Högläsning för äldre elever. En mötesplats för teori och praktik

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to theorize the function of teacher’s read-aloud in relation to the development of adolescent reading comprehension. We argue that this area in many ways is insufficiently researched in the Swedish context. Using international empirical research covering the effects of readaloud on pre-adolescent and adolescent learning as a starting point we recognize different views that paves the way for a theory of reading aloud. In our article we pinpoint the main advantages of reading aloud, and ask how these associate to each other and to the curriculum of secondary school, as well as to the need of the student in this particular stage of the educational system. Our conclusion is that the teacher’s readaloud procedure can be regarded as an exchanging of theoretical and practical knowledge. This exchange makes way for a special kind of meaningful and careful relationship between teacher and students in the classroom, at the same time as it invites the student to enter into a personal and careful and motivating dialog with the text as form and content.