Why movies make readers
This article was published in Time Magazine in 2001. It discusses the fear many parents and educators have of seeing their children consume films, but not books. What do you think? Leave your opinion by clicking on 'comments' below.
4 comments:
I think seeing a movie can invite to reading the book, if just for comparison and maybe trying to develop a sense of choice as you grow up...
Daniela.
It's true, Daniela, there have been some excellent adaptations to the big screen. And hopefully those have sparked in the viewers the desire to read the novels!
As I mentioned in your Chinswing thread, this generation is very audiovisually oriented, my chilkdren now 25 and 27, are regular moviegoers and TV watchers and they read when they have to because of work or studies, or because they feel like it.
Harry Potter films have made many children, young adults and adults go back to reading to enjoy it, the same did Lord of the Rings.
Dr. Jim Cummins acknowledges that any children´s book will have more academic and complex vocabulary than any TV program, even if for adults. See http://esl-efl-vocabulary-learning.blogspot.com/2007/01/long-time-no-post-language-symposium.html
It is important to instill the love for reading books in children, even if generationally they are audiovisually or digitally natives.
Movies have always been a way I have related to my students in the past 25 years and still do in spite of the age differences. Can we find a balance between the two? I think we can.
Thanks for an excellent thought provoking topic, cheers, Berta
You've touched a key point, Berta, and that's striking a balance between the two media. Nothing, in my opinion, compares to the experience of reading a good book! What I find interesting is that, in general, young children are keen on reading. But something seems to happen on their way to adolescence that makes them lose interest in books... I wonder what it is!
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