Abstract
This study analyzes interaction in a primary school science classroom. We compare the verbal scaffolding
strategies used by a teacher during lessons from the same instructional unit taught in CLIL (English) and regular (Spanish)
contexts. Results show that although there was no difference in the amount of information (‘content’) made available to students
through the interactions, different verbal strategies were used (precision, justification and
recall were more frequent in Spanish and exemplification in English) and that students were
more active in engaging with science knowledge in the Spanish context. We discuss these findings in relation to the level of
abstraction the teacher supported in interacting about science in the regular session, with implications for supporting children
in learning both content and language in CLIL contexts.
Validation of the single-items Spanish-School Science Attitude Survey (S-SSAS) for elementary education
