2.
Communication Accommodation Theory holds that we will adjust our communication styles when dealing with people of different cultures. We will use different language and different speaking styles depending on the audience of our speech. One particular example is with authority figures. Most people will speak to authority figures in a more formal way that they would to friends and even family members. The same is true in the workplace -- the setting embeds something formal in the setting, and that formality is then reflected in the speech the individual uses.
This phenomenon can also be viewed in a social setting. When an individual socializes with people of different groups, accommodation in speech is common. A good example the differences between conversation styles between social groups of people of one gender vs. interactions between members of groups...
Single-gender groups will not use accommodating language, but mixed-gender groups will often feature accommodating language.
Another example is when dealing with somebody whose English is not great. Often the native English speaker will simplify his or her speech to accommodate the other speaker's lack of fluency. The underlying assumption is that this accommodation is needed to ensure conversational fluidity, when in reality that might not be the case at all. At best, such accommodation still rests on the accuracy of one's assumption of the other speaker's ability. An extreme example of this type of accommodation is baby-talk, where apparently talking gibberish in a high-pitched voice is accommodating to a baby, so that the baby might understand better. If there's a word for pointless accommodating speech, that would be a good situation to apply it to.
