# data[].attributes.body
Communication Accommodation Theory is here defined as how people adjust their verbal or nonverbal behaviors after engaging in a communicative encounter (Dragojevic et. al, 2016). Based on cognitive motivation, which is to increase study efficiency and comprehension of each other, the teacher starts to make efforts to accommodate British students’ communication styles. In this clip, he adopts approximation strategies to demonstrate convergence by adjusting nonverbal behaviors toward his students (Dragojevic et. al, 2016). As shown in this picture, in this math class, the teacher introduces Chinese ring to the students and let them to find out how to untangle it. He abandons the original teacher-oriented format of standing apart from the students and presents but to sit at the table and talk with the classmates. Through this modification, he increases the use of eye contact and degree of proximity with his students consciously, which is more line with the communication preferences of British students. As a result, convergence elicits favorable evaluations: it narrows the distance between teacher and his students, increasing the interpersonal involvement and the teacher’s perceived attractiveness, students have more desire to talk to him in the class. Moreover, through these efforts, relational solidarity is built, students and teacher work together and seek for the solutions for Chinese ring, which makes this teaching activity go smoothly and effectively.

# data[].attributes.body
Education has played an important role in daily life and become a heated topic around the world. When students accept education from different countries and educational systems, both teachers and students need to explore suitable communicative methods.

# data[].attributes.body
The BBC decided to direct a documentary called Chinese School

In 2015 march, there was an educational experience at the British Bohunt School. Five Chinese teachers teach a temporary class of 50 students in Grade Three. Students were taught six subjects: mathematics, chemistry, ethics, English, Mandarin, and physical education. At the end of the four-week experiment, the Chinese class and the English class took the same exam to see the average score of three subjects (mathematics, chemistry, and Mandarin). Finally, the average score of every subject is higher than in the English classes, particularly mathematics has obvious advantages.

# data[].attributes.headline
3. Accommodation —-Marginalization and cognitive motive

# data[].attributes.subject
3. Accommodation —-Marginalization and cognitive motive

# data[].attributes.body
In the theory of accommodation, marginalization means that because of the lack of a relationship between language and cultural knowledge, when different groups of people want to interact with each other, they diminish trust and restrict (Holmes & Riddiford, 2009). In order to respond to the marginalization, the members of groups may turn to create their own forms of resistance in a humor and sarcasm way (Moody, 2019).In this video, the performance of the boy is a sign for himself to resist the Chinese teacher’s class. He tried to make the teacher give up on him and marginalize himself as an exception in the class.

In addition, the teachers who reprimanded the student and took away the kettle made him confused. The Chinese teacher may diverge from the boy, because of the different linguistic styles and cultural consensus rather than speak at high speed or with a lisp. The boy did not know why the teacher did that and how to respond to her. Therefore, the cognitive motive would be motivated. The reason is that communicative adjustment could be motivated by the desire to improve the efficiency of communication and adjust comprehension (Thakerar et al., 1982). Based on the same cognitive motive, the same linguistic style would improve the efficiency of communication and increase comprehension (Dragojevic et al., 2016).
In this case, we discuss marginalization and cognitive motive from the perspective of both teacher and student. When marginalization happens in a relationship, people would build cognitive motives and motivate accommodation theory to improve the efficiency of communication.

# data[].attributes.body
From the accommodation perspective,  people could adjust their behaviors after encountering the communicative interaction (Dragojevic et al ., 2016). In addition, in order to improve the efficiency of communication and comprehension, people would develop their cognitive motivation (Thakerar et al., 1982). However, at the beginning of the communication, some people may believe they cannot engage in the interaction and create their own way of sneering at themselves to marginalize themselves (Moody, 2019).

From the perspective of Revisiting Rapport Management， people would build a positive relationship of mutual trust to communicate with each other, which involves active listening, empathy, and adaptability to foster connections and facilitate effective interactions in various contexts (Spencer, 2010). In addition, people also need to analyze power to ensure how to connect with people who are from different backgrounds.

# data[].attributes.headline
6. Power and Marginality -- Positioning Theory

# data[].attributes.subject
6. Power and Marginality -- Positioning Theory

# data[].attributes.body
The positioning theory in analysing power and marginality indicates how individuals position themselves and others in conversations, and determine how individuals from different backgrounds understand and relate to each other (van & Harré, 1999).

In this scenario, the Chinese teacher imposes herself as an authority position with higher power in the classroom to lead students. Her anger shows students’ reactions do not meet her expectation to be quiet in the class. It is a dynamic process to show the power from her request to ask students to be quiet and then she displays her anger to students. But the students assume themselves as active learners to behave against the teacher which shows they are rejecting the teacher’s imposed positioning and assert their own type of power in defining the teaching method.

The power structure can be analysed by the discourse analysis caused by cultural differences of participants in the interaction. They both have their own cultural norms and cause misunderstanding (Fairclough, 1989). So the teacher feels she is not being respected and the students feel over strict. There is also the negotiation of identities occurring in this context while the teacher finds her cultural and professional identity is questioned in the new culture and the students might question their previous norms of the educational system (Debray & Spencer-Oatey, 2019).

# data[].attributes.body
1. How can educators and students better prepare for transcultural communication to prevent misunderstandings and create a supportive learning environment?

2. How has intercultural communication contributed to students' global cognitive skills and cultural sensitivity in education?

# data[].attributes.headline
5. Revisiting Rapport Management - Social rights and obligations

# data[].attributes.subject
5. Revisiting Rapport Management - Social rights and obligations

# data[].attributes.body
Definition：

Rapport management refers to the strategic communication and interpersonal skills employed to establish and maintain positive, trust-based relationships between individuals. It involves active listening, empathy, and adaptability to foster connections and facilitate effective interactions in various contexts, such as business, therapy, or personal relationships (Spencer, 2010).

# data[].attributes.body
In this clip, the maths teacher, conscientious and dedicated to improving his students, faces a classroom where students are distracted by cell phones, poker, and chatting. One student even brought a kettle to class to make tea. The teacher reprimanded the student for misbehavior, confiscated the kettle, and criticized him publicly in class, leading to the tense exchange captured in the clip.

In this case, we discuss social rights and obligations in revisiting rapport management from the perspective of the teacher and the student, respectively. Revisiting rapport is that people generally have some social rights according to their social rights. Behavior and then expect a response from the other person.

From the perspective of the tea-making student, culturally speaking, according to Spencer (2008), we feel offended, uncomfortable, and even angry when someone tries to force us to do something that we feel he has no right to ask. Out of this mentality, the student felt that his actions, such as being criticized in public as a student and having his kettle confiscated, had somehow devalued him. This made him angry and disgraced (Spencer, 2008), leading to his decision to leave the classroom.

From the maths teacher's perspective, why did the teacher confront the tea-brewing student so strongly? The class was disrespectful, with students not listening, using their phones, and playing cards. The confiscation of the student's water bottle triggered the teacher's outburst. These behaviors threatened the teacher, challenged his competence, and, to some extent, affected his professional image (Spencer, 2008). In a public setting, the tea-brewing student's decision to leave the classroom challenged the teacher's social rights, as noted by Spencer (2008).

# data[].attributes.body
Debray, C. & Spencer-Oatey, H. (2019). ‘On the same page?’: Marginalisation and positioning practices in intercultural teams. Journal of Pragmatics, 144, 15–28.

Dragojevic, M., Gasiorek, J., & Giles, H. (2016). Accommodative strategies as core of the theory. Communication accommodation theory: Negotiating personal relationships and social identities across contexts, 1(1), 36-59.

Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. Longma.

Holmes, J., & Riddiford, N. (2009). Talk at work: Interactional challenges for immigrants. Language for professional communication: Research, practice and training, 217-234.

Moody, S. J. (2019). Interculturality as social capital at work: The case of disagreements in American-Japanese interaction. Language in Society, 48(3), 377-402.

Spencer Oatey, H. (2008). Face, (im)politeness and rapport. In Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory (pp. 11–47). Bloomsbury.

Thakerar, J. N., Giles, H., & Cheshire, J. (1982). Psychological and linguistic parameters of speech accommodation theory. Advances in the social psychology of language, 205, 205-255.

Van Langenhove, L., & Harré, R. (1999). Introducing positioning theory. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory: Moral contexts of intentional action (pp. 14–31). Blackwell.