Elusive audiobook research

There are numerous publications that claim there is plenty of research about audiobooks in education (e.g. Wolfson 2008; Grover and Hannegan 2005, 2012; Burkey 2013) but after delving into the source research I found that most of what is called research is either opinion articles or research done decades ago about parents reading aloud to their pre-reader children (e.g. Anderson, et al.1985, is based on reading research conducted in the 1960s and 70s). The limited research that is available about audiobooks in education is either about using them remedially or to assist students learning English. The experience of fluent students who listen to professionally narrated audiobooks on their personal devices seems not to have been studied. Research involving responsive reader-listener relationships cannot be applied to audiobook listening. An adult interacting with a young child while reading, discussing the illustrations or storyline together, is nothing like what is experienced when listening to a professionally narrated audiobook that can be paused or listened to repeatedly. Unfortunately, “research on audiobooks is rare” (Have and Pedersen 2016, 5) and “the vast majority of articles and studies of audiobooks with young people is largely anecdotal and not of a scholarly nature” (Brock 2013, 24).

Works cited:

Anderson, R., Hiebert, E., Scott, J. & Wilkinson, I. Becoming a nation of readers: The Report on the Commission on Reading. National Institute of Education, 1985.

Brock, R. M. Audiobooks and attitudes: An examination of school librarians’ perspectives. UMI Microform 3598459, ProQuest LLC, 2013.

Grover, S. & Hannegan, L. D. “Not Just for Listening: Integrating Audiobooks into the Curriculum.” Book Links 14, no. 5 (2005): 16.

Grover, S. & Hannegan, L. D. Listening to learn: Audiobooks supporting literacy. American Library Association, 2012.

Have, I. & Pedersen, B. S. Digital Audiobooks: New Media, Users, and Experiences. Taylor & Francis, 2016.

Wolfson, G. “Using audiobooks to meet the needs of adolescent readers.” American Secondary Education 36, no. 2 (2008): 105-114.

Tales2go and WestEd study

I recently requested a copy of a 2016 study about audiobooks distributed by Tales2go. The study is entitled ‘How Listening Drives Improvement in Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension.’ The Tales2go professional development coordinator explained in the accompanying email that, “The study was designed to determine the effect of adding a listening component to literacy instruction, specifically the impact on student vocabulary, reading comprehension and motivation to read.”

Tales2go contracted WestEd to conduct the study and the resulting report is essentially a marketing brochure for Tales2go. The study tested grade 2 and 3 students, who attended an after-school program for a minimum of three days per week in the San Francisco Bay area, in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary and reading motivation. “In second grade, 65 and 62 students were randomized to the Treatment and Control conditions respectively. In third grade, 41 and 46 students were randomized to the Treatment and Control conditions respectively” (p. 10). The study found test score increases in all three areas for the students who listened to Tales2go, compared to students who did not have access to Tales2go. As noted in the abstract of the linked study, “While not statistically significant, due to a limited sample size, the study effects were educationally meaningful and consistently positive across all measures” (p. 1).

Tales2go prides itself as a model that provides simultaneous streaming access to children’s audiobooks and the program delivery proved reliable during the study period. Participants listened for an average of about 600 minutes to Tales2go during the entire study of 8-10 weeks.

Clearly, this was a limited study that was funded by an audiobook vendor to promote their product.