The Impact of Non-lyrical Iranian Traditional Music on Reading Comprehension Performance of Iranian EFL Learners: The Case of Gender, Attitude, and Familiarity

Many studies have explored the effect of music on the reading comprehension. However, the possible roles of gender, attitude as well as familiarity with the background music have been disregarded. Thus, this study aimed at scrutinizing the impact of familiar Non-lyrical music and the attitude toward it on reading comprehension performance by gender. Sixty volunteered male and female EFL learners completed two fifty-itemed TOFEL reading comprehension tests in no-music (pre-test) as well as background music conditions (post-test) respectively, followed by an attitude questionnaire. The results of Mixed-ANOVA as well as Correlation tests revealed the negative influences of music on reading comprehension, while no significant difference was observed between two genders. Besides, it indicated learners’ negative attitudes toward familiar music, and its slight relation with reading comprehension. The intended study could be helpful to methodology, making teachers aware of the essentiality of room without distraction for comprehension process.