Effects of Background Music on EFL Learners’ Speaking Self-Efficacy

This mixed-methods study examined how background music affects Korean university EFL students’ speaking self-efficacy, extending prior single-instructor, quantitative-only research by involving multiple instructors. Across a semester, 240 students were assigned to music (treatment) or no-music (control) conditions. Pre- and post-course surveys showed significantly greater self-efficacy gains in the music group across a composite measure and three subscales (performance, self-regulatory, and linguistic self-efficacy), with the largest gains concentrated in self-regulatory efficacy. Qualitative data from interviews, open-ended surveys, and teacher observation journals showed that music reduced anxiety, increased willingness to communicate, and fostered a more supportive classroom atmosphere—suggesting its effects work mainly by lowering perceived barriers to speaking rather than building competence directly. Improvement was observed across classes taught by all three instructors, suggesting that the effect stems from music itself rather than individual teaching style. However, the study also noted limitations: some learners experienced distraction and reduced listening clarity, and findings may not generalize beyond the Korean university EFL context studied. Overall, background music functions as an effective affective scaffold that boosts learners’ confidence to speak, though its implementation should be context-sensitive within communicative language classrooms.