Audiobooks with scaffolding improve vocabulary in elementary students

Vocabulary knowledge is foundational to educational success, but significant gaps exist between students with reading disabilities or those from disadvantaged backgrounds 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 text-supplemented audiobooks, either alone or with scaffolded instructional support. Third and fourth-grade students (N = 314, age: mean (SD) = 9.47(0.57) 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 book-specific vocabulary, while the active control group showed no improvement. The effectiveness of the intervention varied by reading ability and socioeconomic status (SES): poor readers benefited only when audiobooks were paired with one-on-one scaffolding, whereas children from lower-SES backgrounds showed modest, nonsignificant gains from audiobook access alone and did not experience additional benefits from scaffolding. 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. SUMMARY: Children successfully learned new vocabulary words by engaging with text-supplemented audiobooks. Vocabulary gains were largest amongst students who additionally received one-on-one remote scaffolding sessions throughout the intervention period. Poor readers only benefited when text-supplemented audiobooks were paired with one-on-one instructional support. Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds showed smaller, nonsignificant gains from either component, suggesting a need for additional support to achieve comparable vocabulary growth.