This work investigates the relationship between the practice of
reading out-loud and the teaching and learning of reading in the
primary school. It argues that oral reading is a different practice
from reading silently and that it contributes to the construction
of a school reader in particular terms. Specifically it contributes
to the ways students understand reading and what it is to become a
reader in school. It adopts a sociocultural view of reading. Many
past studies of oral reading used psychological approaches that
ignored the historical, social, communicative and interactive
contexts of oral reading practices. This work investigates oral
reading practices from the perspectives of students, teachers and
the researcher. It describes oral reading practices in terms of the
pedagogies they maintain, the activities they build and the
identities they construct.
Jennifer Rennie is a senior lecturer at Monash University. Her significant research contributions are in the fields of Reading Instruction, Primary English Education and Indigenous literacies. Prior to working in higher education she was a primary school teacher in the Northern Territory.
