The aim of this study is to investigate teachers' ways of working with participation in English inprimary school and to contribute knowledge about which strategies teachers use to encouragestudents to participate. In order to explore the participants’ descriptions, a qualitative approachis used on semi-structured interviews with eight English teachers who teach in different primaryschools. National and international research was used in the background section in order toprovide a context to the present study. The results have been analysed with the help of atheoretical framework combining a sociocultural perspective, a differentiation perspective, andlanguage learning theories. From language learning theories, I use the following three concepts:“Condition-Oriented Ideas”, “Condition-Oriented Ideas” and “Top- Down Language-FocusedReasons”.The results of this study show that relations between teachers and students, students’motivation, materials that are customized to each student, and to have democratic in Englishlessons are very important to make students participate in the English lesson and communicatein English. There are some strategies to help teachers build a good relationship with students, toencourage them, and to make materials that are customized to each student. The results showthat teachers have to listen to students very carefully, and have to spend time with them to showthem that they care about them. Furthermore, teachers have to make activities that increasestudents’ motivation, and teachers have to know the level of each student because that makesteachers able to customize materials adapted to each student’s knowledge level. Each student isspecial in knowledge, experiences, and feelings.The conclusion of this study is that teachers have to find strategies to build good relationswith students. Teachers also have to find strategies to encourage students and to customizeteaching materials for the English lessons. The benefits of student participation are several,including a positive atmosphere in the English classes. In addition, the students achieve betterresults in English language