Linguistic accommodation and identity negotiation in cross-cultural communication: a multimodal analysis of English as a contact language

This study explores how English functions as a linguistic contact zone in intercultural interactions, analyzing phonological, syntactic, and pragmatic adaptations shaped by cultural norms. Combining language contact theory (Thomason, 2001), communication accommodation theory (Giles, 1973), and corpus linguistics methodologies, it examines code-mixing patterns, prosodic adjustments, and politeness strategies in three contexts: ASEAN business meetings, African digital communication, and EU academic exchanges. Findings reveal the systematic linguistic hybridity that challenges native-speaker hegemony, advocating for a descriptive approach to English variants in global contexts.