Children’s voices in early years read-alouds
Background: Picture book read-alouds are a common practice in early childhood classrooms, yet little is known about how children’s voices are expressed and shaped in these settings.
Aim: This study examined how children’s voices were expressed, conditioned, and functioned during picture book read-aloud interactions in an early childhood classroom, using Lundy’s model of children’s voice and Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory as complementary frameworks.
Method/approach: An interpretive qualitative case study was conducted in a university-affiliated preschool in southeastern Türkiye. Two graduate teaching assistants self-recorded 16 read-aloud sessions over eight weeks with a class of 5–6-year-olds (10–15 children per session). All 3,095 utterance lines were coded using a hybrid system (inductive and deductive) across three themes: Voice Form, Voice Condition, and Voice Function. Ethical approval was granted by the Adıyaman University Social and Human Sciences Ethics Committee (approval no. 115, 02.10.2024). Written consent was obtained from teachers and parents, and verbal assent was obtained from children.
Results/findings: Children’s voices took 10 distinct forms during read-alouds; knowledge contribution, prediction, and personal connection were most frequent. Teacher invitations dominated interactional conditions, yet for every two instances of uptake, one led to closure or redirection, leaving children’s contributions without influence. Personal connection emerged predominantly under peer-mediated conditions rather than teacher prompting. Embodied voice, though least frequent, was the form most dependent on specific interactional conditions. Resistance was directed more often towards peers.
Conclusion: Children in read-aloud contexts are active, socially embedded meaning-makers whose voices are shaped as much by interactional conditions as by pedagogical design.
Implications for children and families: When you share books, and someone asks what you think, your ideas matter, even if the conversation moves on quickly. Your connections to stories, your predictions, and your experiences are all real and valuable contributions that deserve to be heard.
Implications for practitioners: When you invite children’s voices during read-alouds, consider whether your responses extend children’s thinking or close it down. Genuine participation requires not just creating space for children to speak, but allowing what they say to meaningfully influence what happens next.
Keywords: early literacy, reading, early childhood education
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: