ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines a concept of learning language(s) founded within a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) description that concurs with other socially orientated descriptions of learning as dynamic, influenced by and instrumental in creating cultural, societal and interpersonal contexts. The chapter examines aspects of the linguistic repertoire and describes the ways in which it can be regarded as developing unique qualities and characteristics. It also suggests that learning language(s) is complex and is embedded within a nested hierarchy of contexts of influence that enable individuals to develop a uniquely personal linguistic biography, for themselves and that this is created in collaboration with others. The central tenet of SFL is the way in which interpersonal meaning enacts social relations, ideational meaning and naturalized material reality, and the ways in which textual meanings organize interpersonal meanings into coherent and relevant text or semiotic reality.
