When the teacher pushes the right buttons, effective interaction emerges

A paramount feature of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is the promotion of student interaction, which is essential to developing communicative competence in the foreign language within content-rich contexts. For this reason, the use of specific teacher strategies, such as making input comprehensible, selecting effective types of questions, and facilitating interaction through supportive talk, is crucial. This article has a twofold aim: (1) to examine how in-service teachers, enrolled in a two-year long CLIL professional development program offered by the Catalan Ministry of Education, use interactional strategies in the classroom, and (2) to explore how CLIL students respond to teachers’ use of these strategies. The data were collected from 8 CLIL primary teachers and 2 CLIL secondary teachers during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years through video recordings of classroom practice. While no quantitative claims can be made, the analysis of selected excerpts reveals that teachers make consistent use of strategies that support classroom interaction and learner engagement, and that students respond positively by participating more actively in the co-construction of meaning. These findings provide insights into how strategic classroom discourse can support language learning in CLIL settings.