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Language Teaching for Young Learners: Online-First Articles

“It’s a teacher’s dream to have something this engaging”

English picturebook read-alouds in upper primary school

| Stockholm University,
Scholars in the field of primary English teaching advocate the use of authentic picturebooks, for reasons related to language development and more holistic goals of primary education. Picturebook read-alouds facilitate joint meaning-making and interactions around interesting content that motivate young learners to learn about themselves and others. Nevertheless, picturebooks are rarely used in early English instruction. To address this discrepancy, the current study illuminates the perspectives of primary teachers of English and their experiences of picturebook read-alouds. Three teachers, who were not used to working with authentic multimodal narratives in class, chose two titles each to use with their respective groups in school year 5 in Sweden, with learners aged 11/12. Interviews were conducted after each read-aloud. Findings reveal that the teachers were positive about the potential of picturebook read-alouds, and the analysis generated four categories illustrating these benefits: (1) learner engagement and motivation, (2) authenticity, (3) catering to various needs in mixed-ability groups, and (4) target language learning and use. Issues related to classroom management and control were also addressed. The findings offer valuable insight into the potential of picturebook read-alouds, and carry implications for the advancement of pedagogy in early language education.
Keywords: picturebooks, picturebook read-alouds, classroom interaction, English for young learners, authentic materials
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1The potential of picturebooks in PELT
    • 2.2Teacher perspectives on using picturebooks in PELT
    • 2.3Teacher cognition
    • 2.4The Swedish context
  • 3.The study
    • 3.1Aim
    • 3.2Participants, materials, and context
    • 3.3Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Initial hopes and concerns
    • 4.2Engagement and motivation
    • 4.3Authenticity
    • 4.4Mixed-ability groups
    • 4.5TL learning and use
    • 4.6Teachers’ insights and advice
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
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