LINGUISTIC MEDIATION EFFECTS OF FOREIGN-LANGUAGE LEARNING ON POLITICAL IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOR
LINGUISTIC MEDIATION EFFECTS OF FOREIGN-LANGUAGE LEARNING ON POLITICAL IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOR

Summary/Abstract: In this article we conceptualize foreign-language learning as a structurally consequential form of linguistic mediation that shapes political identity and behavior across three analytical levels. Our goal is to set the research agenda beyond instrumental views of language acquisition by theorizing how language learning modulates political cognition and transformation. Our approach relies on an interdisciplinary synthesis of theories from Sociolinguistics, Political Psychology and Comparative Politics, grounded in qualitative analysis of three historical cases. From modernization through democratization and digital globalization, we demonstrate that FLL has subtle and powerful impacts altering cognitive processing and identity formation, with ambivalent implications for democratic participation and legitimacy. The principal contribution of our findings lies in advancing a mediation-based conceptualization of foreign-language learning as a political modulator rather than a neutral communication skill.

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