A double reading of the verbs of speech and thought: a way to unveil writing skills
Une double lecture des verbes de parole et de pensée : une piste pour dévoiler des compétences scripturales
Résumé
The analysis of pupils' texts allows to unveil writing skills, as long as we go beyond a surface analysis and diversify our methodological approaches (Cappeau & Roubaud, 2018). In this study, we focus on the verbs of speech and thought (Rosier 2008) in pupils' narrative texts. These verbs are generally considered as lexical markers introducing speeches and thoughts. However, Desclés and Guentchéva's approach (2010) opens up new perspectives of analysis by highlighting the importance of considering the reported speeches and thoughts as belonging to another temporal referential. Therefore, we asked ourselves the following questions: what is the role of the verbs of speech and thought in the temporal organization of the text? Do they contribute to the introduction of previous and subsequent information? How does this double reading contribute to the identification of pupils' writing skills? To answer our questions, we analyzed a corpus of 180 narratives written by pupils aged 8 to 11 years (grade levels in France: CE2, CM1 and CM2). These texts were produced spontaneously in response to a writing instruction based on the principle of the alpha-omega exercise (Brassart, 1990) in which the beginning and the end of the text are given. Consequently, we developed an analytical framework based on the identification of the temporal organization of the texts and the description of the different temporal movements (Genette, 2007). Concerning the verbs of speech and thought, we went to see to what extent they introduce temporal movements and how they contribute to the temporal organization of the text. The analysis of the pupils’ narratives highlighted the use of the verbs of speech and thought to introduce temporal movements at all grade levels. The first movement we identified is the flashback movement which corresponds to the evocation of a previous event or state. The analysis of our corpus reveals that pupils frequently use the verbs of speech and thought to insert explanatory flashbacks: from a simple request for an explanation, the formulation of a question, a reflection, an explanation to a narrative characteristic of police investigations. Pupils also introduce narrative flashbacks by using verbs of thought. The second movement we identified is the flashforward movement which corresponds to the evocation of a future event or state. The pupils also use the verbs of speech and thought to introduce later events and, in particular, to anticipate the end of the story which is known to them because it has been given in the writing instruction. Our research thus shows that the verbs of speech and thought can be considered as temporal pivots playing a role in the temporal organization of the texts produced. The use of these verbs by the young pupils testifies to a narrative strategy to introduce different temporal movements, bringing in previous and subsequent information, while maintaining the coherence of the text This double reading allows us to identify that, beyond the simple insertion of speeches and thoughts, the pupils use these verbs to organize temporally their texts, thus unveiling writing skills that a simple reading would not have revealed.
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