Learning Languages, Being Social

Setting the scene: Informal language learning and socialization in additional languages

Susanne Mohr

Lindsay Ferrara

1.1 At the crossroads of anthropological linguistics and additional language learning

Anthropological linguistics or linguistic anthropology¹ aims to “examine the ways in which and the extent to which cultural aspects affect cross-linguistic diversity and language change” (Nassenstein and Völkel 2022: 3). Language is indeed an important part of culture, and cultural-historical factors impact cross-linguistic variation considerably (Enfield, Kockelman, and Sidnell 2014; Nassenstein and Völkel 2022). Culture and language are hence closely intertwined, even inseparable. This is especially evident in the phenomena examined ...