THE BARRIERS TO READING COMPREHENSION (texts) They stand at several levels : - neurophysiological - educational (reader – text - context) barriers not covered in this “signs and meaning” project barriers listed by J. Giasson and covered in “signs and meaning” project ( partly at least).

To succeed in producing meaning, information has to follow a path : Perceptive entries Transmission to the brain and treatment by the latter in different places at the same time. Perceptive entries Possible barriers in case of diverse lesions Production of meaning and  pleasure Not covered in “Signs and meaning” project.

= Fluency in reading Ability to recognize words Ability to identify words Ability to read by group of words + + Multiplicity of abilities required at the same time – see details in the following slides THE COGNITIVE ASPECT OF THIS COURSE : Barriers partly covered in “signs and meaning” project - 1 Dyslexia not broached (see J. Giasson Chapt. 3) Production of meaning and  pleasure 2

Difficulty (  barrier) to : Identify signs of meaning (at a sentence, paragraph, text, book level) Giasson (Chapter – 7) Identify signs of cohesion of a sentence, text, book ( setting of links) : 3 barriers : reference Linking words inference (even beyond the text or the book) Giasson (Chapter 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8) Barriers covered in “Signs and Meaning” project.

Difficulty ((  barrier) to : Convey the words read into practical meaning. (Giasson Ch. 8) Reason about the text, formulate an opinion on it. (Giasson Ch. 8) Adopt a “meta” position relative to its processes and the processes necessary for understanding. (Giasson Ch. 8) Integrate information of the text to one’s own knowledge. (Giasson Ch. 8)

Difficulty (  barrier) to (continuation) Calling up prior knowledge essential to a good understanding, difficulty in increasing both the quantity and quality. Having command of enough vocabulary and difficulty in increasing the quantity. (Giasson, ch 11.)  Knowledge of the language  Knowledge of textual structures  Knowledge of life, world, culture… (Giasson, ch. 1 to 10)

Difficulty ((  barrier) linked to : the emotional structure of the reader : self- confidence, ability to take risks, representation of the reading, reading intention…(Giasson Ch. 1). the reading attention : To read (what for ? what goal ?) (Giasson Ch. 1) To conclude, here are the barriers to reading comprehension in diagram form.

READING COMPREHENSION DIFFICULTIES Absence of project of Global meaning Oralization project Memorization project Difficulty in Finding clues for meaning Difficulty in : conveying the text in a practical meaning integrating the information to his Knowledge. reasoning on the text. Difficulty in finding signs of cohesion : Reference Guessing the implicit (inference) References difficulty relative to previous knowledge : Command of the language Knowledge of life + culture Knowledge of literal structures Difficulty in elaborating Meaning hypothesis lack of self-confidence, misrepresentation of reading  emotional structure of the reader Linking words Non - command of a minimum amount of words What is the reading intention ? Difficulty in adopting a “meta”postion