ABSTRACT This article is an afterword to the special issue on social-semiotic and systemic functional approaches to content and language-integrated learning in bilingual/multilingual education. It provides a conceptual overview of the contributions of each of the six articles. It highlights the theoretical pluralism which allows SFL to be combined with a range of other perspectives from applied linguistics and education, to throw light on content and language integration across a wide range of bilingual/multilingual education settings. In particular, the afterword focuses on how SFL and other compatible perspectives allow for a deeper understanding of content and language integration in three educational domains: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The afterword also highlights the potential of the use of SFL as a key part of the knowledge base for teachers in bilingual/multilingual education programmes, and suggests ways in which the findings from the studies can be incorporated in teacher education and professional development at each of the levels of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.