In this degree project we present a way to construct a synchronization system that is able to create a timings file, which is the file the system uses to know how to sync the eBook and audiobook, using speech recognition and estimation algorithms. This file is then used by the system to let the user select a sentence and have the audiobook start reading from that sentence, or vice versa. This system can create these files with a mean offset from a manu-ally timed file which is within our expectations for the system. We use estimation algorithms to fill in the blanks where the speech recognition falls short. Speech recognition accuracy is typically between 40-60%, sometimes dipping lower, so there are blanks to fill in. Using basic algebraic principles of calculating velocity we can ex-trapolate the speed of a reader, using the duration of the audiobook as the time and the amount of characters written as the distance. For increased accuracy we derive this value on a per-chapter basis. Using this method we are able to create accurate files, which the user can use to freely sync any location in the book. Our system is designed to work for any book in the world that does not have an audiobook which cuts off between sentences in the audio files. We manually create timings files for four different books with widely varying publishing dates, author styles, reader style and gender to create as wide and representative a testing pool as possible for the project

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 6, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-85).

The increased popularity of listening to audiobooks has influenced the discussion of literacy, pressuring the educational system to adjust accordingly. This study investigates if the audiobook is being used as a teaching tool in the upper secondary, SLA classroom and what attitude teachers have toward using audiobooks in their teaching as well as the reasons behind their attitudes. This research also investigates whether there is a correlation between age or student program and the usage of audiobooks. To gather data, a questionnaire was sent out to 46 English language teachers in upper secondary school in Halland. The questionnaire included open-ended questions which resulted in qualitative answers from 28 participants. The retrieved result proved that most upper secondary school English teachers are using the audiobook as a teaching tool, however, the reason for their usage differed. Some participants, who did not make use of the audiobook in their classroom still had a positive attitude towards using it and could present many beneficial aspects of it. The result contradicts the initial hypothesis about teachers showing reluctance using audiobooks in their teaching.

Denna studie innefattar en enkätundersökning på en gymnasieskola i Västra Götaland kring elevers attityder till bruket av ljudböcker, vilket kopplas samman med motivation för läsning av skönlitteratur. Enkätundersökningen genomfördes i skolan, tillsammans med närvarande lärare och var anonym. Samtliga respondenter blev således informerade om anonymiteten. Studien lyfter vad en ljudbok är, vad motivation som begrepp innebär i sammanhanget, samt hur de tillfrågade elevernas attityder till ljudbokens plats i skolan är. I samband med detta lyfts även högläsningens tradition i skolan då lyssnandet till uppläst text är en tradition i den svenska skolan som sträcker sig långt tillbaka. Resultatet av enkäten uppvisar en generellt positiv inställning till bruket av ljudböcker, oavsett relativt låga erfarenheter av det sedan tidigare. Då majoriteten av respondenter indikerar att de vill öka intaget av ljudböcker i skolan, tillsammans med fysiska böcker indikerar det en möjlighet till införande av ljudböcker som metod för att nå motivation för läsning av skönlitteratur skolan. / This study reveals attitudes among pupils in upper secondary school about the usage of audiobooks and its connection with motivation about reading fiction. The data material is gathered through poll surveys that takes place in an upper secondary school in the Västra Götaland county. The poll survey participants were informed about that the survey was anonymous and were accompanied by a teacher while doing it. In the study the concept of motivation, and audiobooks are discussed. Further more the study discusses the Swedish tradition of listening to fiction read aloud. This has to do with the usage of audiobooks as it’s an extension of that, since it has to do with a recorded reading of a book. The result reveals patterns pointing out positive attitudes among the pupils. This is due to the majority of answers that points to a desire of increased usage of audiobooks in school. The connection of audio books and motivation is therefore revealed in the results as the majority of pupils answer that they wish for an increased usage of audiobooks together with physical books. This could be interpreted as that the usage of audiobooks could work as an incentive for pupils to read fiction.

Perhaps nothing explains the concept of interactive stories better than The road not taken by Robert Frost. His poem tells the story of a man following a road through the woods, when he comes to a fork in the road. Which way should he go? And how will this choice affect the rest of his life? In an interactive story, the author expands their story along multiple branches, and invites the reader to choose for themselves which path to take. They can also restart the story to go back and see what would lie down that other road. When an interactive story is played on a smartphone, there are additional ways of making those choices besides simply using vocal input. For example, going left or right at a fork in the road could be done by walking left or right, so that the phone's positioning service detects a change in position. A long journey could require the user to wait until the next day to find out what happens.  Based on an existing system for creating and playing interactive stories, we added new interaction possibilities for the listener and made the creation of stories easier by improving the user interface and adding features. / Kanske förklarar ingenting begreppet interaktiva berättelser bättre än The road not taken av Robert Frost. Hans dikt berättar historien om en man som följer en väg genom skogen, när han kommer fram till ett vägskäl. Vilken väg ska han gå? Och hur kommer detta val att påverka resten av hans liv? I en interaktiv berättelse expanderar författaren sin berättelse längs flera grenar och uppmanar läsaren att själv välja vilken väg att gå. De kan också starta om historien för att gå tillbaka och se vad som skulle ligga längs den andra vägen. När en interaktiv historia spelas på en smartphone finns det ytterligare sätt att göra dessa val, utöver röst. Till exempel kan man välja vänster eller höger vid ett vägskäl genom att själv gå åt vänster eller höger, så att telefonens platstjänst upptäcker en förändring i position. En lång resa kan kräva att användaren väntar till nästa dag för att få reda på vad som händer sen. Baserat på ett befintligt system för att skapa och spela interaktiva historier har vi lagt till nya interaktionsmöjligheter för lyssnaren och gjort skapandet av berättelser lättare genom att förbättra användargränssnittet och lagt till nya funktioner.

The demand for audiobooks is higher than ever--and increasing each year, surpassing the growth rate of electronic books, print books, and the US economy overall. Audiobooks have long been used to aid adolescent and struggling readers; however, recent studies have revealed that the majority of audiences consume audiobooks for the purpose of entertainment and relaxation. Despite this, much of the research available on audiobooks still applies to audiobooks as they are used in education. The purpose of this study was to understand the attitudes, opinions, and beliefs of people who love listening to audiobooks. The study was conducted using Q methodology, a behavioral research approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods in order to measure audience perspectives. The results produced four factors: (a) Busy Bookworms, who listen because they do not have time to sit down and read; (b) Non-Readers, who enjoy audiobooks because they dislike reading physical books; (c) Experience Lovers, who listen so they can be immersed in a world of their own; and (d) Entertainment Seekers, who view audiobooks as a reward to motivate them to accomplish mundane daily tasks. The results of this study also revealed nuanced multitasking behaviors, as well as psychological gratifications for audiobook consumption.

This is a study about English teachers’ use of audiobooks when working with literature in upper secondary school. This study investigates to what extent and in what ways teachers use audiobooks as well as their attitudes toward them as a teaching tool. This research study also investigates whether teachers believe that audiobooks have a positive effect on students’ reading motivation. The study was conducted through a mixed-method questionnaire, which 24 participating teachers in Sweden answered. The study shows that most teachers are using audiobooks in their literature teaching, hence having an overall positive attitude towards them. However, the reasons for using them vary among the participants. The findings reveal that participating teachers find audiobooks helpful for improving students’ reading and listening comprehension, pronunciation, and reading accuracy. Further, teachers believe that audiobooks help students to show more engagement with the literature, but that they do not have much effect on increasing students’ motivation to read. The results of this study provide insight into some English teachers’ opinions and attitudes toward the audiobook as a teaching tool and this may help other English teachers make better informed choices when they want to incorporate the audiobook into their literature teaching.

This paper aims to investigate how audiobooks can be used didactically in the EFL classroom. The research questions are: “How do EFL students perceive and visualize the storyworld when listening to audiobooks?”, “Does EFL students’ comprehension differ when listening to an audiobook as opposed to reading a printed book”, and lastly, “What are the benefits of using audiobooks didactically in an EFL classroom?”. A mixed method has been used in conducting a survey with the participation of 30 ninth graders from Östergårdsskolan in Halmstad. The survey is divided into three parts where the first two parts are based on Neil Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book and the third part focuses on the students’ attitudes towards audiobooks. This paper will draw on the theories of Judith Langer, Lars Elleström as well as those of Iben Have and Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen. The survey used in this paper is theoretically founded on Langer’s five stances of envisionment. The students were divided into two groups where the control group read a printed passage and the other group listened to the passage. The results indicate that the participants had a positive attitude towards audiobooks as they found such affordances as hearing the pronunciation as well as being able to multitask. Previous research indicates that there are didactical advantages of using audiobooks with students. This paper suggests that with the increased growth of digitization, audiobooks should be considered as a learning tool in the EFL classroom.

The streaming of audiobooks is a new and fast-growing phenomenon amongst Swedish consumers. There exists a lack of knowledge on this topic as it is previously unexplored within academia. As the audiobook streaming services are growing it is important for providers and competitors to understand the key factors determining usage intention from an end-user’s perspective. This thesis therefore examines what factors influence end-user’s adoption of audiobook streaming-services, the examination extends both for consumers intention to begin using as well as continue using the service. Factors related to the end-user’s usage intention were explored and identified in a Swedish context. A theoretical model consisting of eight hypotheses was constructed to examine the relationships between five variables. The model is based on previous literature of technology adoption and in particular the technology acceptance model (TAM). Additional theory was gathered on previous research on similar technologies such consumers adoption of E-books and E-readers. To achieve the research purpose of the thesis, a quantitative method was used and data was gathered through an online questionnaire with 935 (769 valid) responses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used with RStudio to test the collected data on our theoretical model. The results showcased that our model was successful in explaining key factors influencing usage intention. The findings indicate that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use influence usage intention positively, while end-user’s attachment to paper books and reading impact usage intention negatively. Further results and the implications of these results are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a selected group of educators work with and experience the use of audiobooks and read-alouds at preschool. The study is focused on how educators reflect about and work with audiobooks and read-alouds and whether there has been any change in the use of audiobooks at preschool, with the increasing popularity of audiobooks in society. The study rests on interviews conducted with a total of four educators from two preschools. The results show that the educators believe that read-alouds are an important part of children's language development, while audiobooks are seen as a complement to the read-alouds. The result also shows that audiobooks are rarely or never used in the preschool activities while read-alouds are taking into practice at least once a day, often more. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka en utvald grupp pedagogers arbete och erfarenheter av ljudböcker respektive högläsning på förskolan. Undersökningen fokuserar på hur pedagoger tänker och arbetar med ljudböcker respektive högläsning samt om det skett någon förändring i användandet av ljudböcker på förskolan i och med ljudböckernas ökande popularitet i samhället. Studien vilar på intervjuer som genomförts med totalt fyra pedagoger från två förskolor. Resultatet visar att pedagogerna anser att högläsning är en viktig del av barns språkutveckling medan ljudböcker ses som ett komplement till högläsningen. Resultatet visar även att ljudböcker sällan eller aldrig används i verksamheten medan högläsning sker minst en gång per dag, ofta mer.