Do Audiobooks Count As Reading?

Reading is a bit of a sticky subject nowadays. It seems to be becoming less popular among adults and children—particularly those in secondary education and higher. It’s not just the amount of reading that is decreasing, but the level of challenge as well. This year’s What Kids Are Reading report, made up of data from Renaissance Star Reading and Accelerated Reader, canvassed over 6,000 schools and over a million students to come to startling conclusions. The number of books read by students is down by 4.4%.

A high number of secondary students are still reading at the same level as primary students. It’s a bit of a worrying trend, isn’t it? Now, it’s easy to lay the blame at the feet of TikTok, too many screens, and the last throes of COVID, but maybe there’s a simpler explanation here with an equally simple solution. Yes, attention spans may be waning, and even adults are turning away from reading. The problem is our means of accessibility. And yet, the most accessible way of enjoying a book is often looked down upon: audiobooks are considered by many as ‘not proper reading’ and are either looked down upon by the more literary-capable or ignored by those who struggle to read. Why?

Simply put, we’re doing the one thing we’re told not to do: judging a book by its cover. Or in this case, its lack of one. The idea that audiobooks are cheating and don’t count as ‘proper’ reading stems from its ease and the lack of seeing the words on the page. Teachers don’t like them because they won’t help you with your spelling, while avid readers will argue that the act of reading engages your brain more, as you have to voice dialogue in your mind’s eye. Tell that to those who don’t have an internal monologue.

More Than One Way To Read

To understand the benefits of aural reading and how it is a viable way to read and a great opportunity to re-engage reluctant readers, we need to look at the different ways we read. There are three ways to do it:

Sub-vocalisation: sounding out each word internally, reading it yourself. This happens at an average pace of 250 words per minute. This is how we first start to read.
Aural (or auditory): hearing it read out loud, as in an audiobook. This is faster, at a rate of 450 per minute.
Visual: this is the ‘traditional’ way to do it. Visual readers recognise the shape of the words and understand the meaning. This is the fastest way, at an average of 700 words per minute.
Obviously, visual reading is the fastest and most efficient way to do it. It is also the most common and generally expected way for people to read in education. But what about those readers who struggle with the likes of dyslexia? They tend to stay subvocalising for much longer, and that puts a barrier between them and more challenging texts and can ultimately put them off reading altogether. Then there are those without an internal monologue, who merely see words on a page because they can’t add the drama of voices and intonation in their imaginations. This is where aural reading—and audiobooks—can be a really big help to those who struggle. By having the story read to them, they can simply enjoy it without having to exert the extra effort needed to simply enjoy the story. Sarcasm is a lot easier to pick up on when you hear it instead of reading it, as the actor can deliver that subtle shift in their tone or cadence, while Shakespeare said aloud is a lot better than trying to wrestle your way through Elizabethan English.

This isn’t to say people should exclusively enjoy audiobooks. But they are a perfectly legitimate way to access literature. In an educational setting, listening to them alongside the written text is just as viable as simply reading the book. I’d argue even better, as expression can alter the meaning of a sentence. To frown upon audiobooks or to not consider them as “proper reading” is a mistake.

The View Of An Expert

If you’re still not convinced, here are some insightful takes from a couple of established authors on why audiobooks are great. In response to literary critic Harold Bloom, prolific author Stephen King responds to his opinion that audiobooks don’t class as reading: This is his rather candid response to Entertainment Weekly: “Some critics — the always tiresome Harold Bloom among them — claim that listening to audiobooks isn’t reading. I couldn’t disagree more. In some ways, audio perfects reading. But man, when these things are good, they are really good. A Charles Dickens novel read by the late David Case is something you can almost bathe in. A suspense novel is more suspenseful — especially in the hands of a good reader — because your eye can’t jump ahead and see what happens next.”

Audiobooks Are Here To Stay

Audiobooks aren’t to be ignored, they are a means to make the inaccessible accessible. They are a tool to capture the attention and imaginations of those readers who are disengaged. So if you are a reluctant reader, the next time you reach for Spotify, or half an hour before you go to bed, why not try yourself an audiobook instead? There are plenty of them out there—good ones too. And, to quote King again, they don’t call it storytelling for nothing.