“A relaxed time together with my child” : A qualitative study of parents’ thoughts about reading aloud

The aim of this thesis is to describe the thoughts and attitudes that parents have regarding reading aloud. In today’s society the positive effects of reading aloud are often pointed at and in the perspective of the new learning theories I found the issue even more interesting.The two main questions posed are: How do the parents describe the practice of reading aloud?Is the parents’ life situation and background visible in their descriptions and in that case how does it show in their thoughts about reading aloud?The theoretical perspective of the thesis is sociocultural and can be divided into two themes. The first theme concerns the learning process that can be the result of reading aloud and the second theme focuses on social aspects. The results of the study show that parents think that reading aloud is valuable and positive. Reasons mentioned for reading aloud are relaxation, being together, language and fantasy stimulation. Most of the parents think that conversation and discussion are an important part of the reading aloud situation. The social life that the parents are a part of seems to be reflected in their attitudes and ways of discussing the issue of reading aloud.Uppsatsnivå: