Difficultés lexicales en lecture-compréhension chez les élèves de la classe terminale du cycle primaire tunisien

Abstract

This study examines the impact of lexical difficulties on reading comprehension performance among pupils in the final year of the Tunisian primary school cycle. It focuses on a sample of 275 pupils and 6 French teachers from 6 schools in the Takelsa district (Nabeul governorate). The research adopts a mixed-methodology approach combining a documentary analysis of official texts (official curriculum guidelines, teaching guides, and resources for teachers and pupils) with a questionnaire survey administered to both target groups. The aim is to analyse the importance accorded to vocabulary in the formal curriculum as well as in the reported practices of teachers and pupils, in order to identify the main difficulties encountered in reading comprehension, the reading strategies employed by pupils and the vocabulary teaching practices implemented in the classroom. The results highlight a lack of consideration given to vocabulary in official documents and reveal that many pupils experience significant difficulties in reading and understanding texts. These difficulties are mainly linked to the inadequacy of their vocabulary, the presence of a large number of unfamiliar words in the texts, and decoding problems. These findings confirm that vocabulary mastery is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of reading comprehension skills.