New research project investigates whether adults still read aloud

Dr Sam Duncan has been awarded an AHRC Fellowship for her new research project, 'Reading Aloud in Britain Today' (RABiT).

The project is interested in to what extent adults across Britain read aloud in our 'real lives', aiming to record and analyse as wide a range of adult reading aloud practices as possible.

As Dr Duncan explains:

"The word 'reading' these days is often understood to mean silent reading, with reading aloud seen as only a tool in the development of the end goal of silent, individual, 'grown-up' reading. I want to question this and explore the reading aloud practices that adults across Britain may perform for different purposes and in different contexts, with others or completely alone.

"This project aims to examine the reading practices that are not so often talked about - the invisible or overlooked practices - challenging and expanding dominant discourses of what reading really is and involves."

The two-year project will launch in June and is in partnership with the British Library, The Reading Agency, the Mass Observation Archive and the Learning and Work Institute. 

The research will take place across England, Wales and Scotland as a Mass Observation directive, survey and series of interviews with adults from urban and rural areas, as well as different linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Links

• Dr Sam Duncan's research profile

Image

• Reading (courtesy of Sam Greenhalgh via Flickr).