Apprendre par la lecture au secondaire : relation entre l'intervention pédagogique de l'enseignant avec un regard sur la multimodalité et l'interprétation des exigences de l'activité dans le processus d'apprentissage par la lecture

In the twenty-first century, communication has been undergoing major changes (Kress, 2003; Jewitt, 2009; Lebrun, Lacelle and Boutin, 2013) in a globalized (Jewitt, 2009) and interconnected (Jewitt, 2013) society characterized by rapid technological change and large-scale media presence (Boutin, 2012). These mutations make it necessary to consider the multiple modes (visual, aural, kinesthetic, etc.) through which current communication takes place, as well as their frequent combinations. The professional activities that individuals carry out are not only numerous, but instantaneous as well. To this end, individuals must process all modes through which communication is carried out. As such, they often have to process texts when reading information or multimodal messages (Boutin, 2012; Lacelle and Lebrun, 2014; Licoppe and Smoreda, 2005). This requires the use of cognitive strategies allowing the data conveyed through modes to be understood (Lemieux, Lacelle and Boutin, 2017; Shinas, 2012). In school, Learning Through Reading (LTR) is required of students throughout their entire education and in all disciplines (Cartier, 2007). It often requires various textual modes to be processed. This situation is linked to success and school perseverance (Cartier, 2007). It involves the management on the students’ part of multiple components (cognitive, metacognitive, contextual, etc.) and as such, requires that they self-regulate their learning. In high school, the variety of texts and materials available for LTR is increasing. As LTR requirements in high school are heightened by multimodality, many students experience difficulty in Task interpretation by doing so inadequately or partially (Butler, Cartier, Schnellert, Gagnon et Giammarino, 2011; Cartier, Butler and Janosz, 2007), which can contribute to stir their LTR process in a direction that may prevent them from completing the LTR assignment successfully (Butler et Cartier, 2004b). An important factor that influences this difficulty is Task interpretation. This is the starting point for self-regulated learning, from which students must set their personal goals, plan, control and adjust their progress, and then self-evaluate (Butler et Cartier, 2004b). To grasp what is expected of them, students look for clues in their learning context more or less consciously. These clues can be conveyed through various semiotic modes (gestures, for example). In class, the teacher is responsible for establishing the learning context through their pedagogical intervention, which can in turn influence the interpretation of requirements for the assignment and have an impact on LTR.  As such, this research aims to answer the following question: what is the relationship between the teacher’s pedagogical intervention within the context of multimodality and the interpretation of assignment requirements by high school students during the Learning Through Reading process ? More precisely, its objectives in the context of LTR in high school are two-fold: relating the teacher’s pedagogical intervention and the interpretation of LTR assignment requirements by students, and relating the interpretation of LTR assignment requirements to the student’s Learning Through Reading process. To this end, a case study with multiple embedded analytical units was performed (Yin, 2014). A mixed methodology with a convergent design was used (Creswell and Plano-Clark, 2017). The study was performed in the natural context of a science class. An assignment requirement interpretation task, a Learning Through Reading Questionnaire (LTRQ) (Butler and Cartier, 2004a; Cartier and Butler 2004), permanent data, video recordings and semi-structured interviews conducted with three students and the teacher have made it possible to compile data. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have been performed. The results demonstrate a possible relationship between the teacher’s pedagogical intervention and the students’ interpretation of assignment requirements, and between the interpretation of assignment requirements and other components of the LTR process. Both the LTR situation and the teacher’s support included multimodal components. The students interpreted the assignment requirements adequately, but very little in relation to reading, learning, and multimodality. The students’ LTR process varied depending on their interpretation of assignment requirements.. These results confirm the importance of planning an LTR activity with clear pedagogical intentions and LTR support for students in this context, including multimodality. They appear to confirm the crucial role of the interpretation of assignment requirements through their LTR process.

Keyphrases: Learning Through Reading, Pedagogical Intervention, Multimodality, Interpretation of Assignment Requirements