Booktalk Dilemmas: Teachers' organisation of pupils' reading

Abstract

The syllabus for mother tongue teaching in Sweden states that an essential goal is that pupils, in conversation with others, should be able to express feelings and thoughts evoked by literature. The present paper addresses how schools try to promote pupils' reading, examining authentic school-run booktalk conversations from a discursive approach. The data consists of video-recorded sessions with small groups of pupils in Grades 4-7. A series of booktalk dilemmas were identified. The so-called book clubs studied were aimed at promoting reading for pleasure. Yet, literary practices were, at times, transformed into calculating tasks, vocabulary lessons or reading aloud exercises. Another complication concerned the synchronising of the pupils' reading, which led to extensive negotiations on the part of teacher and pupils.