Booktalks in first grade : A qualitative study about conversational genres

The study is based on qualitative research which aimed to show how four teachers interact in book talks with the students i connection with Swedish lessons in first grade. The study has focused on teachers´ questions to analyze the types of conversational genres that arise in connection with book talks in first grade. Data was collected through interviews and observations. The interviews and observations were made at a school in the county of Stockholm. Four teachers´ Swedish lessons were observed and they were interviewed about how they describe and explain their use of book talks in Swedish lessons. Hultin´s categorization for speech genres and rhetorical and non-rhetorical questions´ (2006) served as main theoretical frameworks for analyzing the empirical material. From the interviews, I have come to the conclusion that the teachers are aware of different speech genres, and they use rhetorical and non-rhetorical questions for different purposes. The results of the study show that, depending on their purpose with book talk, teachers use different conversational genres. The reults of the study show that a conversational genre dominated in the book talks that were examined but they also showed elements of other genres to a certain extent. It appears that two conversational genres were dominant in the teaching of teachers, that is, the teaching examination and the text oriented talk. On the other hand the culturally oriented talk and the informal book talk only appeared as compliments to the dominant genres. The study shows that teachers´ awareness of these genres is of great importance for developing the pupils´ reflective minds and skills.