Communication accommodation theory: Past accomplishments, current trends, and future prospects

Abstract

This Special Issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of communication accommodation theory (CAT) in 2023, formerly known as speech accommodation theory. This article reflects on the diversity of CAT research as seen in recent studies (2021–2023) as well as the empirical papers to follow in this Special Issue. It provides an overview of CAT's history by reference to previously suggested stages in the evolution of research, with many updates to stages therein, demonstrating the theory's cross-disciplinary influences across many applied social contexts, diverse social groups, languages and cultures, and other communicative features. Next, we overview burgeoning recent research in computer-mediated and human-machine interactions that leads to the identification of a seventh stage of CAT and an agenda of research questions for future work suggested by it. In conclusion, we propose a refined and expanded set of Principles of Accommodation.