Discursive challenges in Portuguese as a medium of instruction in Natural Science classes in Mozambique [Desafios discursivos em Português como meio de instrução nas aulas de Ciências Naturais em Moçambique]

This study analyzes Portuguese discourse practices (L2) in 4th grade Science classroom of the Mozambican bilingual education program whose curriculum determines language separation pedagogy, maximum Portuguese exposure and mother tongue avoidance on post-transition grades. Basing on the lessons observation taught in mother tongue (L1) before transition and the ones taught in Portuguese (L2) after transition plus interviews to teachers, it was found out in the study that the students' low levels of proficiency in Portuguese hinders or reduce their effective participation and interaction during the lectures for the sake of the discursive patterns Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF). Alternatively, teachers exploit Safetalk as a discursive pattern to ensure the progress of the class without safeguarding the learning process. The study concludes that teachers teach in the light of curriculum-based pedagogies rather than bilingual pedagogy in which they were not trained. © 2020 Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. All rights reserved.