Applicability Of CAT To Communication In Marriage And Family With Chinese Settings

Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) originates from Speech Accommodation Theory (SAT) and Ethnolinguistic Identity Theory (ELIT). CAT centers on how communicators adjust, modify or regulate one’s linguistic behavior in response to others. It Proposes that speakers use accommodation strategies, such as convergence, divergence or maintenance to seek approval, enhance comprehension or to show distinctiveness in inter-cultural communications. The theory explores to discover the motivations and results of people’s communication accommodation, and analyzes the relations among the communicators.Ever since Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) was developed in1971by Howard Giles, it has been cited again and again to analyze the communication problems among inter-cultural groups, be people from different nations, people with variant careers, or people of diverse age groups. In effect, the communication between male and female is inter-cultural as well, because they belong to two subcultures defined in the book Understanding Intercultural Communication. A subculture is a racial, ethnic, regional, economic, gender or social community exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distingusih it from others within an embracing culture or society (Stella, Ting-Toomey,&Chung, Leeva. C.2004). Thus, it leads the researcher of this thesis to probe into the question that whether CAT can be applied to communication between husbands and wives. What’s more, whether the theory that is not developed within the Chinese background is equally applicable to Chinese couples. The above-mentioned two points may also provide some suggestive insights to further communication studies between two genders.The thesis chooses Wen Li and Tong Zhi, the protagonists of the novel Golden Wedding, as the subjects of analysis. The common conflicts typical among Chinese couples are generalized into three categories-----parenting problems, the affection crisis in marriage, and relationship between in-laws. The author of the thesis endeavors to apply CAT to the cases and analyze the accommodations between husband and wife in the face of conflicts.Through the analysis of the cases in Golden Wedding, it indicates that CAT is applicable to the subjects in Chinese cultural milieu, and it can be incited to analyze accommodation in the marriage issue for Chinese spouses. In addition, the present thesis provides the future researchers with an insight to make an analysis based on real cases in everyday marriage life.