While the two theories addressed different questions and employed very different methodologies, they nonetheless had a lot to say to each other. Both were concerned to explore the nature of social experience and, in the proces, to explore a great deal about the nature of social inequalities. Both in their different ways acknowledged the powerful role of language in the social construction of experience. It was, in fact, the latter theme, more than any other, which brought the two theories into dialogue. Bernstein early recognized the significant role that language played in socialization. Halliday and his colleagues were actively seeking a theory of language that helped explain the nature of the social.

This volume seeks to renew the dialogue between Bernstein's sociology and SF linguistic theory. It addresses questions to do with the pedagogic device and pedagogic discourse, notions of classification and framing, and coding orientations, among other things. The discussions demonstrate the role and significance of pedagogy in shaping consciousness. They also reveal the continuing relevance of both theories to each other.

'Eminently coherent and an important contribution to the field...should come just in time to ride the likely crest of interest in the contributions of functional linguistics to educational studies' Professor Jay Lemke, City University of New York