ABSTRACT
As resources for education, film and video have long been regarded as poor relations of literature, and of drama in particular. There is a tendency to associate the watching of films with fun and frivolity and a lack of interest in exploring this medium further as a serious and effective way to teach the basics of literacy. All too often teachers who will use a video screening of, for example, The Secret Garden fail to benefit from the exciting richness of this resource because of insufficient viewing preparation, unspecific task-setting and lack of post-screening discussion. Without such extraneous activities the screening will be, at best, forgettable and, at worst, misleading and confusing for the students. Why are some parts of the story told in the book missing from the film? Why are scenes in an order different from that in the book? Why did the script use this word instead of that used in the book? Simple questions with interesting answers which, if explored to the full, can only add and bring life to the student’s appreciation of the written word.
