Navigating between disorder and control

Challenges and choices when teaching reading strategies in the L1 classroom

Abstract

Conversations about texts are often presented in research as particularly beneficial to students' reading development, based on the argument that the opportunity to confront, discuss and negotiate different readings in the classroom enhances students' skills in engaging with texts. In this article we examine in detail the interplay between a teacher and her students when they talk about argumentative texts in a Swedish ninth grade classroom setting. In the analysis we combine a Conversational Analysis approach with reading theories that emphasize the he dialogical encounter between reader and text. Our result indicates the dual nature of the teaching perspective which sometimes involves conflicting aims. The teacher has to choose between intervening in response to student reactions that reflect emotional and stereotypical attitudes that may hinder a critical reading, or intervening to make use of and stimulate reactions that may lead to more critical readings. Thus, our study emphasizes that it is crucial that teachers are able to both manage the leadership in the complex classroom interaction, and to apply knowledge about reading processes and strategies that students get involved in when they discuss engaging texts in school.