Des stratégies pédagogiques utilisées en classe de français pour développer la compétence scripturale des élèves

In the context of evidence-based education, this thesis in French didactics stresses the relevance, for research and practice, of being primarily interested in what teachers do in French class. What are the pedagogical strategies used in class by French teachers within Quebec secondary schools that participate in developing students’ scriptural competence? To answer this question, three specific research objectives are pursued in this thesis. Each objective is the subject of a scientific article, which are all part of a sequential mixed methods research design (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann and Hanson, 2003).  The first article aims to identify the pedagogical strategies used in French class that relate to the writing of better texts by students in Quebec secondary schools. It is based on a secondary analysis (Dale, 1993) of large-scale data that were collected in Quebec secondary schools by the DIEPE group (1995) (exploratory factor analysis and two-level multiple regressions).  The second article aims to identify the pedagogical strategies used in French class within Quebec secondary schools that specifically participate in developing students’ scriptural competence according to the teacher’s experience knowledge (Tardif and Lessard, 1999). It is based on a deliberative workshop (Dogba, Dossa and Dagenais, 2017), during which six experienced teachers together choose pedagogical strategies that specifically develop the scriptural competence of their students.  The third article aims to describe how the pedagogical strategies elected at the end of the deliberative workshop can be used in French class within Quebec secondary schools. It is based on the analysis of direct nonparticipant observations that were conducted in the class of a French secondary school teacher in Quebec using a synopsis (Blaser, 2007, 2009; Lord, 2012, 2014; Schneuwly and Dolz, 2009) and a complementary analysis grid based on the teacher's fundamental didactic gestures (Aeby Daghé and Dolz, 2008; Schneuwly, 2000, 2009; Schneuwly and Dolz, 2009).  The results of the three articles are then discussed to explore the complementarity of their results and methods, as well as to highlight their implications for research and practice. Three observations emerge. 1) Having students write allows French secondary school teachers in Quebec to teach writing, as it enables them to use several pedagogical strategies to develop their students’ scriptural competence. 2) To develop students’ scriptural competence, several teaching strategies can be used in class, in ways that are all simultaneously singular and plural. These pedagogical strategies may be based on the provision of texts that the teacher can show to students or that she can have them produce, and on highlighting the knowledge objects’ dimensions that ought to be taught in these texts, in short on specific forms of the fundamental didactic gestures of presentifying and pointing (Schneuwly, 2000, 2009). 3) The teacher plays a central role in developing the scriptural competence of students in French class within Quebec secondary schools, by scaffolding and diversifying pedagogical strategies.

Keyphrases: French first language teaching, Quebec secondary schools, Pedagogical strategies, Scriptural competence, Writing, Mixed methods, Multiple regression, Deliberative workshop, Classroom observations