CAMBRIDGE IGCSETM ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: UNIT 6 EXTRACT SHEETS
Text 6.3
LISTENING
TO MUSIC
WHILE YOU’RE
STUDYING – IS
IT A GOOD IDEA?
Teacher Ray Marriott considers
whether music helps or
interferes with learning.
From recent conversations
with my students, it’s become
clear that most of them usually
listen to music when they’re
studying. As the college library
is always full of people wearing
headphones while writing
essays or revising for exams,
this was hardly shocking news.
‘Listening to music means
you don’t get distracted by
someone coughing or papers
rustling,’ is a typical comment.
‘Certain rhythms and sounds
help me focus’ is another. Not
that they’re all confident they’re
doing the right thing, as I’ve
rather unexpectedly found
out. In fact, several of them
have asked if I’d recommend
a different approach.
What do we know about how
music affects learning? In one
experiment, people who listened
to music by the classical
composer Mozart as they did a
particular test performed better
than others who did it in silence.
This led to lots of stories in
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the media about the ‘Mozart
effect’, and they suggested
research is certainly worth
bearing in mind.
that listening to Mozart makes
you more intelligent. Sales of
There’s plenty of guidance
online about music and learning;
classical music, especially to
young people, rose sharply and
and it’s often supported by
evidence from academic studies.
some parents even started
playing it to their babies. In all
Some tips are about musical
styles while others relate to
the excitement, however, key
details were ignored: that the
differences between individuals.
There are too many to list them
test assessed one specifi c
all, but a few stand out. For
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skill only, not general
example, if you want music while
intelligence, and that the
you’re studying, then it should
positive impact on test-takers
have a regular rhythm and not
was very brief. What’s more,
be too loud. If you’re a sociable
similar experiments carried
person, listening to music might
out later haven’t produced the
suit you, but if you’re reserved
same results.
or shy, it’s likely to distract you,
In some more recent research, especially if the task you’re
psychologist Nick Perham put doing is complex.
students into different groups
Some people think video-
to revise for a test. A group
game music might be good
that revised while listening to
for studying. If you’re not a
music without lyrics achieved
gamer, you might be puzzled:
better marks than a group
don’t soundtracks feature
that had revised to music
strange, distracting electronic
with lyrics. Whether students
sounds? And aren’t they aimed
liked or disliked the songs
at typical gamers – mainly
made little difference to their
teenage boys? The interesting
results. A group that revised in
point here, however, is that
silence, which is what I would
soundtracks are there to help
choose, achieved considerably
keep players focused on the
higher marks than students
game. That’s why they seem
who revised with music. Also
relevant to studying. Having
– and this really caught my
said that, video games are
attention – the higher-scoring
constantly developing. People
students were extremely good
of all ages play them, there
at forecasting how high their
are plenty of female gamers,
scores would be. It would be
and today’s soundtracks are
wrong for everyone to adopt a
no longer the simple tunes of
particular approach because
the past; they range from big
of one experiment, but this
orchestral pieces to hip-hop.
 CAMBRIDGE IGCSETM ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: UNIT 6 EXTRACT SHEETS

So, should you listen to music much difference to what my

when you’re studying? If you do, students do. After all, music
your brain will have to cope with means so much to us. We link it
two activities at the same time, with excitement, happiness and
and the fewer different things love, so it’s natural to want
the brain has to deal with, the to hear it.
more effi ciently it’s likely to
work. So, unless future studies
reveal something different – and
that might well happen – it’s
best not to listen to music if
you need to concentrate on
something complex. Not that

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what I say is likely to make

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