Language and Culture: Socialisation in a Warlpiri Community

Abstract

This chapter discusses the context in which children acquire Warlpiri as a first language. Children learn not only the forms and structures of the language, but also what is appropriate in different situations. In discussing how children acquire a language and how they learn about appropriate behaviour in society, researchers often talk about language acquisition as one topic and socialisation as another. This assumes that the two are separate, but other researchers do not support this view. They argue that language is acquired through socialisation; the two are integral aspects of child development. This paper demonstrates the closeness of this linkage for one Aboriginal language, Warlpiri, but we can assume that it has been widespread throughout Aboriginal Australia and continues today.

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