Using a digital visual dictionary to support reading comprehension: A single-case study with French-as-a-Second Language learners in primary school

Abstract

[EN] GamesHub is an adaptive digital environment developed under the DOcTA2le-FR research project to support reading-comprehension development in French as the Language of Instruction (FLens) within Swiss primary classrooms (ages 8–10) characterized by significant linguistic and cultural diversity. It features a Digital Visual Dictionary (VD)—offering phonetic and orthographic search, definitions, illustrations, and synonyms—and educational games targeting one category of the cognitive processes underpinning reading comprehension: integrative processes. Over the course of an academic year, we conducted two experimental phases, totalling 289 game sessions across 12 classes over nine months. Each pupil completed pre- and post-reading-comprehension tests at the start and end of each phase, allowing us to measure their comprehension levels before and after gameplay. For this paper, we conducted a single-case study focusing on four pupils for whom FLens is not their first language. We scored and tracked changes in their comprehension-test results, then analysed their digital traces—both their game scores and the frequency of VD consultations, including the specific words looked up. Preliminary findings reveal links between individual VD usage, game-score evolution, and comprehension-test gains. Given the very small sample (four pupils) and the single-case design, these findings are exploratory and not generalizable. We therefore report a dedicated Limitations section and frame pedagogical implications as tentative within CALL practice. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates the value of combining quantitative and qualitative data to understand how an inclusive CALL tool may support reading-comprehension autonomy for French as a Second Language (FSL) learners in a primary FLens context.