'What are they saying to me?': Perceptions of Accommodation and Nonaccommodation of Spanish-speaking Latin American Immigrants in the Canadian Workplace.

Guided by Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT; Giles et al. 1987), this qualitative study documents the perceptions of Spanish-speaking Latin American immigrants regarding the communicative behaviors that native speakers make when interacting with them in the Canadian workplace. The findings of this phenomenological study resulted from a thematic analysis of 24 semi-structured interviews. Participants gave their accounts of those communicative behaviors by native speakers that they considered helpful to facilitate interactions and enhance their relations (accommodation). Participants also shared examples of nonaccommodative instances where they perceived that their native-speaking peers did not adjust or sufficiently adjust their communicative behaviors (underaccommodation) or engaged in a communicative behaviour that went beyond what was necessary for the interaction (overaccommodation). Based on these findings, this study offers insights into those behaviors and practices that could contribute to constructive interactions between nonnative and native speakers in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]