What predicts Swedish teachers' disposition for text talk: A survey study

Abstract

The significance of reading comprehension can hardly be overestimated. Nevertheless, teachers vary in their disposition or willingness to teach reading comprehension. A wealth of field experimental studies have confirmed the importance of text talk, in class or in teacher-guided small groups, for students' reading comprehension. However, researchers have not yet fully explored what makes teachers practice text talk in the classroom. This study aimed to describe and predict teachers' disposition to practice text talk. The study posited two hypotheses based on professional development theory and social capital theory. The data came from a survey study of 320 Swedish teachers (of grades 1 to 12). The study used (a) item response estimation for measurement and (b) linear regression for analysis. It was found that attitudes towards professional development varied with disposition for text talk, on average, after adjusting for other predictors. It was furthermore found that social capital varied with disposition for text talk, on average, after adjusting for other predictors. The conclusion is that the data offer support for both teacher development theory and social capital theory.