Att läsa bilder med kroppen: En studie om yngre förskolebarns kommunicerande

The aim of this study is to examine young pre-school children´s literacy with a focus on their communication about pictures. Based on the ethnographic method and video-recorded observations, this study demonstrates how young children communicate about pictures in various media. The results show that the body language used by young children in combination with various media pictures has a complex structure involving facial expressions, physical gestures and postures, which all contribute to making meaning. The study also focuses on pictures common in the pre-school environment. The results in this area show that the majority of such pictures feature animals, a circumstance that restricts the children’s meaning-making potential. Furthermore, the study pays attention to the variations in the balance of power among the children when they communicate about pictures in a book placed on the floor. The study concludes with a pedagogical discussion of teachers’ use of various media and language stimulation methods to promote literacy in the light of the finding that children use a more bodily-based method of communication.