Interlocutor (linguistics)

Linguistic alignment is the idea that interlocutors involved in a conversation will re-use their partners' phrases for ease of understanding. This is a form of unconscious mimicry in order to facilitate communication. In task-oriented conversations, lexical alignment increased performance most when the interlocutors' shared vocabulary most directly related to the task at hand. In situations where a participant is primed by a recording, rather than a human interlocutor, they are less likely to exhibit linguistic alignment. This suggests that linguistic choices are influenced by the interlocutor's communicative intent. == Interlocutor interaction ==

According to Paul Grice, the behavior of interlocutors in ordinary conversation is governed by the cooperative principle. Interlocutors with different native languages Research has shown that interlocutors will match their language's complexity to their partner interlocutor's language ability. Studies have also shown that language-related misunderstandings in a conversation between a native interlocutor and a learner interlocutor are more likely to be resolved than between two non-native interlocutors. Interlocutors with different dialects of the same language When using dialectically ambiguous words, participants will take into account the dialect their interlocutor is using in order to deduce the most likely meaning. For instance, if a British English interlocutor says "flat," the addressee will likely assume they mean "apartment." ==See also==