READING ALOUD: AN INSTRUCTIONAL MEANS IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL AGE TO ENHANCE EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE ERA OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIP

One important factor that can make a teacher's lesson successful is the effective use of media. Media refers to visual, audio, and audio-visual forms of communication and their accompanying technology. Media often overlaps with terms like teaching aids, instructional materials, educational media, communication aids, learning resources, learning media, and instructional tools. They can be categorized according to the senses they appeal to, such as visual, audio, and audio-visual media. Visual media include posters, charts, slides, pictures, books, silent films, and chalkboards. Conversely, audio media include radio, audio recordings, and the human voice. Media can teach, stimulate interest, provide instruction through diverse senses, serve as effective substitutes for direct contact with the environment, and contribute to effective education. Media also simplify learning and enhance knowledge retention. Reading aloud can naturally occur through the efforts of a live reader; it can also be mediated through voice recordings, a form of audio media. Printed books can be converted into audio format, commonly known as audiobooks. Audiobooks serve as instructional tools to enhance effective teaching and learning. Nowadays, economic hardship is preventing parents from providing reading materials for their children. The availability of texts in audio format offers relief for learners and their parents, thereby enhancing the teaching and learning process. This paper seeks to examine reading aloud as an instructional means for effective teaching and learning in the context of economic hardship by considering the relationship between economic hardship and the teaching- learning process, reading aloud and audiobooks, as well as technology and reading integration. The benefits of audiobooks in enhancing reading aloud, as well as recommendations, are also discussed. Audiobooks have significant effects on reading comprehension and motivation among learners in general, and particularly for students with special needs, with a positive impact on student achievement.