Etude de l'habileté à utiliser un matériel pictographique pour comprendre des histoires, chez des enfants d'âge préscolaire

This study examined the ability of preliterate Kindergarten students to use pictographic sequences as cues in comprehending stories. Thirty-six children were trained to use a pictographic encoding for objects, actions, and spatial and temporal relations. Sequences of these pictographs were used to represent events and relations among objects. The children's use of the pictographic sequences in comprehending stories was investigated in three studies. Study 1 assessed the cuing effect of pictographic information that was available while children listened to stories. Study 2 assessed the cuing effect of pictographic information that was available to the children as they recalled a story to which they had listened previously. Study 3 assessed the cuing effect of pictographic information available during recall for stories in which the initial input for the stories was only pictographic information.Children's comprehension in telling or retelling a story was analyzed in terms of recall, recall and inference, and inference types of processing of semantic propositions according to Frederiksen's (1975) propositional analyses model. The analyses revealed that for all studies, most comprehension processing was of the joint recall and inference type. This result indicates that the children were attempting to comprehend the story, as opposed on the one hand to memorizing the story (as would be indicated by high recall) and on the other to producing a story (as would be indicated by high inference).Study 1 revealed that looking at pictographic material during an oral presentation of the story did not facilitate comprehension as compared to an oral presentation only.Study 2 revealed that the presence of pictographic material during recall production enhanced comprehension as compared to recall without such material being available. In this situation, pictographs appeared to serve as cues helping the subject to retrieve relevant information about the story.Study 3 revealed that cuing facilitation of pictographic sequences during recall found in Study 2 also occurred when the story was initially presented by pictographic sequences alone.The results of the three studies indicate that preliterate Kindergarten children can use pictographic sequences to augment their comprehension of simple stories presented orally, and that in certain situation they can comprehend such stories in a substantial manner from pictographic sequences alone