Interactional organization and pedagogic aims of reading aloud practices in L1 education

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the students' and teachers' activities of reading aloud as it occurs in and through interaction in L1-classrooms in the sixth grade with 12-year-old students. Our data consists of video-recorded classroom interaction in Finnish comprehensive schools. The method adopted is conversation analysis. This analysis encompasses read-alouds with reference to genre, source of the text and recipients' visual access or non-access to the text. According to our analysis, the reading aloud a text is used to create a shared reference point in classrooms in terms of allocating turns, emphasizing the importance of the content or ideology of the text, deepening the knowledge and motivation for learning, fostering writing skills, or merely to enjoy the text or to fill up lesson time. In the discussion we reflect on read-alouds as a pedagogical tool for developing literacy skills in a classroom setting.

Fight for focus: attention and agency in sight-translated interaction

“…CA on reading aloud practices in schools has shown that interaction and attention are affected by several elements, such as whether the pupils have the text in front of them and the degree to which the teacher coordinates via embodied resources and explications (Tainio & Slotte, 2017). Interpreters can coordinate attention strategically by using gaze and/or explicitly asking the listener if the speed is adequate or if the reading is understandable.…”

The Benefits of Reading Aloud for Children: A Review in EFL Context

“…Reading is one of the skills that can be integrated easily with any program in teaching English to young learners (Linse & Nunan, 2005) Reading aloud can be the simplest way for young learners to deliver the reading experience between the students and the teacher to introduce literacy skills (Barrentine, 1996). Many studies have argued the benefits of reading aloud for English students, especially young learners (Burkins & Croft, 2010;Mantei & Kervin, 2018;Pentimonti & Justice, 2010;Tainio & Slotte, 2017). Besides, experts have argued the importance of reading aloud as foundations for children's later language development (Hahn, 2002;Jacobs, 2016;Tarim, 2015).…”