82 5 Chinese second language socialization Patricia A. Duff and Liam Doherty Introduction For nearly four decades, research has investigated how young children and other novices or newcomers within a new discourse community learn to use language according to local norms, expectations, and practices (Duff & Hornberger, 2008; Duranti, Ochs, & Schieffelin, 2012). Some of this research is framed as language socialization. As Ochs and Schieffelin (2012) put it, language socialization (LS) entails becoming “speakers of cultures” (p. 7), and not just speakers of languages. Indeed, learning to participate meaningfully in new groups and communities is very social and cultural, as well as being a challenging intellectual and linguistic process. It involves a combination of observation and experience, mentoring and instruction, feedback, experimentation and innovation. In this chapter we describe both linguistic and cultural aspects of LS, and examine how it differs from or complements traditional language acquisition research. We then review studies that adopt this approach, and suggest avenues for future research in Chinese second language socialization. Historical perspectives on language socialization Language socialization is both a theoretical and methodological approach to language development and acculturation. Much of the earlier research on LS, from the 1980s, focused on children’s learning and use of their first language (L1) at home, at school, and in the community (see reviews in Duff & Hornberger, 2008; Duff & May, 2017; Duranti, Ochs, & Schieffelin, 2012; Ochs & Schieffelin, 2008, 2012; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). That pioneering work was conducted by linguistic anthropologists, sociolinguists, and (psycho)linguists. Of original interest to researchers were the interactional “routines,” formulaic expressions, and stance- and affect-marking linguistic forms that peers and caregivers use to socialize children into pragmatically and culturally appropriate social participation in classrooms, on playgrounds, at the family dinner table, and in other interactional settings. In such settings, learners are typically encouraged to be polite and to display suitable forms of empathy for others (among other behavioural, moral, and ideological aspects of social life). If they do not comply with