The present study sought to demonstrate the importance that the shaping of learner contributions has in the provision of opportunities for participation and learning in the EFL classroom. A particular set of interactional features that can shape learners' utterances were examined: scaffolding, requests for clarification and confirmation checks. These features have been found to promote language participation and learning from a classroom discourse perspective (Walsh, 2002; Walsh and Li, 2013; Can Daskin, 2014). The study was also informed by the sociocultural concept of learning as a social affair that is achieved through participation (Lantolf, 2000; Donate, 2000; Mondada & Pekarek, 2004). A Conversation Analysis (CA) methodology was used to analyse two extracts collected in EFL classrooms at a language institute in Santiago, Chile. Findings suggested that when teachers shape their learners' contributions by means of scaffolding, clarification requests and confirmation checks in a pedagogical environment that promotes conversation, participation and learning will likely be enhanced.