BILINGUAL EDUCATION: ENABING CLASSROOM INTERACTION AND BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES IN MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

This article shows how the use of local languages for teaching and learning is enabling classroom interaction and contributing to bridge the gap between rural bilingual schools and pupil’s communities in Mozambique.

The evidence produced throughout the analysis is taken from my fieldwork experience as a researcher and evaluator of bilingual education policy and practice in Mozambique.  The analysis draws on sensitising constructs from the social constructivist approach to classroom discourse and pedagogy and from the funds of knowledge perspective on educational change and school improvement.

The conclusion of the study is that bilingual education is a transformative force in Mozambique. Among other things, classroom interactions and the dialogue between schools and community actors tend to be more effective and symmetrical.