ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book aims to put the other languages of England 'on the map'–that is, on the educational and political agenda, rather than on some kind of geographical map. It offers all readers the opportunity to reflect upon the implications of living in multilingual England, whose linguistic richness derives in large part from a colonial past, and from a particular political definition of contemporary economic needs. The book focuses on the formal teaching of minority languages, most of which still takes place outside the official school system. It also tries to convey to monolingual readers something of the intellectual and cultural richness of the world of the bilingual. The book develops different ways of looking at children's language use at home and in their locality, always within a framework of the social constraints on language choice.
