Exploring the Potential of Audiobooks in Expression Education — A Case Study of Third - Grade Elementary Students’ Audiobook Production Activities
Yeom Nari
Cheolma Elementary School
Korean Language Education Research Vol. 61 No. 1 pp.267-307 (2026)
Abstract
Yeom Nari This study applied an audiobook production activity with third-grade elementary students and examined changes in their paralinguistic and nonverbal expressive performance as well as their learning attitudes. Based on the 2022 revised Korean Language Curriculum achievement standard, “Speak and listen by using appropriate paralinguistic and nonverbal expressions according to the situation,” this study designed and implemented an audiobook-based instructional program with one class of six students at G Elementary School located in B City. Data were collected through audio recordings, expression checklists, sentence-completion and open-ended surveys, and teacher observation notes, and were qualitatively analyzed to identify changes in learners’ expressive performance and attitude. The analysis revealed that students improved their control of intonation, speed, and rhythm, enhanced the clarity of emotional expression, and began to perceive their voices as new tools for creative expression. Through self-assessment and revision of their recordings, they also developed greater confidence, engagement, and performative learning attitudes integrating linguistic, paralinguistic, and nonverbal resources. These findings suggest that audiobooks can function as a practical medium for expression education, extending beyond a comprehension-centered tool to a sensory and creative mode of language performance, thereby reorienting Korean language expression education toward a more affective and experiential dimension.
Keywords
Audiobooksexpression educationparalinguistic and nonverbal expressionsreflection
