Extensive reading is one approach used by teaching practitioners to build upon language learners’ literacy skills and improve their reading fluency and reading speed (Day & Bamford, 2002). In a Japan-based context, the use of music with Extensive reading study has not been widely studied. This study explored 501 Japanese undergraduates’ preferences about music genres that they like to listen to in their free time, while studying outside of class time, and while reading in class time. Findings indicated that the inclusion of background music during class time reading sessions can help learners to focus on their reading. The researcher suggests that a future exploration of ways to increase L2 reading motivation may benefit from the inclusion of both silent reading time and background music during reading sessions and an allowance for learners to select their own background music prior to their engagement in class time reading sessions.
