What do you think?

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My first inclination was no. Audiobooks are an auditory stimulus and reading is a visual stimulus. They use different parts of the brain and demand different levels of focus. So, if you asked me a few days ago, I would’ve told you no, I don’t believe audiobooks would be considered reading.

However, in preparing this poll, I got curious and did some research. What I learned surprised me, and now  I feel the answer is not so cut and dry.

Ancient audiobooks?

One article I read from Fairfax County library in Virginia, pointed out that oral storytelling is an ancient human tradition. In fact, oral storytelling predates written language—by a lot! Cultures have been passing along wisdom, legends, and belief systems long before written language existed.

This took me back to my high school days, learning about Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and heroic archetypes. The Epic of Gilgamesh is arguably the oldest example of written literature we have today. This set of clay tablets are over 3,600 years old and tell the story of an actual king, Gilgamesh of Uruk, who ruled in what is now modern day Iraq. But as old as these tablets are, the Epic of Gilgamesh was undoubtedly shared orally even before it was written down.

There’s also evidence that Beowulf, the oldest surviving example of English literature was either an oral poem first, or composed by a poet who practiced traditional oral recitation.

Remember the classic Greek myths, the Iliad and the Odyssey? They were also oral poems.

The list goes on and on. A strong practice of oral storytelling existed among the Native American tribes of North America, the peoples in sub-Saharan West Africa, Hawaii, Ireland, Israel, and the Aborigines of Australia. This author is now convinced that a few minutes of dedicated Google searching will probably turn out records of oral storytelling practices on every continent of our planet.

Fun fact: some of the oldest records of storytelling come from the Aborigines. Called Dreamtime stories, these oral tales shared the accumulated knowledge of Aboriginal culture, spirituality, and wisdom. Songlines are particularly cool! They are paths across the land that describe landmarks, water sources, and other natural features as well as the laws, rules, and ceremonies of the people living on that tract of land.

So, if you consider audiobooks oral storytelling, this is a concept that has been rooted in humanity throughout our history.

What’s the appeal of audiobooks?

Now that we have written language and awesome inventions, like the printing press, print on demand, and Ebooks, why would someone choose to listen to a story when they could read it?

Generally, most people read faster than they can speak. So, listening to an audiobook takes up valuable time. However, the popularity of audiobooks is steadily increasing. A 2019 Pew Study showed that the number of adults reading print or Ebooks has declined while the percentage of audiobook listeners is rising.

Most fans of audiobooks point out that audiobooks allow them to multitask. Commuters can listen to books while driving or taking the train. Other people listen to audiobooks while working out, doing dishes, folding laundry, you name it.

If you’re reading a print or Ebook, it requires your visual attention, making it difficult to focus on anything else at the same time.

So, let’s ask another important question.

Does listening to an audiobook affect your comprehension?

This is where it gets a little tricky. Reading activates the parts of your brain that understand letters, the flow of words and areas that accept and retain information. Actively listening to audiobooks activates areas of our brain involved in listening comprehension, linguistic processing, and mental imagery.

That’s active listening. If you’re zoning out or multi-tasking, you may be missing out on these benefits. Even simple tasks like driving or folding laundry take up enough of our attention to reduce the benefits we’d get from listening to an audiobook.

Researches did notice that audiobooks may cause listeners to engage more with imagination and mental images while listening to a story. When reading a story, the parts of our brain that process visual stimuli are already engaged analyzing all those letter combinations and word meanings, giving us less processing ability to form mental pictures.

A 2016 study by Beth Rogowsky found “no significant difference in comprehension between reading, listening, or reading and listening simultaneously” while studying users of Ebooks vs audiobooks. However, a 2010 study found that content may play a significant role in comprehension. When listening to a narrative text, the difference in comprehension between readers and listeners was negligible, but when the material was highly technical, listeners performed significantly worse on comprehension tests afterwards.

So comprehension could be affected by the type of material you’re listening to.

What about Ebooks?

Can’t go anywhere without your Ereader?

There’s also evidence that reading books on electronic devices results in less comprehension and learning than reading a print book. One reason for this could be that printed text is anchored to specific locations on the page, which seems to aid people in remembering what they’ve read. Ebooks and audiobooks don’t provide these helpful spatial cues that seem to aid memorization.

Another issue is that printed books allow you to gauge where you are in the book. You can physically see if you’re at the beginning, middle or end.

How does this help with comprehension? 

Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, says “As you’re reading a narrative, the sequence of events is important, and knowing where you are in a book helps you build that arc of narrative.” Ebooks and audiobooks can display what percentage of the book you have remaining, but it doesn’t seem to be as effective.

What are the benefits of audiobooks vs reading?

Audiobooks and oral storytelling are great for children and second-language learners. They can help with listening comprehension, language development, and vocabulary. There’s also evidence to suggest that audiobooks can be beneficial to people with anxiety or depression by helping them reframe their thoughts, focus on new content rather than negative or anxious thoughts.

In addition to its immense educational potential, reading has also been shown to increase concentration, sleep, and the ability to focus.

What about people who can’t read?

Would you tell a blind man using braille to read a book that it doesn’t count because he’s not using his eyes?

I certainly wouldn’t!

That thought made me stop and reconsider my take on audiobooks. For some people, audiobooks may be the only way they’re able to read. And even if listening to books is just their preference, who am I to say it’s cheating or doesn’t count just because my preferences are different.

I love reading paperback books. Always have. Always will. My house is bursting at the seams with piles of them. But after all the research I’ve done, I’ve found that my definition of “reading” has expanded a little.

How about you?

References & Further Reading

• https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/books/editor-s-picks/do-audiobooks-count-as-reading

• https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branch-out/audiobook-listening-considered-reading

• https://time.com/5388681/audiobooks-reading-books/

• https://bookriot.com/the-neuroscience-of-audiobooks/

• https://danielaparkes.com/blog/brief-history-of-storytelling/

• https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/storytelling-and-cultural-traditions/

• https://www.britannica.com/story/what-was-the-first-book-ever-written

• https://australianstorytelling.org.au/storytelling-articles/australian-aboriginal-storytelling-helen-mckay

• https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/songlines-important-aboriginal-art/

• https://ancient-literature.com/why-is-beowulf-important/

• https://www.vpl.ca/what-do-i-read-next/news/2017/vaults-epic-gilgamesh