Audiobooks aiding those who cannot or do not read with their eyes

Originally published in Bound Vol. 2

Introduction

Since audiobooks were first introduced in the 1930’s, the publishing industry has welcomed a new medium of reading consumption that is rapidly growing in popularity, particularly now more than ever. While many people were and still are hesitant to swap physical books for aural reading—a key argument against the audiobook—it has still proven to present a plethora of opportunities for authors, readers and publishing companies. A positive that the audiobook offers is how it has assisted those who are unable to read visually, or struggle to for various reasons—in an educational setting.

There is a wide variety of literature surrounding this topic that explores different methods of implementing educational audiobooks, such as using them to assist blind students when studying from home and using audiobooks to teach English as a second language. While millions of adults use audiobooks for similar purposes, this report investigates reading aurally for educational means and the importance of introducing this practice from a young age. It examines the impact audiobooks have in helping young people to access and understand reading material aurally, using three case studies and a profile detailing the journey of blind author Isaac Lidsky. To narrow the scope of research, it focuses on school and university students with learning disabilities, learning another language or English as a second language and visual impairments, on a global scale, to emphasise the universal necessity for this mode of reading.

The audiobook returns

Reading aloud in the Victorian period was a domestic ritual, restricted in that it was usually performed by the fire before retiring to the bedroom.

While it seems that audiobooks have only recently come into the spotlight, reading aloud is certainly not a new practice. Rubery (2008) compares the audiobook with reading aloud in the Victorian era, proposing that new digital audio is merely an updated version, allowing us to process literature in a different way. Reading aloud in the Victorian period was a domestic ritual, restricted in that it was usually performed by the fire before retiring to the bedroom. In the modern day, however, the audiobook allows for mobility such as exercising or driving, which a physical book cannot provide—a means to ‘reclaim personal time from a schedule ruled by public responsibilities’ (Rubery 2008, p. 71). Planning in advance and giving one’s full attention were essential during reading time in the late 1800’s, whereas audiobooks now have been modified to accommodate the pace of modern life. On the other hand, Rubery voiced his concern that audiobooks would separate the listener from interpersonal relationships for fear of using them being considered a more solitary activity. Reading aloud used to be linked with sociability, where a family would gather to listen to the same story; yet, he noted that the modern-day audiobook posed a risk of prompting anti-social behaviour (p. 70). Today however, with the rapid advancements in technology permeating our day-to-day lives, it is clear that the audiobook can be made social in a number of settings.

Since 2008 when the audiobook was struggling to gain popularity due to hesitancy and lack of knowledge from readers favouring physical books, people have now come to acknowledge that it is not a ‘poor relative of the printed book’ (Rubery 2008, p. 64). Instead it is a distinct form of literature of its own that has evolved from a wax cylinder in the 1930’s, to a cassette tape, to a CD, to now—involving a broader pool of listeners that includes anyone with a smartphone (Cart 2016). While audiences were once comfortable with the noiseless reception of a story, elements of episodic structure, expression and understanding of the character are now brought to a new level. Publishers are no longer faced with issues of expense and unmanageable formats and are recognising new opportunities to expand their audience, by marketing to them through listening posts in retail shops and online platforms such as Spoken Network (Rubery 2008).

The audiobook began to establish approval when people realised the ease that they could be accessed, turning more and more readers into listeners using applications like Audible—the current leading brand providing audio versions of novels, magazines and daily newspapers (Rubery 2008). To promote the benefits of audiobook listening, the Association of American Publishers launched their campaign Get Caught Listening in 2008. It used celebrity voiceovers to gain publicity and collaborated with media and industry supporters to promote the audiobook, yet the most influential part of the campaign was endorsing their use as a learning tool for education.

The progression of the audiobook’s development over almost 100 years has been vast, and several social practices associated with reading aloud have come and gone. Once again, audiobooks are connected to a succession of several real-world cases involving students with disabilities in an educational context, who have benefited from utilising audiobooks as a means to live a normal life. In the twenty-first century, the audiobook very much exists as an opportunity rather than a threat to those who require other forms of reading to visual consumption. Audiobooks have opened up an entirely unique stream of production for publishing companies, authors and narrators, allowing them to leverage their work in an innovative and exciting format for an audience that reads with their ears.

Embracing the audiobook in the classroom

The use of audiobooks in an education setting, whether that be at a school or university level, has been widely proven in its efficiency to help students read and comprehend material. Since the Library of Congress first introduced ‘talking books’ through an initiative to assist the blind in the 1930’s, audiobooks are now being implemented as tools for all abilities to use—including students with learning difficulties, visual impairments and those who struggle to find an interest in reading physical books. According to Perrin (2019), young adults are considered the highest demographic of audiobook users, which educators recognise, and are therefore integrating audiobooks more and more within the curriculum. The features audiobooks provide—pitch, clarity of speech, inflection and phonemic attentiveness that are not conveyed when reading visually—exposes students to new vocabulary and allows for comprehension of material in a different manner. It provides an opportunity for the playing field to be levelled and for those struggling to gain a sense of confidence, creating a community of readers within the classroom where all students are experiencing the same story (Ripp 2016).

Society’s stigma around audiobooks being less sophisticated than physical books has carried over into the education system, placing a barrier between schools wanting to adopt them in the classroom. Author Melissa Dahl admits that she has observed members of book clubs saying: ‘Isn’t that what children do, those who can’t read? Why would an educated adult want to have a book read to them?’ (Atwan 2016, p. 112). As more people have felt comfortable with the rise of technology and its necessity to function in the modern world, audiobooks are gaining their own position in the realm of literature.

Publishing companies have recognised a new market in using audiobooks as an education tool, such as Tales2go, a service that can be purchased by schools, libraries or individuals. Students receive a license for the year, which enables them to listen to material on any device, at home or at school, as well as offering teachers a chance to participate in studies about implementing audiobooks to guide reading levels. Another program, Whispersync, allows students to own both the audio and Kindle version of a book and read them simultaneously without losing their place in the story. Smart home speakers such as Alexa and Google Assistant have been utilised by major companies like Harper Collins, who launched StoryCastle in 2018. This has allowed for audiobooks to be delivered to children through Google Assistant, which come with practical and innovative features like adjusting the narration speed, encouraging children to continue their reading habits in the home environment. Classic books that are regularly seen within school curriculums are also being transformed for those more aurally inclined, benefiting publishing companies and writers looking to maximise their work’s potential by increasing marketing avenues and user-friendliness, and therefore, wider opportunities for success of a project (Earls 2017).

While we know publishing companies are realising the potential for audiobooks to make a significant impact within the market, it is essential to understand the opportunities they are providing for students. Beginning with learning disabilities such as speech and reading deficits, to language learning, and concluding with visual impairment or complete blindness, the following studies endorse the role audiobooks play in education. Despite the valuable findings from these studies however, publishers will ultimately always face the issue of those within society who do not wish to trade traditional books for audio.

Learning disabilities: eyes vs ears

80% of students with learning disabilities struggle with reading (Shaywitz 2003) so finding a suitable practice to keep the playing field level needs to be established from as early as when the child begins to read. Audiobooks are often viewed as a competitor against the traditional method of sustained silent reading (SSR) of a physical book, however, combining the two could be the answer to helping those with learning difficulties. The assisted reading method, which is simply reading aloud while listening to the audiobook, has improved dramatically in quality and accessibility in the last 10 years, with publishers employing professional orators to present with vivid and appealing communication.

 Audiobooks are often viewed as a competitor against the traditional method of sustained silent reading (SSR) of a physical book, however, combining the two could be the answer to helping those with learning difficulties.

To compare the efficacy of assisted reading with digital audiobooks, Esteves and Whitten (2011) researched 20 upper elementary students, picked randomly from five different schools in the United States, with documented reading disabilities to determine whether students develop a higher level of fluency when using both. The study occurred over an eight-week period, with the treatment group using digital audiobooks four to five times per week and the control group practising SSR with the same children’s literature. Two measurement instruments—DIBELS to test reading fluency by number of words read per minute and ERAS to collect qualitative data about reading attitudes—were used. The outcomes for reading fluency revealed the educational worth in assisted reading for those with learning difficulties, however, using the ERAS survey showed that students’ reading attitudes were not significantly improved. One limitation of this study was not using a double-blind control protocol. Also prior to undertaking this study, students will have had preconceived ideas of their abilities and how they would feel about their performance in the classroom, therefore, their answers may be reflective of this, regardless if they did well in the experiment (Kazelskis et al 2005). Either way, this and other such studies conducted on children’s and young adults’ learning are vital to illustrate the impact audiobooks can have on learning. However, it is imperative the experiments are factoring in the ever-changing technological environment and are using robust methods.

Lost in translation

As most of us will be familiar from our high school experience, language teachers too often fall into the habit of playing the same audio material every lesson, year after year. While it is proven that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners struggle most with speech, in particular pronunciation, the need for educators to identify students’ individual learning needs is now more prominent than ever (Kartal & Simsek 2017). Therefore, printed and audio versions of material allows students to follow the words as they listen, prompting the Dual Coding Theory (Paivio 1971)—where verbal representations and mental imagery interact to enhance memory retention.

A common criticism of the audiobook is its monotony, making it difficult to stay engaged for long periods of time (Have & Stougaard Pederson 2016). One study observed 66 first-year students at a state university, in Turkey, on the effects of audiobooks on EFL students’ comprehension, pronunciation and their attitudes towards using them (Kartal & Simsek 2017). In a mixed-method study completed over 13 weeks, this experimental group experienced learning using both print and audio versions of the material, whereas the control group only used print. For this study, two different audiobooks were implemented—both were unabridged and narrated by native voices. Using the General Listening Comprehension Skills Scale (GLCSS), the analysis revealed the post-test mean score of the experimental group (6.53), which was higher than the control group (4.94), indicating that the use of audiobooks increased their comprehension ability. Some of the qualitative responses from the students included:

· ‘I think audiobooks were really useful for our reading and listening. Personally, I had the desire to read that book.’

· ‘Thanks to the chunk by chunk reading of the narrator, audiobooks helped me to understand sentences easier.’

· ‘My listening abilities got better after this activity. I learned how to pronounce the words correctly.’

These outcomes indicate that overall the students had developed an engaged and positive relationship with audiobooks, which encouraged their teachers to continue using them in the classroom as a permanent method of teaching languages. As seemingly simpler modes for younger EFL, previous studies mainly focused on younger children using both written and spoken words. Regardless of age however, for EFL learners who struggle most with how a word should sound when spoken, listening and following along to text is the most effective pedagogical tool for pronunciation. Additionally, depending on a student’s age, ability and general interests, choosing the right type of audiobook is essential to support interest and engagement.

The experiences of the blind learners

Audiobooks are commonly regarded for their ability to allow people to simultaneously complete tasks while consuming literature, however, they also serve a very practical purpose for those who are visually impaired or cannot read without assistance (Pardes 2018). While the magnitude of youth blindness has declined from approximately 1.5 million children in 1992, the World Health Organization estimates that there are still 1.02 million worldwide (Gilbert 2018). Anadolu University, in Turkey, has an Open Education Faculty (OEF) that offers distance education, allowing students to study remotely via communication technologies. This unique program comprises of printed text books, video conferences and audiobooks, which over 70,000 students have benefited from, including 300 blind learners.

The main aim for this initiative was to allow ‘blind students to study more independently wherever or whenever they want without other people’s help’ (Ozgur & Kiray 2007, p. 16), a fundamental barrier throughout most of their education. One study has evaluated the effectiveness of this audiobook program for all visually impaired students at this university. The academic progress of 283 blind students was recorded for a year, where they were observed using 14 different audio course books. The material for their courses was loaded onto audiobooks with labelled units and topics, and the subjects were distinguished from one another by music. The study revealed that the audiobooks helped these students to gain a sense of independence when studying without having to rely on somebody else, which they had not previously ever had. Also, the students with limited sight commented on the lack of strain on their eyes; they were no longer required to use magnifying glasses or use a computer-supported tool. After the release of this program, blind student registration to the Open Education Faculty rapidly increased (Ozgur & Kiray 2007), changing the landscape of distance education for those visually impaired in Turkey.

Isaac Lidsky

Isaac Lidsky was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa—a rare genetic disorder that involves a breakdown of cells in the retina—and had perfect sight up until age 12, when he gradually began losing his eyesight completely. While raised in Miami by Cuban Jews, who fled to Florida post-revolution, Lidsky was drawn to success at six months old, appearing in his first commercial for diapers. Inc Magazine (2015) stated that he ‘may possess the most eclectic resume in business’, beginning as a child television star in Saved By The Bell, transitioning to a Supreme Court clerk to then co-founding internet start-up Hope For Vision. In 2017, Penguin Random House published Lidsky’s first book, Eyes Wide Open: Overcoming Obstacles and Recognizing Opportunities in a World that Can’t See Clearly, which became a New York Times best seller. The novel is autobiographical, drawing on Lidsky’s personal experiences of combating his disability and using his other senses to embrace life at its fullest. By losing his sight, he paradoxically saw his reality in a new light, showing his readers how fear and failure are things we can take by the reins and control. Now a husband and father to four children, at 40 years old, Lidsky is a successful writer, speaker and business leader who believes ‘neither his youth nor his blindness have limited him’ (Lidsky 2020).

The significance of Lidsky’s triumphs, in this instance, can be attributed to the publishing world’s transition from silent reading to audiobooks, which he discovered just as his eyesight began to completely disappear. He was a lover of books from the moment he was able to read, always appreciating the physicality of the book before even beginning to read it—‘the cloth spine, the permanence of the title imprinted upon it along with the author’s hard-earned attribution, the substantiality and texture of the cardboard covers’ (Lidsky 2017). Lidsky tried numerous methods to consume literature, using a blind man’s cane, monitors to magnify text and video cameras yet none of them were effective until he discovered audiobooks. This newfound form of literature was his saviour, an experience he describes as a ‘rich, immersive performance’ (Lidsky 2017) as some of his favourite George Smiley and Jack Vance novels were brought to life by artful narrators. After the success of his novel Eyes Wide Open, Lidsky, a self-confessed audiophile, even narrated it himself to produce an audiobook for those who are also visually impaired to enjoy.

Conclusion

While there still remains many challenges ahead for the publishing industry, as they try to widen the path of literature consumption and establish themselves in the market, it is evident that they have made the presence of the audiobook well-known. The capability for the audiobook to both allow individuals to be flexible with managing their reading and everyday tasks, and its impact on the lives of those with disabilities or impairments is something to feel optimistic about. As they continue to be developed in quality and availability, a writer’s intellectual property is being handed over to a world in which the intersection of the book market and the storytelling realm allow for increased overall exposure of the author’s work.

There is a substantial amount of evidence to affirm the effectiveness of using audiobooks as a means for educating, helping those with learning disabilities, those learning a language and people with visual impairments. However, there are equally proven benefits for those who can read physical books and whose learning can be enhanced by the simultaneous consumption of written and spoken words. As Audible and companies alike continue to make their mark in the publishing network, we can expect to see an upwards growth in audiobook listeners and the remaining barriers broken down to let those disadvantaged thrive. Despite there still being existing tentativeness from society to adopt a different method of reading, young people will continue to benefit greatly from using audiobooks for educational and recreational purposes, prompting the industry to sustain and target their production.

Reference list

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Thomas Henry26 November 2021