Movies Teach Movies

Abstract

Spencer (1998) argues that children learn to read texts from the texts they read. Hilton (1996) develops this argument in relation to media texts, proposing that media ‘texts themselves could thus “teach” the learner to unlock further ones’ (Hilton, 1996, p. 8). Robinson’s (1997) notion of a repertoire of narrative experiences extends this idea further, recognising that children’s understandings of narrative are drawn from all their experiences including oral, print, film and media sources (Robinson, 1997, p. 178). Protherough (1983) argues in relation to books that, ‘Reading abilities and habits are formed primarily through encounters with fiction’, (Protherough, 1983, p. 174). Children also learn about how to read and enjoy films by watching and engaging with them. The complex and sophisticated meta-language of film is regularly made sense of and enjoyed by children, who develop implicit knowledge of the way films are constructed; movies teach movies. This has become the central argument of this research, opening up questions about what and how children learn about narrative through their engagements with children’s films. To address this question, it is first critical to consider the different processes involved in reading film and print narratives.