Basil Bernstein began to develop his theory of social structure and power relations during the 1950s and 1960s. Early in the 1960s he met M. A. K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan, who were developing the first formulations of what would become known as systemic functional (SF) linguistic theory. A far-reaching dialogue began. Bernstein recognized the significant role that language plays in the construction of social experience and social inequality...