The literacy levels of the majority of English people during this period were considerably low. This means that there were very few people who could afford print media, especially before the enactment of the Education Act in 1870. People in the lower social strata would listen to recitals of texts from readers, creating a large pool of readers who learned of Dickens’ works in this manner. Lai-Ming (2008) in particular points out that the majority of English people who read the publications of Huffam Dickens were illiterate people who were greatly dependent on reading aloud. Various scholars acknowledge the pioneering efforts of John Huffam Dickens to develop a reading aloud culture during the nineteenth century, especially through serialization. Notably, different researchers have developed their own opinion on the concept of reading aloud during the Dickens’ era felt that reading aloud was more of a communal experience leading to the rise of listener-readers and readers-aloud.