Interactivity and multimodality in language learning: the untapped potential of audiobooks

In this work, we present three case studies, involving classes in primary and secondary schools, in Denmark. The studies, conducted in the past 2 years, show how audio content can be generated and shared among teachers and learners, how audio material can be made more interactive to offer fruition similar to that of digital games, and how language learning can benefit from adding a social dimension to audiobooks. All case studies were conducted in a user-centered fashion and build on social semiotics, in which interactive audiobooks are seen as providing new ways to receive, interpret, and share literary texts. Local primary and secondary schools were involved in ethnographic user studies and qualitative evaluations with semi-functioning prototypes. In the main case study presented, social interaction was chosen as key feature to allow high-school students and teachers to annotate audiobooks, then share and comment on the annotations; the social context in this case is a digitally augmented English teaching class. To better investigate the potential of sharable audiobook annotations, we also created a mockup supporting the workflow of the main case study, using standard YouTube annotations and freely available audiobooks. The findings and technical solutions explored in the three studies are the basis for design guidelines aiming at making audiobooks interactive and better integrated in learning contexts.