A new study suggests many parents remain sceptical about audiobooks — even as experts say they can be just as beneficial for children as traditional reading.
Research involving 2,000 parents of children aged between three and 12 found that four in 10 parents consider listening to audiobooks to be a form of “cheating” compared with reading a physical book.
The findings showed that 35% of parents do not believe hearing a story has the same educational impact as reading from printed pages. However, education and parenting expert Cathy Walker has pushed back on that perception, arguing that listening to stories can be just as valuable for a child’s development.
According to Walker, audiobooks still expose children to a wide range of language and storytelling, helping them absorb new words and expand their vocabulary in much the same way as traditional reading.
Despite lingering doubts among some parents, the study also found that a significant majority — 94% — of parents said their children do listen to audiobooks.
Interestingly, boys were found to be the bigger adopters, with male children more likely than girls to gravitate towards audiobooks.
The research also highlighted a divide in how parents view the effectiveness of listening versus reading. Around 39% of parents believe children absorb more information from reading a book than from listening to an audiobook.
However, not everyone agrees with that view. Three in 10 parents said they believe the opposite is true.
In fact, 37% of parents reported that their child’s comprehension is actually better when listening to a story than when reading one themselves.
Many parents have also noticed improvements in other areas of development since introducing audiobooks into their children’s routines.
Around 40% said audiobooks help with pronunciation, as hearing words spoken aloud can make it easier for children to understand how they should sound.
Meanwhile, 47% of parents believe audiobooks help improve their child’s listening skills, while 44% said they have seen a noticeable improvement in those abilities since their son or daughter began listening to stories regularly.
Parents also reported wider literacy benefits linked to audiobooks. Thirty-eight per cent said their child’s vocabulary had improved, while 29% noticed improvements in spelling and grammar.
In addition, 23% of parents said audiobooks had sparked a greater interest in reading overall, suggesting that listening to stories could encourage children to engage more with books in general.
The research, carried out via OnePoll, points to a growing role for audiobooks in children’s learning and entertainment — even if some parents remain unconvinced about how they compare with traditional reading.
