The main contribution of this paper is to highlight the pedagogical orientations of reception teachers in Norwegian schools. I explore reception teachers' approaches and their understanding of their own approaches when interacting with newly arrived minority language pupils (NAMLPs). The theoretical basis of the paper is L.S. Vygotsky's work, emphasising that human learning and development occur in socially and culturally shaped contexts. The key research questions were: (a) What instructional approaches do reception teachers use when interacting with NAMLPs and (2) How do reception teachers make sense of their own approaches when reflecting on this?