the one time when the mother used “both are same amma” (mother, in Sinhala and Tamil). What makes this fascinating is that the mother uses “amma”, an indicator for intimacy intertwined in a sentence constructed in English. Thus, she brings in a feature of metaphorical code switching as well, in a single communication episode. In terms of interactional strategies, a deeper look into the premise of accommodation (Gallois, Ogay, & Giles, 2005) and non-accommodation (Giles & Gasiorek, 2013) revealed the following results. During an observation in the CC branch, a customer who was very fluent in English switched to Sinhala ‘hari ne’ (I am right, aren’t I?) due to a staff member’s inability to sustain an English conversation. When the determined staff member switched back to English, the customer readjusted her level of language and started using simple phrases like “what’s this? Brown? Grey?” Here, the participants seemed to be aware of the language difficulty and were ready to employ strategies like simplification of language, speaking in short phrases and trying to match the language competency of the opposite party to make sure that the communication did not break down. Non-accommodative interactions, interestingly, stemmed from me, as the researcher observing at, WE branch with the expectation of encountering predominantly Tamil speaking customers. The moment I entered the store, I was greeted warmly by a Tamil speaking staff. When she asked me “Tea ennamaavathu kudikuringala miss?” (Would you like to have some tea or something miss?), my instantaneous reply was “No, thanks”. I surprised myself by responding to her in English. She was the only worker who spoke to me in Tamil, my first language, during the entire data collection process. This reply given in English, in retrospect, I believe is an example of non-accommodative behavior by showing divergence in order to maintain my status as the researcher. Indirect strategies are dissimilar to the other (direct and interactional) categories mentioned above because they are not meaning related. Instead, they function as a means of keeping the communication channels open so that mutual understanding is created between the interlocutors. Use of fillers or discourse markers that allow the speaker to think of the right language was used widely during the interview. This could also be an unconscious effort to mend any break in the conversation. In Ananth’s and Chitra’s, whose interviews were conducted in Tamil, fillers were evident in the conversation. Interestingly, they both used different Tamil words ‘vanthu’ (roughly translated as ‘like’) and ‘enna solrathu’ (what do I say) to gain time.

## CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A plethora of strategies was identified that were either directly or indirectly utilized to complete interactions. In general, the staff members were very conscious about what they said and how they said it. A key strategy that was used to compensate for language deficiency was code switching. It was employed whenever the content was related to their education, work and when the choice of interlocutors seemed to be prompting it. Another interesting dynamic was the way in which the staff moved from “we-code” to “they-code” while talking to different interlocutors simultaneously. Paying attention to others was absolutely essential for the staff as satisfying customers was their primary goal to perform well at work. The customers too were aware of language issues and seemed to adjust to the level of the interactants. When facing predicaments like insufficient vocabulary, lack of fluency or inability to form complete sentences, staff used stalling mechanisms that allowed them time to process and find a suitable or a replacement word or phrase that would ensure ceaseless conversation. It was also noticeable that these strategies were not used singly. Direct, indirect and interactional strategies were used flexibly, in combination with non-verbal behavior based on the situational requirements by all parties involved. This was done with the sole aim of achieving the goal of the conversation. Based on the observations and analysis of this research site recommendations for further development in pedagogy has been given. Educating the younger generation on communicative and functional aspects of language instead of merely concentrating on the theoretical or grammatical aspects will improve productivity at work. Following are some of the recommendations that could aid in creating an amicable work environment:

- 1. Designing industry specific course material which uses Communicative Language Teaching or Task Based Language Teaching.
- 2. Creating awareness of communication strategies and incorporating them in the curriculum.