Le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (SEP) en lecture des garçons du secondaire en contexte de français langue seconde

To better understand the disengagement experienced by secondary level boys in regard to reading activities in French- second-language classes, a study on their sense of self-efficacy in reading was conducted in the winter of 2020. To begin, a survey in the form of a questionnaire was filled out by secondary school students in Quebec (from secondary 1 to secondary 3) in FSL classes (N=146). Afterwards, three focus groups involving 14 boys made it possible to identify the most frequent FSL reading teaching practices and practices deserving improvement. Considering the fact that no research has been done to measure the Reading self-efficacy in FSL of teenage boys at a secondary level, the current research had an exploratory aim and had three objectives : 1) to measure Reading Self-efficacy in French second language programs among boys that were in secondary school ; 2) to identify the reading experiences and teaching practices in French second language that the boys were exposed to since elementary school ; 3) to identify the emerging phenomena between previous experiences and FSL reading-related teaching practices experienced by the boys and their current Reading Self-efficacy in French.  The data provided from the self-efficacy measuring scale in FSL reading indicates that the average of value of self-efficacy in FSL Reading recorded among the boys who participated in the current study (n=56) is of 66%, an average which is inferior to the 75% average obtained by the girls (n=86). Furthermore, 50% of the answers to the survey’s questions (17 out of 34) showed significant deviations which were unfavorable to the boys (by over 10%) while girls scored higher overall (on 33 out of 34 questions).  Beyond these gaps, it has been observed that the reading practices generating the highest sense of personal reading efficiency in boys are those related to shared reading and guided reading.   In contrast to these results, the analysis of the data from the scale for measuring the frequency of exposition to teaching practices and to previous experiences in FSL reading showed almost non-existent deviations between boys and girls. Overall, the results indicate that all boys who participated in the survey (n=56) were rarely exposed to shared and guided reading teaching practices. On the other hand, the questions pertaining to individual evaluations got the highest frequency average which shows that these experiences in FSL reading are the ones most often presented to boys since elementary school.  Regarding the data from the discussion groups, the boys who participated (n=14), and who represented the target population of the research, clearly communicated their disengagement for reading in their FSL classes (10 out of 14). Unanimously, they confirmed that the most frequent experiences they had in these classes were individual reading (autonomous) and individual evaluations of their reading comprehension skills, both of which were done using paper supports.    Their conclusions corroborated the results of the survey from the second scale of the questionnaire which indicated that secondary level boys have rarely been exposed to collaborative reading practices and authentic reading tasks in their FSL classes. In parallel, bringing up the topic of collaborative reading practices sparked their enthusiasm. According to them, collaborative reading allows them to help each other out, which is something they value greatly.  The emphasis of collaborative reading that relies on mutual aid allows them to showcase their skills to their peers (mastery experience) and to be exposed to the expertise and the opinions of their peers (vicarious experiences) while also quickly receiving significant feedback. Therefore, the boys are exposed to three sources of influence on Self-efficacy.

Keyphrases: French as a second language, Reading Self-efficacy, Boy’s Reading motivation, Teaching secondary school, Reading