In a world saturated with podcasts and audiobooks, a common question arises: do we still need to read, or can we simply absorb all information through listening? As a language scientist, I study how our brains process both spoken and written language. While the ultimate goal of both activities is comprehension, the two are not identical. Neuroscience reveals that reading and listening engage distinct cognitive and biological processes. Neither is inherently superior; rather, each offers unique benefits and challenges. Understanding these differences is key to becoming a more effective learner, as they highlight why reading still matters even in a world where listening is a convenient and readily available option.
Different Brain Processes, Different Outcomes
Your brain uses some of the same core language systems for both reading and listening, but it also performs distinct functions depending on how you’re taking in information. When you read, your brain works at its own pace. It recognizes the visual shapes of letters, matches them to speech sounds, and then links those sounds to meaning. The visual structure of the text—things like punctuation, paragraph breaks, and bolded words—provides a roadmap that guides your comprehension. You have full control over the pace, allowing you to slow down, reread, or pause to process complex ideas.
Conversely, listening forces your brain to work at the speaker’s pace. Because spoken language is fleeting, your brain must rely heavily on your working memory to hold onto information as it is spoken. Speech is a continuous stream of sound, with words often blending together in a process called coarticulation. This requires your brain to quickly identify word boundaries and connect sounds to their meanings. Beyond just understanding the words, listening also requires your brain to process non-verbal cues like tone, emotion, and context to fully grasp the speaker’s message.
“Easier” Is Relative and Contextual
The common assumption that listening is easier than reading is often incorrect. Research shows that listening can actually be harder than reading, especially when the material is complex, technical, or unfamiliar. This is because reading offers a practical advantage: the ability to easily move around within the text. You can quickly reread a confusing sentence, highlight key points, or review a previous paragraph without interrupting the flow of information. A listener, on the other hand, must pause and rewind, a much less precise and more disruptive process.
The type of content also affects how the brain processes information. My research has shown that different genres rely on specialized neural networks. For example, fictional stories engage the brain’s networks involved in social understanding and storytelling, while non-fiction texts activate networks related to strategic thinking and goal-directed attention. However, for some individuals, such as those with developmental dyslexia, listening may indeed be easier. Dyslexia is a learning disability that primarily affects a person’s ability to decode written words, and listening allows the brain to bypass this difficult process to extract meaning directly from spoken language.
The Crucial Role of Engagement
A final, and perhaps most critical, factor to consider is engagement. Engagement refers to being mentally present, actively focusing, and connecting new ideas to what you already know. People often listen to audiobooks or podcasts while multitasking—exercising, cooking, or browsing the internet. This lack of focused attention can significantly hinder comprehension. When college students were asked to either read or listen to a podcast on their own time, the group that read the material performed significantly better on a quiz. Many of the students who listened admitted to multitasking, which confirms that paying attention is more vital for listening comprehension than for reading.
So, while listening is a convenient way to consume information, it is not a direct substitute for reading. Each activity offers a different cognitive experience and supports comprehension in its own way. The best way to learn is not to treat books and audio recordings as interchangeable but to understand the strengths of each. By using both reading for deep, focused study and listening for context-building or review, you can leverage the unique power of each and better understand the world around you.
