Reading aloud has many benefits: it can improve reading confidence, it can help literacy learners get to grips with the relationships between the words on the page and the sounds they make, and it establishes literacy in a communicative context. We’ve enjoyed sharing stories with friends and families long before the advent of written language, and it’s a huge part of our major creative traditions all over the world.   

For some people, however, reading aloud isn’t as simple as picking up the nearest book and launching into the narrative. For readers who have dyslexia or other reading differences, the prospect of reading aloud can be one that’s filled with anxiety. Having to read under pressure, in front of peers or under time constraints, can make people feel averse to reading aloud in general, especially if they feel like there’s the potential they’ll ‘read something wrong’ or ‘make a mistake’.   

That’s where reading support can help. It's important to remember that ‘reading aloud’ doesn’t always have to mean you’re always the one doing the reading and making the sounds—tech can support and guide us, too. 

How text-to-speech can support reading aloud 

Text-to-speech is a popular form of assistive technology that inspires and supports readers worldwide, helping them overcome barriers that might be present between themselves and the words on any given page. Devices interpret printed words or online written materials and feed them back to the reader using a clear audio voice, helping them interpret them and build their understanding of words and the sounds they make. 

Text-to-speech technology has the power to… 

✅ Inspire anxious readers by creating a model they can follow. By following up a text-to-speech voice with their own, it creates a pattern for them to learn from and a word-sound guide for the text on the page. It’s easier to do something if you’ve already heard it done, and it can eliminate a lot of anxiety from the read-aloud experience.   

✅ Help English Language Learners get to grips with their new language. Providing a model for learners who may have come from entirely different language families with different letter sounds, alphabets and manners of pronunciation. It can be helpful to hear words aloud to get accustomed to sound patterning and pronunciation. 

✅ Help learners develop fluency when reading, and start building out word-reading into sentence-reading. Text-to-speech is a powerful tool when fostering confidence to take on bigger and more complex text, as learners feel safe in the knowledge that they have a support mechanism to guide them.  

✅ Improve relationships with books and foster reading confidence. By breaking down the anxiety barriers and allowing young people the ability to self-support with text-to-speech, we’re de-mystifying the act of reading so a reader can take on problem-solving themselves. 

✅ Promote inclusion: text-to-speech tech can open doors for learners with dyslexia, literacy differences, and even those who have a physical disability or visual impairment—meaning everybody can enjoy independent reading, not just the strong and confident readers.   

Boost your read-aloud potential with C-Pen Reader 2! 

C-Pen Reader 2is an award-winning assistive reading aid that uses AI-led text-to-speech to support developing readers. It’s as simple as scanning a sentence on the page and hearing it spoken through the earbuds. You can even lookup dictionary definitions, scan words to file, and customize both speaking speed and language to fit your needs.