This closing chapter summarises the findings of the study and explores their implications for research, policy and practice of bilingual education in Mozambique and beyond. More specifically, I explore three sets of considerations about the purpose and value of bilingual education, highlighting the role of this educational provision in social and cultural transformation. I also consider the potential contribution of this study for research, policy and practice of bilingual education. The last part of the chapter suggests a couple of research lines that can be pursued in future projects.

Purpose and Value of Bilingual Education

My aim in this book was to explore the purpose and value attributed to bilingual education by participants in Gwambeni and Bikwani. Drawing on epistemic perspectives of linguistic ethnography and critical, interpretive approaches to bilingual education, I focused on the analysis of the relationships between discourse practices in bilingual classrooms and institutional, local and societal discourses on multilingualism and multiculturalism.

The study points to three broad sets of considerations associated with the purpose and value of bilingual education in both research sites, and in Mozambique more generally: educational, socio-cultural and socio-economic considerations. The analysis suggests that, while in institutional discourse greater emphasis is placed on the educational value of bilingual education, the beneficiaries in the local communities focus more on its socio-cultural value. My analysis indicates that there is disagreement and lack of awareness about the socio-economic value of bilingual education, though some Mozambicans have already begun to consider the potential material and symbolic affordances associated with their multilingual resources.

Educational considerations

The evidence gathered indicates that the main official purpose of using local languages in education in Mozambique has been to facilitate pupils' learning, including the learning of Portuguese, in the first years of schooling. This claim is based on the analysis of policy documents, practitioners' accounts and also language practices in the classroom.