ABSTRACT
Learning is a social process forged through interactions between people. Language is central to these interactions, allowing communication to flow, but, simultaneously, reinforcing societal power relations through linguistic ideologies. Dialogue is the art of forming concepts through working out the common meaning. Language is important for learning because it is the basis for social interactions in educational sites. Together, different people's linguistic contributions coalesce to form dialogues. Languages are therefore shaped by the environments in which they are used, both at a macro-societal level, but also in terms of more immediate, micro-social dynamics. It was unsurprising that language was used differently in classrooms at Rosemary Gardens High School (RGHS), amongst the Doodvenootskap and at Youth Amplified. At RGHS, Youth Amplified and amongst the Doodvenootskap, young people were exposed to forms of authoritative and internally persuasive discourse that affected how and whether they were drawn into dialogues.
