Abstract
Inequalities at school in France have been repeatedly reported in national and international surveys. One of the ways of combating this phenomenon is to reduce difficulties in learning to read. Ministerial instructions focus on the pre-school period (kindergarten) to prepare the optimum conditions for this learning process, and of course elementary school to offer the most effective teaching to ensure that every child becomes a good reader. What does French research in this field have to say about stimulating the cognitive processes involved in learning to read ?
Two series of works will be presented, one focusing on pedagogical experiments - which training programs contribute to greater success ? - and the second on how digital tools targeting specific processes (discovery of the alphabetic code, syllabic processing in written word identification and comprehension) improve reading performance. The first, conducted on large-scale studies in collaboration with teachers, were carried out in disadvantaged areas. The latter were aimed at children in difficulty or at risk of difficulty. While these studies are not prescriptive, they do offer solid food for thought on how to reduce inequalities in schooling from the very start.
