This article aims to identify and describe how participants in a focus group interaction co-build alignment around shared values and experiences as heritage learners of Mapudungun (Don, 2019; White, 2003; 2010; 2021). Specific attention is paid to how bonds (Knight, 2010; 2013) mapped by resources from the ENGAGEMENT system are negotiated throughout the conversation (Martin, 1992; Ventola, 1979). We adhere to the socio-semiotic perspective postulated by Halliday (1994) and Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) to approach the construing of individual and collective textual identity connected to learning Mapudungun by participants in a focus group. Our findings show that participants’ positioning acts instantiated in patterns of engagement meanings contribute to building axiological alignment around the relevance of Mapudungun for their future teaching professions and their discovery of a new way of perceiving the world through learning the language.