What are the conditions for an effective implementation of the french early literacy program “PARLER” ?

According to PIRLS results, only 25 percent of Belgian grade 4 students master the reading skills that predict school achievement and allow the participation in civic and cultural life (Schillings & Lafontaine, 2013). These results argue for the introduction of effective programs in terms of prevention of reading difficulties for all students and especially those stemming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Indeed, it seems wiser to introduce a program that reduced the gaps between students before they start learning to read rather than trying to remedy their difficulties.

Thus, the French compensatory program “PARLER” – Discussing, learning, thinking, reading together to succeed - seems to be a useful approach to prevent reading difficulties (Zorman, 2015), because it focus on teaching the oral language skills which are considered to predict reading proficiency. The relevance of this program is based on the joint development of skills related to two main components of reading: the code related skills and the comprehension skills (Bianco, 2015). In addition, the cognitive process and strategies are made explicit to the students who are taught in ability groups in order to allow a better differentiation in terms of quality and quantity (Meirieu, 1999). These groups sessions are short, intensive, regular, structured and planned from 3rd kindergarten until grade 2. Indeed, it is showed that this type of interventions is efficient. (Barnett & Masse, 2007).

The data were collected among nine teachers who introduced this program “PARLER” in 3rd kindergarten in five French Belgium experimental schools in September 2017. Relying on the analysis of the teachers’ activity and their reflexive stance during debriefings, the main didactic obstacles as well as some examples of effective practices that allowed to overcome these obstacles were identified. The very first results showing the impact of these literacy practices on students’ learning will be also presented.