather than interpersonal salience and convergent methodologies were used to test this proposition. In addition to CAT, the linguistic category model (LCM), which is also used to investigate individuals' perceptions of intergroup salience, was adopted to complement the findings derived from CAT. There were seven studies in this project. The first study described the methodology for obtaining the data set used in Part 1 of the thesis. Participants wrote retrospective descriptions of a satisfactory and unsatisfactory conversation with a hospital staff member which they had experienced as a hospital in-patient. Study 1 provided a profile of the participants. In Study 2 the stimuli were participants' written recollections of 69 unsatisfactory and 79 satisfactory conversations. The LCM was used to test for differences in participants' perceptions of differing levels of intergroup salience between the two types of descriptions. While intergroup bias was evident, the results were complex. In Study 3 a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the same data set was conducted. This study explored differences between patients' and health professionals' goals, sociolinguistic strategies, and the patients' descriptions of the health professionals across the two types of conversational descriptions. Results revealed differences in goals, strategies, and descriptions. In the descriptions of satisfactory conversations, participants reported goals concerning reassurance and developing relationships. These two goals were not evident in the descriptions of unsatisfactory conversations, where attending to role relations was of greater importance. Participants reported the use of different sociolinguistic strategies for themselves and for health professionals across the different conversation types, which indicated that, for reports of satisfactory conversations, participants viewed their interactions with health professionals as more personal and positive than in the unsatisfactory ones. Participants described the health professionals in their descriptions of satisfactory conversations in more undifferentiated terms than the health professionals in the descriptions of unsatisfactory ones. Study 4 comprised two parts. First, using the data set from Studies 2 and 3, a qualitative analysis was conducted which explored thematic differences between the descriptions of satisfactory and unsatisfactory conversations. This analysis indicated more interpersonal themes for the satisfactory interactions and more negative intergroup themes for the unsatisfactory ones. Second, 134 participants rated 16 exemplar descriptions from the data set on 13 items derived from CAT. In general, the exemplars of satisfactory descriptions were rated as containing accommodative use of discourse management, emotional expression, and interpersonal control strategies. Exemplars of the unsatisfactory interactions were rated as more overaccommodative or counteraccommodative on these strategies. Study 5 introduced Part 2 of the thesis and involved a second data set. The stimuli were real-time videotaped interactions between health professionals and patients. Participants rated 25 videotaped interactions on 28 questions developed to tap the intergroup and interpersonal salience of the interaction. Of these 25 interactions, participants rated seven as highly intergroup and seven as highly interpersonal. These 14 interactions formed the stimuli for the Study 6. In Study 6 an LCM analysis of these 14 videotaped interactions compared the intergroup with the interpersonally rated interactions for levels of intergroup bias. The interpersonally salient interactions suggested lower intergroup bias than did the intergroup ones. This and other findings from the LCM analysis are discussed. Study 7 used a CAT perspective to examine six of the 14 videotaped interactions used in Study 6. These six interactions represented three videotaped interactions that were rated as highly intergroup, and three that were rated as highly interpersonal.. Participants provided ratings on both interactants' strategies, and health professionals' goals. They also rated the interactions for outcome measures, including patient satisfaction, and effective communication. Results indicated that the interactions rated as interpersonally salient were perceived as attending to relationship needs and emotional needs. Generally the interpersonal interactions were also rated as providing a more satisfactory outcome than the intergroup interactions. Together the seven studies provide evidence that interactions between health professionals and patients are essentially intergroup interactions. However, such interactions have the potential to move through dimensions of high intergroup and high interpersonal to dimensions of low intergroup and low interpersonal. Each pair of combinations provides different outcomes of communication effectiveness and satisfaction for the patient. Further, this research project demonstrates the ability of CAT to pick up on the dynamics of health provider and patient communication. It also highlights the usefulness of convergent methodologies to understand the complexities of patient and health professional interactions.

Master of Science / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / Peter J. Tomlinson / The purpose of this study was to determine specific communication accommodations used by county agricultural and natural resource agents/educators when discussing complex, scientific topics like climate change. Four research objectives were used to determine 1) background and experience of agents/educators, 2) how agents/educators are communicating on complex, scientific topics, 3) climate-change information received and preferred method of receiving future training, and 4) agents’/educators’ communication adjustment. This study was guided by Communication Accommodation Theory to understand how agents/educators are adjusting their communication when speaking to producers with varying education levels, grammar usage, and seeking different types of climate information. This study utilized a mixed method, quantitative and qualitative, survey (n = 42). Extension in Kansas and Oklahoma had not publicized an organizational stance on climate change. Kansas agents and Oklahoma educators had access to climate-change information through a variety of internal and external sources. Agents/educators had a strong background in agriculture and varying ranges of experience in the position. The main communication channel producers utilized to contact agents/educators was the telephone (52.24%). Both states indicated they are conducting an average of five on-farm visits a month. Over half (25) of agents/educators indicated they had received some form of climate-change information since becoming an agent/educator. Agents/educators indicated they received this information from sources external to Extension in Kansas and Oklahoma. They also indicated future training should be interactive and close to home. This study found agents/educators are accommodating in their responses to agricultural producers’ requests for climate-change information, but also showed nonaccommodating tendencies. Agents/educators were viewed as nonaccommodating when they used improper grammar, improper email format, or told the producer there was no need for concern on their perceived climate issue. Agents/educators offered to make site visits to the producers’ field, referred to specialists, and worked to establish credibility. This study determined agents/educators have the background and information sources to adequately and effectively answer producers’ questions about climate change. It was determined the reason agents/educators do not want climate-change conversations is because of a lack of formal training on the matter, and they do not feel comfortable. This study recommends Extension provide communication and climate-change training for agents/educators. It also recommends agents/educators continue to conduct on-farm visits as they are vital to interpersonal communication with agricultural producers. Extension should take steps to reach a younger audience and help young people become involved in agriculture.

As increasing number of organizations are using virtual teams, communication scholars have started to pay more attention to these relatively new forms of work. Past studies explored interpersonal (i.e., trust, attraction) and group dynamics (i.e., conformity, subgrouping) in virtual teams. Despite the documented effects of interpersonal behaviors and social categories on virtual group dynamics, there is a substantial gap in how these two factors influence language use in virtual teams. To shed light on this neglected area of research, this dissertation examined how teammates’ interpersonal behaviors and social categories affected language use in virtual team collaborations. 164 participants interacted in four-person teams using a synchronous chat program. The age of participants ranged from 18 to 24. 58% of participants were female and 42% were male. Participants used Windows Live Messenger to complete Straus & McGrath’s (1994) decision making task. Upon completing the task, participants filled out social attraction and social identification scales to be used for manipulation checks. Decision making sessions for each group were saved and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program (LIWC) was used to examine language use. Linguistic style accommodation was measured using language style matching (LSM) metric. LSM measured the degree to which group members used similar language patterns. It was calculated by averaging the absolute difference scores for nine function word categories generated by LIWC. Similarly, linguistic markers such as word counts, negations, assents, and pronouns were acquired through LIWC output. The results suggested that having a dissenting member in the group was associated with higher linguistic style accommodation compared to having an assenting member. This result contradicted with the assumptions of communication accommodation theory (Giles, Mulac, Bradac, & Johnson, 1987), yet provided evidence for the validity of minority influence theory (Moscovici, Lage, & Naffrechoux, 1969) in virtual teams. Unexpectedly, there was no significant effect of social categories on linguistic style accommodation. The results also showed that negative behaviors were strongly associated with increased word counts, negations and the second person singular pronouns, whereas positive behaviors were associated with increased use of assents, tentative language, first person plural and singular pronouns. / text

We have from our research, conducted in Guardamar del Segura, Spain, discovered that most of the communication between native Spaniards and immigrant Bulgarians is negative non-verbal communication which leads to a division between the two groups. The result of high unemployment and social stress, which the current situation in Spain provides, tend to create stronger ties inside the groups and at the same time enlarge the distance towards other groups. Also, the large amount of nonverbal communication such as observing each other’s behavior leads in this case to negative stereotyping and prejudices that creates and maintain the different group’s relations in the society.

Conversation is a highly interactive and coordinated effort between interactants. For example, interactants often mimic the behaviors and speech of one another and coordinate the timing of behaviors, or interactional synchrony. Despite being affected in certain neurological and psychiatric disorders, the neural mechanisms underlying these processes are not understood. The goal of this study is to understand the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), an area of the brain involved in social and emotional behavior, for interpersonal coordination, including mimicry and interactional synchrony. To test the role of the vmPFC for mimicry, normal comparison (NC), brain damaged comparison (BDC), and participants with vmPFC damage interacted in two sessions with a research assistant (RA) who was performing a target behavior (1st session: nodding, 2nd session: face touching). The amount of time the participants spent nodding or touching their face in each session was recorded. NC and BDC participants tended to mimic the partner and nodded slightly more in the session in which the RA was nodding, and touched their face slightly more in the session in which the RA was touching their face. In contrast, vmPFC patients showed no difference in their behaviors in either session, suggesting that they were not influenced by the partner's behaviors and did not mimic them. In a second experiment, all of the above participant groups had a naturalistic conversation with an unfamiliar interactional partner. The conversational data were analyzed for numerous aspects of interpersonal coordination, including convergence of number of words, words per turn and backchannels, reciprocity of self-disclosures, the use of questions, interactional synchrony, and a time series analysis of response latency and speech rate. The vmPFC participants performed consistently worse than NC participants on convergence of words and words per turn, self-disclosures and asking questions. All brain-damaged participants were impaired on aspects of interactional synchrony, and no conclusive results were found for the time series analysis of response latency and speech rate. This study provides support for the hypothesis that the vmPFC is important for interpersonal coordination as the vmPFC group differed significantly from the NC group on the majority of the analyses. The final goal of this study was to understand the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on interpersonal coordination. TBI patients participated in all of the experiments described above and preliminary results showed that they also seemed to be impaired on the mimicry task, and they performed slightly worse than NC participants on many of the interpersonal coordination analyses of the conversational data. This suggests that TBI also does seem to affect certain aspects of interpersonal coordination.

This dissertation examined the relationship between language diversity and the implementation of on-the-job training programs. Using India as the empirical context, I conducted a multi-case study research, which involved semi-structured interviews and direct observations in the headquarters of two Indian multinational enterprises. Drawing from social identity theory, I first examined the factors that influence the emergence and transformation of two types of language -based clusters, coping clusters and clusters of convenience. The two types of clusters display distinct mechanisms related to arousal, ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias, which questions one of the key assumptions of social identity theory related to the role of affect. Additionally, I found that language diversity can create cognitive discomfort for training recipients, and emotional anxiety for both training facilitators and recipients. However, training recipients, training facilitators, and the executive management, (i.e., the firm) can utilize certain language accommodation approaches that can reduce the emotional and cognitive discomfort experienced by employees. Using communication accommodation theory, I discuss that the influence of each language accommodation approach depends on its source and time of implementation. As well, language -based clusters can facilitate the exchange of interpersonal information during on-the-job training programs. The emergent findings also suggest that linguistic identity seldom operates in isolation. It often intersects with other dimensions of social identity, specifically, the status differentials attached to gender, education and regional dialects. The findings have implications for research on language diversity and language management in international business, social identity theory and communication accommodation theory. / Graduate / 2022-08-22

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