Remote text-supplemented audiobook intervention supports children’s explicit and incidental vocabulary learning

Vocabulary knowledge is foundational to educational success, but significant gaps exist between students from disadvantaged backgrounds or those with reading disabilities and their peers. These gaps have cascading effects, as children with lower vocabulary knowledge are less likely to acquire new words through independent reading and are less responsive to vocabulary instruction methods like read-alouds and explicit teaching. The effectiveness of explicit instruction relies on individualization, which typically places substantial demands on educators and thereby hinders the adoption of evidence-based methods. A potential solution is using audiobooks supplemented by explicit and individualized remote instruction from paraprofessionals. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) intervention study in which children listened to audiobooks along with text, either alone or with scaffolded instructional support. Third and fourth-grade students (N = 314, age: mean (SD) = 9.47(.56) years) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (Audiobooks-Only, Audiobooks+Scaffold, or active control) for 8 weeks. Participants in the two audiobook intervention groups showed significant improvements in receptive and expressive vocabulary, while the active control group showed no improvement. The effectiveness of the intervention varied based on reading ability and socioeconomic status (SES): poor readers benefited only in the Audiobooks+Scaffold group, whereas children from lower-SES backgrounds improved with audiobook access alone, especially if they were already proficient readers. Additionally, the Audiobooks+Scaffold group spent more time listening to recommended audiobooks during the study. These findings suggest that text-supplemented audiobooks, particularly when combined with personalized support, can be a valuable tool for supporting vocabulary development in struggling readers.