Promoting reading and writing competence in 5-6 year old children: instructional interventions for introducing language-based learning in content areas

Research in subject-specific pedagogy highlights the importance of students learning to navigate the different school subjects. This includes acquiring the linguistic tools that support an understanding of subject-specific content.
After introducing the concept of Gestes Langagiers Didadactiques (GLD), I present selected results from a study conducted in a first year class in France (children aged 5-6). The focus is on the phase at school entry where learning activities become increasingly structured and differentiated according to subject content. Based on a comparative analysis of texts written by four children at the beginning and end of the first year, I show which gestes langagiers didactiques help them to more clearly grasp the subject-relevant context of a task and to progressively align their thinking with domain-specific approaches.