Lisa is in third grade and her favourite subjects are maths and PE. However, she finds German lessons a little difficult, especially reading out loud in front of the class. She often falters, slips up with longer words or breaks off. In her free time, she prefers to pick up a ball rather than a book. But that can still change, as she is only just starting to read. Primary school teacher Guido Nottbusch and his team have developed the "Voculus" app for children like Lisa, who are not making such good progress in learning to read. This is an audio ebook reader that is synchronised to the hundredth of a second with an audio book for the respective text in order to display markings when reading along. The advantage is that the reading speed can be customised.
The audio books for this are synchronised with the reading texts by the researchers themselves. They are supported by software. And yet this takes a lot of patience: one minute in the audiobook corresponds to 15 to 20 minutes of work with the phonetics software. Another problem is choosing the right book.
The "reading while listening" method originally comes from the USA. However, the development of reading fluency has only been an issue in German-speaking countries for around 15 years. Guido Nottbusch cites a German study conducted by German scholar Steffen Gailberger in 2013, which focussed on the "reading while listening" method: in the first version of "reading with audio books", loudspeakers were set up in the classroom and all children listened and read together - at the same speed. "Some dropped out because they couldn't keep up," says the primary school teacher. This gave rise to the idea of adapting the reading speed to each individual child.
Vorleser.net and Ohrka.de are two sources from which the team can obtain fairy tales or "The Jungle Book", for example. The audio books are usually read by professional actors such as Anke Engelke or Stefan Kaminski, from whose clear pronunciation and intonation the children can benefit.
But what is the difference between reading on a tablet and reading a book? "There are tentative indications that it is more fleeting on the screen than on paper," says Nottbusch. However, this observation is not yet backed up by solid data. "The main advantage of the app is that it helps children with reading problems right from the start, because reading with listening support is much easier," emphasises the researcher.
The researchers are currently investigating how Voculus is received and works with girls and boys in a study involving 24 classes from nine schools - in Potsdam, Jüterbog, Teltow and other locations in Brandenburg. Almost 600 pupils are testing the app for five weeks. During so-called free reading times, they use Voculus on an iOS or Android tablet, while a control group in the parallel class also reads in the app but without listening support. In the experiments, the research team expects positive effects mainly for children who are weaker readers. They will also be asked at the end whether they are now more interested in reading a book. Ultimately, the app should have a positive effect on their self-efficacy and motivation to read. It is particularly important for those who receive little support from their families to have equal learning opportunities.
Public interest in the app is now broad and diverse. The Potsdam team realised this when they presented Voculus at the Leipzig Book Fair. "Parents with children came by, as did specialists in dyslexia and, of course, teachers. Some even contributed great ideas for the app," reports Guido Nottbusch, praising the excellent support provided by Potsdam Transfer's trade fair service. "We networked very well. The audio book publishers, with whom we were able to make contacts and hold discussions, were and are very important to us."
Potsdam Transfer had supported the Voculus project from the very beginning: in 2021, Guido Nottbusch received funding for knowledge and technology transfer in the form of the university's FöWiTec prize. The associated start-up counselling was also helpful, as the Voculus app is set to become its own company in the long term. Until then, however, a few milestones still need to be reached: The app is initially to be activated for all schools in Brandenburg and then made available free of charge throughout Germany. Until now, children have had to register via their teachers. This is also set to change: Nottbusch wants the app to be opened up for private use in the long term so that it can support even more children with reading difficulties. Even children whose favourite subject is not necessarily German could then perhaps swap the ball for a tablet and headphones from time to time and immerse themselves in reading and listening to a story.
This article was published in the university magazine Portal Transfer 2024.