Contrasted analysis of learners’ difficulties in writing letters to the editor, and of their handling in class

Abstract

In this article, the authors present two main objectives: to suggest a methodology to analyze the primary students’ writing problems and to analyze the didactical interventions of the teachers to get past learners’ difficulties. The main point of theoretical reflection involves the the treatment of these writing difficulties as a didactic of different genres of text. The analysis involves the observation and comparison of written works by two groups of students in one 4th grade class: one group of three students is rated «weak» and the other group is «strong» for their ability to write a «letter to the editor,» an example of a specific textual genre. This first step will allow us to describe their strengths and weaknesses in written expression at this level of schooling. The article continues by analyzing effective teaching practices aided by a didactic sequence. On one hand, the effects of these teaching practices on the students’ learning are shown by the formal and semantic aspects of the genre of writing. While on the other hand, this exploratory character study seeks to identify the particular nature of the teachers’ interventions and regulating gestures as related to students’ difficulties.