The Role of Peer Interaction on Early Literacy in Schools

The chapter aims to reconsider some of our previous work on learning written language and acquiring the writing system from the perspective of the role of peer interactions in a school environment. The objective is to contribute to the international discussion on teaching and learning processes by highlighting the importance of social interactions (mediated by the teacher, especially in the context of young children dictating stories to adults) in two key areas of learning: text production (and engagement with specific genres, such as announcements) and the development of the alphabetic code. The chapter is organized in three parts. In the first part, we discuss the social dimension of producing a written text in a small group work situation and by dictation to the adult (teacher). The second part aims to deepen reflection on the process of alphabetic code-building: examples of small group activities are presented to show situations where children who cannot write in a conventional way are discussing the identification of a shared solution for writing a word. The participation of a child in several groups with different levels of competence is also questioned. The third part of the chapter provides methodological guidance for teachers who wish to include the devices described and discussed in this contribution in their classroom practices.