Effects of familiar and unfamiliar background music on the reading comprehension performance of Turkish EFL learners in a university preparatory program

Abstract

ABSTRACT Title: Effects of familiar and unfamiliar background music on the reading comprehension performance of Turkish EFL learners in a university preparatory- program Author: Can Gür Thesis Chairperson: Ms. Susan D. Bosher, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Phyllis L. Lim, Ms. Bena Gül Peker, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program This study was designed to investigate to what extent familiar and unfamiliar background music might affect the reading comprehension performance of Turkish EFL learners in a university preparatory program. The present study also aimed at examining the possible differences in the reading comprehension performance of females and males. The present study was conducted in the Preparatory Department of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Forty- two (15 female, 27 male) Turkish undergraduate intermediate- level subjects aged from 17 to 21 participated in this study. There were two research questions: (a) the effect of familiar and unfamiliar background music on reading comprehension performance, and (b) the effect of familiar and unfamiliar background music on reading comprehension performance of females and males. In order to investigate these research questions, three groups were formed: two experimental (familiar andunfamiliar background music) groups and one control (no- background music) group. All three groups took a pretest without background music. One week later, the experimental groups took a posttest with background music playing. The familiar background music group was familiarized with the pieces of music before the test began, whereas the unfamiliar background music group was not familiarized with the pieces of music. The control group did not have background music. Reading comprehension performance was measured by a test consisting of three reading passages, followed by 12 multiple-choice questions on to the passages. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to answer the first research question. Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the reading comprehension performance of familiar and unfamiliar background music groups. However, the results of this study indicate that subjects with background music (familiar or unfamiliar) showed statistically significant gains in their reading comprehension performance over the no-music control group from pretest to posttest, at p<.01. For the second research question, a two-way analysis of covariance was employed. There was no statistically significant difference between the reading comprehension performance of females and males in the posttest among any of the groups.