Listening to an audiobook by itself does not count as reading. Students who have learning disabilities or difficulties with reading comprehension should be allowed the tool of using an audiobook on the condition that they follow along with the actual book as they listen. Student test scores in highschools have proven that students that read material perform better during standardized testing rather than those who simply listened to instructions or audiobooks. It is important for students to read rather than using an audiobook because listening is a weaker form of academic material absorption, and audio learning is not a form of reading. reading requires the brain to engage more hevaily and comprehend the material at a rate audiobooks can not.

while audiobooks can make the experience more enjoyable for students, they should also be following along with the book if they feel that listening to an audiobook is necessary to absorb the material effectively. it is important for students to have the ability to read and comprehend material as they do so, rather than relying on listening in order to learn. making children read rather than using audiobooks ensures that they remain and increae their literacy and reading comprehension, while audiobooks only provide information with no literacy benefit.

audiobooks are not inherently a bad form of absorbing information, reading the material can just convey literary elements that listening can’t fully express. seeing the information on paper is helpful to many students when analyzing a book for literary elements, and it can be easy to miss important details or elements when listening to an audiobook without reading along to the material. an audiobook can help many children learn, but without following along to a book, it widely does not have the same academic benefits. my opponent makes a fair point about those who absorb the information through sound, and this can still be done while following along with the words in the book. it is important for students to be comfortable with reading, and audiobooks should be used to help with that, not as a replacement for reading altogether.