the report

"Speak better to then learn to read" Workshops: a helping hand
given to children by AsFoReL
Summary : The Coup de Pouce (A nudge in the right direction) LANGUAGE project is for children from 3-6 years old who's language is
poorly structured and who have limited vocabulary and constructions. These children are at risk of failing to access written language later on.
The workshops aim to provide children with dialogue sessions with an adult ("language facilitator") to support their access to understanding
oral language which is essential in successfully learning to write when the time comes.
AUTHOR(S)
PROGRAMME
ORGANISATION(S)
Magali Husianycia
Start date : 2003
Manager for training and
coordination
Implementation site : France
Association de Formation et de
Recherche sur le Langage
(AsFoReL)
Budget : 3150 €
assoasforel @yahoo.fr
Source and specificity of funding :
Town halls, Community of Municipalities,
General Councils, Education League
CRDP de Lorraine, 99 rue de
Metz
54000 Nancy
http://www.asforel.org
Employees : 1
Volunteers : 0
Members : 52
REVIEW COMMITTEE
Date of proofreading : 2015/04/19
Opinion of the Committee : High impact !
Solution(s) : Education
Participant : Association, ONG
Country : France
Beneficiaries : Pupil, students
Stature of the programme : National
Field of action : Education, Training
Copyright: Licence Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
To quote from a document published by RESOLIS : Husianycia, « "Speak better to then learn to read" Workshops: a helping hand given to
children by AsFoReL », **Journal RESOLIS** (2015)
BACKGROUND OF THE PROGRAMME
This project is the result of observations and experiments since the 1970s, within the school environment, with children who are living in
poverty. This theoretical research and requests from actors in the field have led to the establishment of a reproducible action. In the 1970s,
Laurence Lentin has focussed his research on the learning processes of language that allow some children to approach learning to writing in
CP without problem, while others fail. His linguistic work has shed light on the language features required to successfully access written
language as well as the modes of adult-child language interaction which encourage understanding of these linguistic functions.
Coup de Pouce Language actions were first tested in Angers from 2003 to 2006. They were then rolled out across the territory.
GOALS OF THE PROGRAMME
The general objectives of this project are the prevention of failure in school and illiteracy through an understanding of language which enables
children to structure their thoughts and to approach academic learning successfully.
IMPLEMENTED ACTIONS
Since 2007 this action has taken place every year in schools across fifteen cities in France as part of the extracurricular activities. The
municipality designates a supervisor who will be responsible for the measures in the schools in the municipality.
These workshops offer children dialogue sessions with an adult to complete their language learning which begins within the family: the adult
"language facilitator" suggests increasingly complex linguistic construction to the child that are adapted to the level of language development
of each one. These linguistic propositions are located in the "zone of proximal development" to stimulate the progress of each child.
The "facilitator" interacts with the children in a one-to-one relationship for 2 to 3 sessions (10 to 20 minutes per child) per week and supports
the parents in monitoring their child's learning of spoken language and their relationship to books.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESULTS FROM THE IMPLEMENTED
ACTIONS
Annually, about 500 children in the second and third years of nursery (followed over one or two years) benefit from the project at a national
level. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation lead by AsFoReL, using the recorded sessions, shows precisely the children's progress in their
language learning. We noticed that their behaviour at school improved (integration into the group, understanding in class, concentration and
speaking more often in class) and that the parents, supported by the action of the partners, are increasingly involved. We also observed an
improvement each year; in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009: of 307 children aged 4-5, in 5 cities, 60-65% of children have made progress in their
language learning and a 77% increase in them speaking in class.
ORIGINAL CHARACTERISTICS
- The link between research and the field: the workshops were designed using essential research on the acquisition of oral and written
language, and experiments in the field conducted since the 1970s by Laurence Lentin and his colleagues. This project includes a day of initial
training, both theoretical and practical, which is obligatory for the "language facilitator", then monitoring with on-site interventions and an
assessment at the end of the year.
- Interactions between the facilitator and the child are individual (one adult with a child), to meet the specific linguistic needs of each child.
They are based on illustrated books which are especially designed for this purpose in order to provide the children with structured language
and to prepare them for writing on a frequent basis.
- The method of evaluation is from audio recordings and questionnaires completed at the end of the action by the teachers, "facilitators" and
parents enable both the observation of the child's progress and the measurement of the language spoken by the "facilitator" to the child.
PARTNERSHIP(S) DEVELOPED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PROGRAMME
AsFoReL has developed several partnerships with projects/programs for academic success, CCAS, Community of Municipalities, the
Teaching League, Federation of Secular Works
FEEDBACK
Difficulties and/or obstacles encountered during the programme’s implementation :
- The municipalities are seeing their resources diminish and are sometimes called upon to make choices between several actions.
- The recruitment of facilitators (paid or volunteer) depends on the means and the involvement of the manager of the action. It is
essential that facilitators promise to scrupulously respect the protocol of the action to ensure its effectiveness.
- The action requires the involvement of teachers in the choice of children, which is time consuming.
- Involving parents is not always easy. It's about supporting them to make them aware of the importance of daily exchanges with
their child and regularly looking at books before learning to read and write.
Solutions used to overcome the difficulties and/or obstacles :
- Analysis of the recordings 3 times a year, enables the regular adjustment of the methods of intervention by the facilitators.
- Facilitators offer parents the chance to participate in some workshops
Suggestions for future improvement :
The allocation of subsidies to AsFoReL, or our partners, to set up the project would enable the action to be extended to more
children.
Summary of factors responsible for the programme’s success :
Relying on a proven scientific base, regular facilitator training, monitoring of actions and the evaluation of children's progress by
AsFoReL and through questionnaires filled in by teachers, parents and facilitators, ensures that the action runs smoothly.
The action is all the more effective if the partnership between the different actors is strengthened. The role of supervisor for the
action in the city is crucial.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
- E. Canut (sous la direction de), Apprentissage du langage oral et accès à l’écrit : Travailler avec un chercheur dans l’école. Scéren, CRDP
Amiens, 2006.
- E. Canut, F. Bruneseaux-Gauthier & M. Vertalier., Des albums pour apprendre à parler : les choisir, les utiliser en maternelle, Sceren, 2012
- E. Canut, N. Espinosa, M. Vertalier (éds.) Linguistique de l’acquisition du langage oral et écrit. Convergences entre les travaux fondateurs
de Laurence Lentin et les problématiques actuelles, L’Harmattan, 2014.
- E. Canut & M. Vertalier, L’apprentissage du langage : une approche interactionnelle. Réflexions théoriques et pratiques de terrain. Mélanges
offerts par ses collègues, ses élèves et ses amis en hommage à Laurence Lentin, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2009.
- L. Lentin, Apprendre à parler à l'enfant de moins de 6 ans, où ? quand ? comment ? E.S.F. 1972, 12e éd, 1997.
- L. Lentin, Comment apprendre à parler à l'enfant, E.S.F. 1973, 10e éd, 1996.
- L. Lentin, Apprendre à penser, parler, lire, écrire, E.S.F. 1998/2009
- L. Lentin et al, Du parler au lire, E.S.F., 1977.
- L. Lentin et al, Ces enfants qui veulent apprendre. L’accès au langage chez les enfants vivant dans la grande pauvreté, Ed. de L'Atelier /
ATD Quart-Monde, 1995.
TO KNOW MORE
For more information, visit the website: www.asforel.org or contact AsFoReL [email protected] by email or by phone at 06 16 79 52 61.
See also the review L'Oral Language Acquisition and Writing (No. 16, 1986 No. 64-65, 2010).