PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Malaysian children's attitudes towards learning music

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

This article was downloaded by: [Ghazali, Ghaziah Mohd.]On: 9 June 2009Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 911702817]Publisher RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Music Education ResearchPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713438964

Malaysian children's attitudes towards learning musicGhaziah Mohd. Ghazali a; Gary E. McPherson b

a Faculty of Music, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia b University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Online Publication Date: 01 June 2009

To cite this Article Ghazali, Ghaziah Mohd. and McPherson, Gary E.(2009)'Malaysian children's attitudes towards learningmusic',Music Education Research,11:2,193 — 219

To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/14613800902924474

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613800902924474

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial orsystematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply ordistribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contentswill be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug dosesshould be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directlyor indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713438964

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613800902924474

http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf

Malaysian children’s attitudes towards learning music

Ghaziah Mohd. Ghazalia* and Gary E. McPhersonb

aFaculty of Music, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia; bUniversity of Melbourne, Victoria,Australia

A sample of 1060 Malaysian children were surveyed in order to examinedifferences in their motivation to study music in school and to learn a musicalinstrument outside of school. Adopting the expectancy-value motivation theory,the children were asked questions concerning their perception of music as beingimportant, useful, interesting, enjoyable and easy/difficult. Results show subtledifferences according to the five ethnic groups (Malay Muslims, ChineseBuddhists, Chinese Christians, Indian Hindus and Indian Christians), thechildren’s previous musical experiences and also gender. In general, ChineseChristian and Indian Christian children were more motivated to study music thanthe other groups, and girls reported an overall higher level of motivation thanboys. The results help to frame how music is perceived as a school subject withinMalaysian society and suggest priorities for advocating music within theMalaysian educational system.

Keywords: motivation; music learning; instrumental music; expectancy-value;ethnicity

Introduction

The relevance of music in children’s education has been debated internationally for

many years. Although music appears in the educational policy of almost every

country, there is too often a gap between policy and actual provisions within schools

(Bamford 2006). Unfortunately, stereotypes within the community have sometimes

ingrained an attitude that music can be enjoyed and learned without formal music

education and that studying music is therefore not an efficient use of valuable school

hours (Reimer 2003). As a result, music is regarded by some as a form of

entertainment and leisure rather than as a subject of long-term value and serious

study (Lehman 2003).

Running in parallel with community attitudes, is research that seeks to under-

stand the factors that shape the beliefs and values children form while engaged in

music (Austin, Renwick, and McPherson 2006; O’Neill and McPherson 2002).

A strand of this research shows that even with very little previous experience,

children begin their learning with preconceived ideas and beliefs about music (Eccles

et al. 1993; McPherson 2000; Wigfield et al. 1997), even though they recognise that

effort is needed to be successful (Asmus 1994; Hallam 2006; McPherson 2000). For

example, Lamont et al’s. (2003) study of 8�14-year-old children shows that they were

generally aware of the demands and benefits of music learning and were able to make

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1461-3808 print/ISSN 1469-9893 online

# 2009 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/14613800902924474

http://www.informaworld.com

Music Education Research

Vol. 11, No. 2, June 2009, 193�219

Downloaded By: [Ghazali, Ghaziah Mohd.] At: 10:04 9 June 2009

http://www.informaworld.com

informed judgements about whether or not to engage in music lessons outside of

school. Likewise, McPherson (2000) provides evidence in his study of instrumental

learners before instruction commenced, that they were able to clearly distinguish

between their interest in learning a musical instrument, the importance to them ofbeing good at music, whether they thought their learning would be useful to their

short and long-term goals, and the amount of effort they felt would be needed to

continue improving. The children’s parents had also formed conceptions of their

children’s potential in music and whether they thought they would have problems

encouraging their son or daughter to practice, even before instruction began

(McPherson and Davidson 2002).

Theoretical framework

The research framework for the current study is based on the expectancy-value theory

(Eccles and Wigfield 1995, 2002; Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele 1998) which seeks to

explain how expectancies and value beliefs are influenced by socialisation factors,

such as parents, family, peers, teachers, society, as well as other external forces

(Davidson and McPherson 1998; Fredricks and Eccles 2002).

According to this model, expectations and values comprise four components

(Eccles and Wigfield 1995; Eccles and Wigfield 2002; Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele1998; Maehr, Pintrich, and Linnenbrink 2002; O’Neill and McPherson 2002). The

first, attainment value, refers to personal expectations of how important it is to do

well in the activity (Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele 1998). The second construct,

intrinsic value, refers to how enjoyable or interesting the activity is for the learner

(Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele 1998) This construct seeks information on how

children rate their level of interest, or the enjoyment they receive when engaged in an

activity. The third construct, utility value refers to how aligned the activity is to the

person’s current and future goals (Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele 1998), such as howuseful the activity is perceived to be by learners in relation to other tasks or activities

that they may also be learning. The fourth construct identifies the perceived cost of

engaging in the activity. Negative costs can include the extent to which children

perceive difficulties in their participation, the lost opportunities to indulge in other

activities in which they are also interested, and the emotional costs involved in

participation, such as how stressful or demanding the task might be for them to

learn.

One of the major findings of expectancy-value research is that the value a learnerplaces on an activity predicts his or her future choice to continue engaging in that

activity while the degree to which expectations to succeed are met while learning are

closely linked to achievement. These two mechanisms are used to explain a person’s

level of motivation such that behaviour is seen as a function of our valuing and

expectations of an activity in which we hope to succeed (Eccles and Wigfield 1995;

Eccles et al. 1993; Jacobs et al. 2002).

Existing research measuring children’s subjective task values in the areas of

mathematics, sports, reading and instrumental music has revealed that NorthAmerican children as young as first grade are able to distinguish between their

competencies for each of these domains (Eccles et al. 1993; Jacobs et al. 2002;

Wigfield et al. 1997). These studies on children’s perceived task values thus indicate

that children are able to distinguish quite clearly between their interests in a task, in

194 G.M. Ghazali and G.E. McPherson


addition to how important and useful they believe it will be for them in the future.

Comparisons and self-perceptions of competence enable children to form personal

judgements concerning whether they would like to choose to engage, persist or

continue with an activity. Longitudinal studies on children’s competence beliefs and

task valuing reveals marked declines in how children view the importance and

usefulness of music as they mature (Eccles et al. 1993; Fredricks and Eccles 2002;

Hallam 1998; Jacobs et al. 2002; McPherson and Renwick 2001).

The above findings have particular relevance for this current study which sought

to determine whether similar findings as reported with North American children

might be consistent with the very different social and cultural environment found in

Malaysia. Contrary to the advancements and progress made in the field of music

education in many Western and Asian countries, the status of music as a school

subject remains ambiguous in Malaysia. At the primary-school level, the music

curriculum implemented 25 years ago, aims to provide Malaysian children with an

exposure to music appreciation and music-making activities. However, although

music is a compulsory subject in primary schools, the active implementation of the

curriculum is still lacking in many schools throughout the nation. Factors such as a

lack of trained music teachers, facilities and adequate resourcing of music are often

the reasons why many primary children are exposed to poor musical experiences in

school. The Malaysian secondary-school music curriculum on the other hand,

offered only as an elective subject, is unfortunately only available in a small

percentage of secondary schools throughout the country. The lack of funds and

provisions to furnish music classes with the equipment, facilities and instruments has

resulted in many secondary-school principals preferring not to offer music in their

schools. The high cost of purchasing keyboards and the caklempong (a traditional

Malay instrument) which is a part of the secondary music curriculum adds to the

demands of music as a school subject. On the other end of the spectrum is the small

percentage of secondary schools that offer music, who are often kept busy

participating in yearly vocal or instrumental competitions to showcase their groups

in activities held by the State Education Departments and Ministry of Education.

As the Malaysian population is comprised of a diverse mix of three major ethnic

groups (Malays, Chinese and Indians), this study provides an opportunity to

investigate the unique perspectives of children from clearly differentiated cultural

backgrounds, home environments and language. The major purpose of this study,

therefore, was to investigate Malaysian children’s expectations and valuing of music

in and outside of school.

Method

Design of the research instrument

The medium of instruction for music in Malaysian schools is Bahasa Malaysia

(Malay language); therefore, a questionnaire in Malay was constructed. However, the

questionnaire was also made available in English to provide children with a choice to

use the English questionnaire if they so wished. Both the English and the Malay

questionnaires were validated and refined in a Pilot investigation which sought to

ensure that the children understood the intent of the question, and that the wordings

were consistent across both versions of the questionnaire.

Music Education Research 195


The research questionnaire was based on prior research drawn mostly from the

UK (e.g., Hallam 1998; Hallam 2002; O’Neill 2001; Sloboda and Howe 1991), the

USA (e.g., Hurley 1995; Mackenzie 1991) and Australia (e.g., McPherson 2000;

McPherson and Davidson 2002) and taking into consideration the unique situations

within Malaysian society. An important aspect when developing the research

instrument was the need to take into consideration the ages of the children, the

differences in language proficiencies, and the reading and comprehension level of the

different ages and ethnic groups.The questionnaire consisted of nine sections: seven sections involving 30 items

which all participants completed, and two additional extension sections involving 14

items designed for those who were currently taking private music lessons (14

categorical items) and for those who had ceased learning (two items). Each of the

nine sections was organised within subheadings to make it easier for the children to

understand what each section was about.

From the nine sections of the questionnaire, six were designed to gain extensive

profiles about the children, how they spent their time in and outside school, their

musical interest, and their family’s musical background and interests. These sections

required the children to respond by ticking the appropriate boxes to indicate the

frequency (i.e., ‘Never’, ‘Rarely’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Often’ and ‘All the time’) with which

they engaged in each activity. For validation purposes, the items were based on a

study by O’Neill (2001) that examined music participation among young people in

the UK; as well as McPherson and Davidson’s (2002) research with children in

Australia.

Opinions regarding learning music in school

Based on the motivational constructs used in the Eccles et al. (1983) model, children

were asked to respond using a seven-point Likert scale to indicate the degree to

which they considered learning a musical instrument and learning music in school to

be: important, enjoyable, difficult, interesting and useful (see Appendix 1, for

examples).

This scale was adapted and expanded from items used by Eccles et al. (1993) to

investigate children’s task values towards math, reading, sports and music. In their

study, Eccles et al. found that children’s subjective task values differed according to

age with younger children expressing more positive beliefs than older children. In

addition, there were also differences in perceptions between genders. The use of this

scale in the present study was considered an important step for examining Malaysian

children’s subjective task values towards learning to play a musical instrument and

more generally learning music in school.

Procedure

Ethics approval

Permission to conduct research in Malaysian public schools was gained in three

stages. First, application for approval was made to the Education Planning and

Research Division (EPRD) at the Ministry of Education, Malaysia who issued their

consent in the form of a researcher’s identification tag. Second, permission to



conduct the research was granted by the Department of Education of the state of

Selangor � this second approval was essential as it was used as proof to the various

school principals of participating schools that the research to be carried out was

legitimate. Finally, the ethics process involved obtaining permission from the

principals of each selected school.

A list of 22 National primary schools selected for data collection was included in

the application to conduct the research. These schools were selected based on their

ethnic mix and location within 30 km west of Kuala Lumpur. The selected target

population was restricted to schools from a community that included a representa-

tive sample of the three major ethnic groups making up the total Malaysian

population. Out of the 22 schools first identified in the formal application to conduct

research, 11 schools were chosen for data collection.

Data collection

Questionnaires were administered during the scheduled music period of the selected

classes, with the exception of one school where the questionnaire was administered

during two non-music periods. All children were told that they needed to answer 30

questions. In order to ensure that the children understood all the questions, the class

was taken through each item in the questionnaire, and queries clarified on the spot

by the researcher. In general, participants took about 30 minutes to complete the

questionnaire.

Sample

The sample consisted of children in Primary Stage 2, (Years 4�6) enrolled in National

primary schools who were given music instruction for one hour per week. Children in

Years 4�6 (ages ranging from 9 to 12) were selected for this study because not only do

Malaysian children begin learning the recorder in their music classes in Stage 2, but it

was also considered necessary to conduct a study using samples of older pupils in

primary school who would have had more musical experiences and the ability to

read, write and respond to items in the questionnaire.

During the initial meeting with the school principals, the purpose of the study

was explained and a description of the sample was made; that is, a preference for

classes which had a good mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian children with adequate

reading and comprehension skills. The allocation of classes obtained per school

varied from one to eight classes, depending on the size of the school population and

the accessibility of the classes at the time.

Background information of the sample

A total of 1088 questionnaires were administered over a period of four months, of

which 1060 were useable for data analysis. Out of the total of 1060 children, 45.8%

were Malay Muslims (n�485), 18.5% were Chinese Buddhists (n�196), 13.2% were

Chinese Christians (n�140), 17.2% were Indian Hindus (n�182), and 5.4% were

Indian Christians (n�57). The breakdown of children according to age and gender

for the ethnic�religion groupings is shown in Table 1.



For the purpose of comparative analyses of selected item responses based on

musical experiences, the sample were divided into ‘learners’ for children who were

currently learning an instrument, ‘ceased learning an instrument’ for children whohad previous experience learning an instrument, and ‘non-learners’ for those who

had never learned an instrument (see Table 2).

Results

To examine data, frequencies, cross tabulations and chi-squares were used, in

addition to one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for reporting data

using mean differences. Where appropriate, post hoc analyses employed theBonferroni test to examine differences between groups.

Part 1: opinions about learning music in school

Descriptive statistics for the five expectancy-value motivation constructs are shown in

Table 3. Each question in each construct used a seven-point Likert type scale (see

Appendix 1, for examples).

Importance (‘For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is: Not Important . . . Very

Important’)

For the importance dimension of the motivation theory, no significant differences

were found between ethnic groups (p�0.22), suggesting that the five ethnic groups

Table 1. Five ethnic group combinations by age and gender.

Age (%) Gender (%)

Groups 9 10 11 12 N Male Female

Malay Muslims 5.6 44.9 39.2 10.3 485 42.1 57.9

Chinese Buddhists 3.1 43.4 43.9 9.7 196 44.9 55.1

Chinese Christians 4.3 33.6 43.6 18.6 140 52.9 47.1

Indian Hindus 4.9 33.0 47.8 14.3 182 50.5 49.5

Indian Christians 3.5 49.1 33.3 14.0 57 42.1 57.9

Total 4.7 41.3 41.8 12.2 1060 45.5 54.5

Table 2. Breakdown of children according to musical experience, ethnic group and gender.

Musical

experience

Malay

Muslim

(%)

Chinese

Buddhist

(%)

Chinese

Christian

(%)

Indian

Hindu

(%)

Indian

Christian

(%)

Total

(%)

Male

(%)

Female

(%)

Learners 12.8 31.6 49.3 17.6 42.1 23.5 18.7 27.5

Ceased

learning an

instrument

6.6 15.3 17.9 8.8 10.5 10.3 9.5 10.9

Non-

learners

80.6 53.1 32.9 73.6 47.4 66.2 71.8 61.6



shared similar perceptions of the importance of learning music in school. A

comparison of the means between gender revealed no significant difference

( p�0.55) between boys and girls, plus no significant interaction between ethnic

groups and gender ( p�0.75). Further analysis of learners revealed no significant

differences between instrumental music learners, those who had ceased learning, and

those who had never learned ( p�0.34). There was also no significant interaction

between ethnicity and musical experience ( p�0.66).

Enjoyment (‘For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is: Not Enjoyable . . . Very

Enjoyable’)

Overall, there was no significant difference between the five ethnic groups ( p�0.14)

for the item measuring enjoyment. However, girls (M�4.87, SD�1.78) expressed

higher levels of enjoyment for learning music in school compared to their male peers

(M�4.46, SD�1.94) (F(1, 1058)�12.85, p�0.000). No significant interaction

between ethnic groups and gender ( p�0.22) was evident. In addition, no significant

difference was found according to musical experience, nor interaction between

ethnicity and musical experience ( p�0.20).

Difficult�easy (‘For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is: Very Difficult . . . Very

Easy’)

There was a significant difference between ethnic groups (F(4, 1055)�4.60,

p�0.001) for the question asking the children whether learning music in school

was difficult or easy. Post hoc analyses revealed that Chinese Christian ( p�0.008)

and Indian Christian children ( p�0.028) regarded the learning of music in school as

significantly easier than Malay children (see Figure 1).A comparison between genders revealed that boys (M�3.94, SD�1.95)

regarded learning music in school as significantly more difficult compared to girls

(M�4.57, SD�1.91) (F(1, 1058)�30.18, p�0.000). There was no significant

interaction between ethnic groups and gender ( p�0.2).

In addition, students who were learning an instrument perceived school music

learning as much easier than those who had ceased or had not learned (F (2, 1045)�51.9, p�0.000) (see Figure 2). For this item, there was no significant interaction

between ethnic groups and musical experience ( p�0.16).

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the five expectancy-value motivation constructs.

Mean SD

Importance 4.45 1.76

Enjoyment 4.69 1.86

Difficulty 4.28 1.91

Interest 4.53 1.92

Usefulness 4.71 1.73



Boring�interesting (‘For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is: Very Boring . . . Very

Interesting’)

There was no significant difference according to the five ethnic groups ( p�0.21) for

the question mapping out how interesting or boring the students felt music was to

learn in school. However, girls (M�4.80, SD�1.80) perceived learning music in

school to be more interesting than boys (M�4.21, SD�1.97) (F (1, 1058)�25.37, p�0.000), even though there was no significant interaction between ethnic groups andgender ( p�0.46). There was no significant difference according to musical experience,

nor was there any interaction between ethnicity and musical experience ( p�0.39).

Usefulness (‘For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is: Not Useful . . . Very Useful’)

For usefulness, there was no significant difference between ethnic groups ( p�0.96),

gender ( p�0.09), or interaction between ethnicity and gender ( p�0.17).

Musical experience was significant, with learners regarding the learning of music in

school as more useful than the other two groups (F(2, 1045)�4.00, p�0.02) (see

Figure 3). No significant interaction was found between ethnic groups and musical

experience ( p�0.62).

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or d

iffi

culty

Figure 1. Difficulty of learning music in school according to ethnic groups.

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or d

iffi

cult/

easy

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 2. Difficulty of learning music in school according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.



Comparison of the five motivational constructs for items dealing with learning music

in school

The total means for each of the five constructs indicate a significant difference in

responses (F (4, 5275)�3.13, p�0.014), with children reporting music at school to

be more useful ( p�0.012) and enjoyable (p�0.027) than important; in addition to

finding it more enjoyable ( p�0.000), important ( p�0.027) and interesting

( p�0.024) than easy ( p�0.000). Figure 4 displays the five motivational constructs

arranged in descending means with their interactions.

Further analyses revealed a significant interaction between ethnicity and the five

motivational constructs (F (16, 5275)�2.13, p�0.005) (see Figure 4). Post hoc

analyses revealed that Malay children tended to perceive learning music in school as

more difficult than Chinese Christian and Indian Christian children, while Chinese

Christian children perceived school music as less interesting and less important than

Malay, Indian Hindu and Indian Christian children. In addition, Malay, Chinese

Buddhist and Indian Christian children reported higher levels of enjoyment for

learning music in school than did Chinese Christian and Indian Hindu children

(Figure 5).

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or u

sefu

lnes

sLearners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 3. Usefulness of learning music in school according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

5

5.2

5.4

Usefulness Enjoyment Interesting Importance Difficulty

Mea

ns Sig.

Sig.

Figure 4. Interaction between the five motivational constructs for learning music in school.



There were also significant differences between boys and girls (F(1, 5290)�34.57,

p�0.000), with girls (M�4.72, SD�1.76) expressing a slightly more positive

attitude towards learning music in school than boys (M�4.30, SD�1.93), in

addition to a significant interaction for ethnic groups and gender (F(4, 5290)�4.63,

p�0.001), with Chinese Buddhist girls and Indian Christian boys having the most

positive attitude about learning music in school (see Figure 6).

Further analysis revealed a significant difference for musical experience

(F(2, 5285)�26.22, p�0.000) with learners showing an overall positive attitude

towards learning music in school than those who had ceased and those who had

never learned.

Results also reveal a significant interaction between ethnicity and musical

experience (F(8, 5285)�3.683, p�0.000) for all five constructs. As can be seen in

Figure 7, Chinese Buddhist learners held the most positive attitude towards school

3.5

4

4.5

5

Malay

Muslim

Chinese

Buddhist

Chinese

Christian

Indian

Hindu

Indian

Christian

Mea

ns

Usefulness

Enjoyment

Interesting

Importance

Difficulty

Figure 5. Interaction between ethnic groups and motivational constructs for learning music

in school.

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns

Females

Males

Figure 6. Mean differences for ethnic groups, gender and the combined means of the five

motivational constructs for learning music in school.



music, while attitudes among Chinese Christian non-learners and those who had

ceased learning were the lowest. Interestingly, Indian Christian children, regardless

of any previous musical experience, were similar in their opinions towards school

music.

A further two-way ANOVA procedure was conducted to examine differences in

attitudes between children of different ages towards learning music in school. Results

for learning music at school revealed diverse attitudes among children at age nine

(F(3, 5280)�44.21, p�0.000) with these declining by age 12.

Significant interactions between ethnicity and age revealed that Malay and

Indian Hindu children seem to start with similar attitudes across all ages, but that

their attitudes stabilise around ages 9�11 before then declining substantially by age

12. Qualitative comments from the children revealed that this decline in attitude

especially among children aged 12 is due to the (Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah-

UPSR) Primary-School Assessment Examination at the end of the primary school

(Year 6). As the main focus of their attendance in school during this final year is

geared towards the preparation for this examination, there seems to be a general

decline in music teaching in schools. Chinese Buddhist children on the other hand

expressed the most positive attitudes towards school music at age nine but these

steadily declined across all ages (F(12, 5280)�4.60, p�0.000). In contrast, Indian

Christian children began with less than positive attitudes at age nine with a similar

overall trend to decline by the age of 12 (see Figure 8).

A two-way ANOVA between gender, age and the combined means of the

constructs revealed significant differences between gender (F(1, 5292)�29.92,

p�0.000) and age (F(3, 52920�59.79, p�0.000), showed that girls were consistently

more positive about learning music in school than boys across all ages even though

the attitude of both groups declined by age 12. There was no significant interaction

between age and gender (p�0.90) (see Figure 9).

Part 2: opinions about learning a musical instrument outside of school

The second phase of the analysis sought to clarify the children’s attitudes towards

learning to play musical instruments outside of school. Consequently, a series of

additional questions sought data about how important, enjoyable, difficult,

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 7. Interaction for ethnic groups and musical experience for the combined means of

the five motivational constructs for learning music in school.



interesting and useful the children considered learning an instrument. The discussion

that follows, adopts the same format as the previous questions. Descriptive statistics

for the question related to learning to play a musical instrument according to the five

expectancy-value motivation constructs are shown in Table 4.

Importance (‘For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is: Not Important . . .

Very Important’)

No significant interaction was found between ethnic groups and gender. However,

there was a significant difference between ethnic groups (F(4, 1050)�5.23, p�0.000)

with post hoc analysis revealing Indian Christian children perceiving the learning of

an instrument as more important than Malay children. In addition, girls (M�4.59,

SD�1.69) expressed a significantly higher opinion about the importance of learning

a musical instrument than did boys (M�4.11, SD�1.90) (F(1, 1050)�16.68,

p�0.000) (see Figure 10).

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

9 10 11 12

Age

Mea

ns

Females

Males

Figure 9. Mean differences between gender, age and the combined means of the five

motivational constructs for learning music in school.

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

9 10 11 12

Age

Mea

ns

Malay Muslims

Chinese Buddhists

Chinese Christians

Indian Hindus

Indian Christians

Figure 8. Mean differences for learning music in school according to age and the combined

means of the five motivational constructs.



A two-way ANOVA with the three levels of musical experience and ethnicity

revealed a significant difference according to musical experience (F(4, 1045)�2.04,

p�0.000), but no significant interaction between the two variables. As would be

expected, post hoc analysis demonstrated that the instrumental learners held

significantly more positive views on the importance of learning an instrument

( p�0.000) than those children who had ceased learning or who had never learned

an instrument (see Figure 11).

Enjoyment (‘For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is: Not Enjoyable . . .Very Enjoyable’)

The enjoyment dimension showed no significant difference between the five ethnic

groups (F(4, 1055)�0.99, p�0.414) but girls (M�5.54, SD�1.59) perceived the

learning of an instrument as more enjoyable than their male peers (M�4.85,

SD�2.00) (F(1, 1050)�15.44, p�0.000).

Further analysis revealed a significant interaction between ethnic groups and

gender (F(4, 1050)�2.58, p�0.04), indicating that male and female children of

different ethnic groups varied in their perception on this motivational construct (see

Figure 12).

Figure 12 shows a more diverse spread of views by boys than girls, with male

Chinese Buddhists and Malay Muslims providing the lowest responses for this item.

Interestingly, there was very little difference between male and female Chinese

Christians. The most pronounced difference occurred between Malay Muslims and

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns

Females

Males

Figure 10. Mean differences between boys and girls for importance of learning an

instrument.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for the five motivation questions.

Mean SD

Importance 4.37 1.80

Enjoyment 5.23 1.83

Difficulty 3.88 1.75

Interest 5.09 1.86

Usefulness 4.94 1.75



Chinese Buddhists, with boys in each of these ethnic groups expressing a lower view

on enjoyment than their female counterparts.Further analysis revealed significant differences (F(2, 1045)�24.2, p�0.000),

with music learners providing more positive views about their enjoyment of learning

an instrument as compared to children who had ceased learning ( p�0.000) or who

had never learned ( p�0.000). There was no significant interaction between musical

experience and ethnicity (see Figure 13).

Difficult�easy (‘For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is: Very Difficult . . .

Very Easy’)

A significant difference between ethnic groups (F(4, 1055)�3.43, p�0.008) was

evident on this dimension, with Indian Christian children (M�4.40, SD�1.75)

expressing the most positive views, and Malay Muslim children (M�3.72,

SD�1.72) the most negative (F(4, 1055)�3.43, p�0.008). Post hoc tests revealed

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or e

njoy

men

t Females

Males

Figure 12. Interaction between ethnic groups and gender for enjoyment of learning an

instrument.

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or im

port

ance Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 11. Importance of learning a musical instrument according to ethnic groups and

musical experience.



that Malay children perceived the learning of an instrument as more difficult than

Indian Hindu and Indian Christian children ( pB0.05).

Further analyses indicate that boys (M�3.55, SD�1.78) viewed learning an

instrument as more difficult compared to girls (M�4.15, SD�4.15) (F(1, 1058)�31.19, p�0.000). There was no significant interaction between ethnic groups and

gender ( p�0.15). As expected, results for children who were learning, ceased

learning and had never learned an instrument reveal that those with the most musical

experience regarded learning an instrument as easier than the other two groups

(F(2, 1057)�43.4, p�0.000). There was no significant interaction between ethnicity

and musical experience (see Figure 14).

Boring�interesting (‘For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is: Very

Boring . . . Very Interesting’)

There was no significant difference in opinion between children of different ethnic

groups ( p�0.60), but a comparison of means showed that girls (M�5.42,

SD�1.66) perceived learning an instrument to be more interesting than boys

(M�4.70, SD�2.00) (F(1, 1058)�41.78, p�0.000). Two-way ANOVA procedures,

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or e

njoy

men

tLearners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 13. Enjoyment of learning an instrument according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or d

iffi

culty

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 14. Difficulty of learning an instrument according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.



however, showed no significant interaction between ethnic groups and gender

( p�0.17). Further analysis comparing previous musical experience shows that

children with the most musical experience (M�5.86, SD�1.43) reported that

learning an instrument was more interesting than the other two groups (F(2, 1057)�28.5, p�0.000). There was no significant interaction between ethnic group and

musical experience (see Figure 15).

Usefulness (‘For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is: Not Useful . . . Very

Useful’)

There were significant differences between ethnic groups (F(4, 1055)�5.12,

p�0.000) with Chinese Christian (M�5.36, SD�1.71) and Indian Christian

(M�5.47, SD�1.72) children perceiving the learning of an instrument to be

more useful than did their Malay (M�4.73, SD�1.70) counterparts.

Analyses also revealed that girls (M�5.20, SD�1.61) held more positive beliefs

about the usefulness of learning an instrument than boys (M�4.64, SD�1.87)

(F(1, 1058)�27.18, p�0.000). There was no significant interaction between

ethnicity and gender ( p�0.40).

Further analyses of learners, those who had ceased learning, and the non-learners

revealed that the learners regarded learning an instrument to be more useful

(F(2, 1057)�61.74, p�0.000) than the other two groups. There was no significant

interaction between ethnicity and musical experience (see Figure 16).

Comparison of the five motivational constructs for items dealing with learning a

musical instrument

Having analysed each item separately, the next phase of the analyses sought to clarify

overall differences between the five motivational constructs, ethnicity, musical

experiences and age. The total means for each construct indicate that overall,

children regarded the learning of an instrument as interesting, enjoyable, useful and

important, but at the same time they also recognised that learning an instrument

tends to be somewhat difficult.

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or in

tere

stin

g

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 15. Children’s interest to learn an instrument according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.



ANOVA procedures indicate significant differences between the five constructs

(F(4, 5295)�58.43, p�0.000). The visual representation of the differences between

the constructs in Figure 17 shows the main significant levels to be between difficulty

and usefulness/interesting/enjoyment, as well as between importance and usefulness/

interesting/enjoyment.

An analysis according to the five motivational constructs shows that the means

for difficulty and importance were consistently lower across the five ethnic groups

than the constructs interesting, useful and enjoyable (see Figure 17). Post hoc

analysis revealed that attitudes towards learning an instrument among Malay

children were less positive than Chinese Buddhist ( p�0.042), Chinese Christian

( p�0.000) and Indian Christian ( p�0.000) children. In addition, attitudes among

Indian Christian children were more positive than the other ethnic groups for all five

constructs. Interestingly, Indian Christian children showed more positive attitudes

towards learning an instrument than Indian Hindu children ( p�0.002). In summary

then, Figure 18 shows some consistency in the rankings of the five motivational

constructs but with important differences across the five ethnic groups.

A comparison of means showed that overall, girls (M�4.98, SD�1.73) were

more positive about the learning of an instrument compared to boys (M�4.37,

SD�1.97). A two-way ANOVA between ethnic groups, gender and the combined

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or u

sefu

lnes

s

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 16. Usefulness of learning an instrument according to ethnic groups and musical

experience.

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

5

5.2

5.4

Difficulty Importance Usefulness Interesting Enjoyment

Five motivational constructs

Mea

ns f

or c

onst

ruct

s

Sig.

Sig.

Figure 17. Mean differences between the five motivational constructs for learning a musical

instrument.



means of the five motivational constructs revealed significant differences for

ethnicity (F(4, 5290)�14.87, p�0.000) and gender (F(1, 5290)�87.70, p�0.000)

with a significant interaction between the two variables (F(4, 5290)�3.12, p�0.014).

As evident in Figure 19, boys in each ethnic group expressed a lower overall level of

motivation for learning an instrument compared to girls.A significant interaction between ethnicity and musical experience (F(8, 5285)�

3.25, p�0.001) was also found according to the combined means of the five

motivational constructs (see Figure 20). Children who were learning a musical

instrument, regardless of ethnic group reported significantly more positive attitudes

towards learning an instrument, while children with little or no musical experience

exhibited a less positive attitude ( p�0.000). Malay, Chinese Buddhist and Indian

Christian non-learners provided similar responses for their attitude towards learning

an instrument. In contrast, Chinese Christian children who had ceased learning had

slightly more positive attitudes than their peers who were not learning.

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or le

arni

ngan

inst

rum

ent

Enjoyment

Usefulness

Interest

Importance

Difficulty

Figure 18. Mean differences for ethnic groups and the five motivational constructs for

learning a musical instrument.

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or le

arni

ngan

inst

rum

ent

Females

Males

Figure 19. Mean differences for ethnic groups, gender and the five motivational constructs

for learning a musical instrument.



There was also a significant interaction according to musical experience.

Children with more musical experience had substantially more positive attitudes

for all five constructs ( p�0.000) compared to children with little or no musical

experience (F(8, 5285)�2.03, p�0.039) (see Figure 21).

Further analysis was conducted to determine if children differed in their valuing

of learning to play an instrument according to their age. Results revealed that

children began with positive attitudes at age nine but that their attitude declined by

age 12 (F(3, 5280)�24.42, p�0.000). As shown in Figure 22, there was a significant

interaction between age and ethnicity (F(12, 5280)�4.18, p�0.000).

Figure 22 displays the declining scores across the ages for all ethnic groups, with

significant differences being found between Malay and non-Malay children

(F(4, 5280)�13.32, p�0.000). Visual inspection of the figure also show that

children’s attitudes towards learning an instrument were more diverse at age nine

with Indian Christian children being the most positive. By ages 10 and 11, all

children regardless of ethnicity showed similar positive attitudes towards learning a

musical instrument but a decline is seen across all ages by age 12. Specifically, a

steady decline in attitudes can be seen among Chinese Buddhist and Chinese

Christian children while Malay children’s attitudes seem to be stable at ages 9�11

before decreasing substantially by age 12. Indian Christian children on the other

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Com

bine

d m

eans

for

cons

truc

ts

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 20. Interaction between ethnic groups and musical experience for combined means of

the five motivational constructs for learning a musical instrument.

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

Difficulty Importance Usefulness Interesting Enjoyment

Mea

ns

Learners

Ceased learning

Non learners

Figure 21. Interaction between the five combined means of the motivational constructs and

musical experience for learning a musical instrument.



hand began with very positive attitudes at age nine but decreased markedly across

the four years. In contrast, Indian Hindu children showed lower attitudes at ages 9

and 12 and almost identical ratings at ages 10 and 11. The Malay Muslims showed

little change from ages 9�11 but a marked drop in their attitude at the age of 12.

Analysis of a two-way ANOVA between gender, age and the combined means of

the constructs revealed significant differences between gender (F(1, 5292)�71.79,

p�0.000) and age (F(3, 5292�32.33, p�0.000), indicating that girls were

consistently more positive about learning an instrument than boys across all ages.

There was a significant interaction between age and gender (F(3, 5292)�5.12,

p�0.002) (see Figure 23).

Discussion

The main purpose of the study was to clarify Malaysian children’s attitudes towards

learning music in school and learning a musical instrument outside of school

according to the five motivational constructs that underpin expectancy-value

motivation theory.

Overall, the children’s attitudes towards learning music in school were not as

strong as their attitudes for learning an instrument outside of school. On a

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

MalayMuslim

ChineseBuddhist

ChineseChristian

IndianHindu

IndianChristian

Mea

ns f

or le

arni

ng a

n in

stru

men

t

Age 9

Age 10

Age 11

Age 12

Figure 22. Mean differences for age and the five motivational constructs for learning a

musical instrument.

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

9 10 11 12Age

Mea

ns

Females

Males

Figure 23. Interaction between gender, age and the combined means of the five motivational

constructs for learning a musical instrument.



seven-point scale, the means for each motivation construct for questions related to

learning music in school were consistently lower than the means for learning to play

an instrument. In addition, music learners and girls were consistently positive in their

attitudes towards all the motivational constructs related to learning music in school

and learning an instrument outside of school.

As evident in Table 5, all children, regardless of ethnic group, do not perceivelearning music to be very important. However, it appears that they are more positive

towards private instrumental lessons than they are towards learning music in school.

Nevertheless, although children had varied perceptions of the usefulness of school

music, they were generally intrinsically motivated to learn it, perhaps because some

children regard music as a welcome diversion from their academic subjects. Girls in

this study showed an overall more positive motivation towards learning music, a

result that is mirrored in the higher proportion of girls compared to boys who take

private music lessons.

Significant interactions between all five ethnic groups and the five motivational

constructs indicate diverse attitudes towards learning music in school. In general, the

children considered school music as only moderately important and interesting, as

well as easy. One reason why the children did not express high attainment and

intrinsic value for school music could be that they do not regard the benefits of doing

well in school music as valuable to their overall education. Consistent with what the

first author has observed from speaking with and teaching children herself,Malaysian children possibly express low perceptions of the importance and

usefulness of school music because as a group they hold less than positive musical

self-concepts as well as a weak identification with school music. More generally, it is

possible that Malaysian children do not regard musical activities in school as

something worth learning or being relevant to other areas of the curriculum.

Furthermore, it is also likely that the examination-oriented culture of the Malaysian

school system has influenced children’s short and long-term achievement goals. In

their concern to obtain good grades in their academic subjects, they may have

overlooked the value of all other dimensions of their school education. Conse-

quently, they may believe that music has little value to their overall education, which

would thus account for their lack of serious regard for classroom music activities.

Although the Malaysian children studied here generally did not perceive school

music as having high attainment value (importance), they did recognise that it had

intrinsic value. This is consistent with the findings in the study conducted by the

Ministry of Education (EPRD 2000) where children reported enjoying school music

although they did not perceive it to be important. In this EPRD study, the childrenexpressed an opinion that music was less important because it was not a core subject

included in the Year 6 national examination (UPSR). Malaysian children therefore

seem to place greater importance on subjects that are included in their national

examinations. Thus, this factor could be an underlying reason why the children in

this sample placed less attainment value on school music, compared to learning to

play musical instruments outside of school. They may also prefer the more focused

activity of learning an instrument, to the types of classroom activities that are typical

of Malaysian school music education.

Importantly, results show that Malay Muslim children generally considered

school music as more difficult than the other four ethnic groups, perhaps because a

greater percentage of them were non-learners. Nevertheless, they were more inclined



Table 5. Summary data for learning music in school and learning an instrument outside of school.

Malay Muslims Chinese Buddhists Chinese Christians Indian Hindus Indian Christians

School music

Learning

instrument School music

Learning


Learning


Learning


Learning

instrument

Enjoyed school

music and

perceived it to be

useful and

interesting.

Perceived musical

training as less

important, useful

and difficult, but

enjoyable and

interesting.

Perceived school

music to be

enjoyable and

useful, but less

interesting,

important and

somewhat difficult.

Perceived musical

training as difficult,

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but less

important.

Perceived musical

training as difficult,

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but less

important.

Perceived school

music as easy and

useful but less

important,

enjoyable and

interesting.

Perceived musical

training as difficult

but enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but less

important.

Indian Hindus

perceived musical

training as

enjoyable,

interesting, useful

and easy, but less

important.

Perceived school

music as easy,

enjoyable and

interesting, but less

important and

useful.

Indian Christians

perceived musical

training as

important, very

enjoyable,

interesting, useful

and easy.

Learners

perceived school

music as easier. All

children perceived

school music as

more enjoyable and

useful, but less

important and

interesting.

Learners

perceived musical

training as more

important,

enjoyable,

interesting, useful

and easy than the

other groups.

Learners

perceived school

music as more

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but less

important.

Learners

perceived musical

training as more

important,

enjoyable,

interesting, useful

and easier than the

other two groups.

Non-learners and

those who had

ceased learning

perceived school

music as difficult.

All groups perceived

school music as

useful, but less

important and

enjoyable.

Non-learners and

learners perceived

musical training as

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but

somewhat difficult.

Learners perceived

more importance

than the other two

groups.

Learners and

non-learners

perceived school

music as more

enjoyable and

interesting than

those who ceased

learning, but felt it

was not very

important. Learners

perceived school

music as easier.

All children

regardless of

musical experience

perceived musical

training as

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but

somewhat

difficult. Learners

perceived more

importance than the

other two groups.

All children

regardless of

musical

experience perceived

school music as

enjoyable and

useful, but less

important.

Non-learners and

those who had

ceased thought of

school music as

more interesting

than learners.

Learners perceived

school music as

easier than the other

groups.

All children

regardless of musical

experience perceived

musical training as

enjoyable,

interesting, useful

and easy. Learners

perceived more

importance than the

other two groups.

Both genders

regarded school

music to be difficult

and unimportant,

but girls perceived

school music to be

more enjoyable,

interesting and

useful.

Both genders held

less importance and

thought musical

training difficult.

Girls perceived

musical training as

more enjoyable,

interesting and

useful.

Girls perceived

school music

as easier, more

important,

enjoyable,

interesting

and useful.

Girls perceived

musical training as

easier, more

enjoyable,

interesting

and useful.

Both genders did

not perceive school

music as very

important,

enjoyable and

interesting. Girls

perceived school

music as more

useful.

Both genders

perceived musical

training as

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful. Girls

perceived musical

training as more

important and easy.

Both genders

perceived school

music as important

and useful, but girls

perceived school

music as more

enjoyable and

interesting.

Both genders

perceived musical

training as

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful. Girls

perceived musical

training as more

important and easy.

Both genders

perceived school

music as easy, but

not very important.

Girls perceived

school music as

more interesting and

useful.

Both genders

perceived musical

training as

enjoyable,

interesting and

useful, but girls

perceived it as easy

and more important.

21

4G

.M.

Gh

aza

lia

nd

G.E

.M

cPh

erson


to enjoy it and recognise its utility value, although results were not significant across

the different ethnic groups. Indian Christian children, on the other hand, not only

found learning music in school much easier than Malay Muslim children, but they

also regarded music as more interesting and enjoyable, indicating that these children

recognised the intrinsic value of music. This finding is also consistent with the results

found in the EPRD (2000) study where Indian children expressed more interest for

opportunities to play musical instruments in class, thus confirming a keener interestto learn music in school among Indian children. A possible explanation for this

interest is the recognition that musical opportunities are often not possible without

the necessary finances. It is therefore possible that Indian children were keen to learn

as much as they could, given that they had access to studying music in school.

In contrast, despite Chinese Christian children’s perception of classroom music

as relatively easy, most nevertheless did not recognise its intrinsic (enjoyable and

interesting) and attainment value (importance). This result is possibly related to the

much high percentage of Chinese Christian children who were already learning music

outside of school; therefore, it is possible that they may regard school music as

redundant or felt that it lacked sufficient challenge and stimulation as an activity.

Overall findings among children with different musical experiences revealed that

learners generally held a more positive attitude towards learning music in school

than non-learners and those who had ceased learning. Music learners were therefore

inclined to place a higher value on the intrinsic reasons for studying school music

than non-learners, perhaps because they are more comfortable and confident about

their competence to succeed in music, which accordingly influenced their perceptionof enjoyment.

Importantly, results revealed that Chinese Buddhist learners enjoyed music more

and believed that school music had more intrinsic value than the other children. This

is probably due to their recognition of the value of knowledge and learning as an

integral part of their lives, which is a common trait of this ethnic group (Bond 1991).

With such philosophies and positive attitudes towards learning in general, it would

therefore be natural for Chinese Buddhist children to be more positive about their

learning and thus be more inclined to enjoy their participation in music.

For example, it might be that some music learners are less intrinsically motivated

to study school music because of the less than ideal learning environment of music in

some Malaysian schools, which often lacked fully qualified teachers. In addition, the

teaching of school music in the Malay language is seen by many students as

confusing especially given that they learn musical terminology in Malay instead of

English.As expected, girls showed more positive attitudes towards learning music in

schools than boys, a finding which supports previous studies where girls were more

likely to perceive learning music as more interesting, easier and enjoyable (Eccles

et al. 1993; Fredricks and Eccles 2002; O’Neill 2001; Wigfield et al. 1997). However,

findings also indicate that there were age differences in attitudes towards learning

music in school, with a decline across ages 9�12 for all children regardless of gender.

This finding is consistent with other findings in Western countries where attitudes

and interest towards school music decline with age, suggesting also a decline in

positive identification with school music (Eccles and Wigfield 1995; Jacobs et al.

2002; Lamont 2002). For Malaysian children, another possible explanation is the

impact of the upcoming UPSR examination for Year 6 children (12-year olds), which



sees more focused effort towards performing well in subjects in this examination, and

a decrease in attention to other subjects not in the examination.An analysis of musical experience revealed that a majority of the sample (about

66%) were non-instrumental learners, of which a large number of these were among

Malay Muslim children (about 80%), thus suggesting that this group of children lag

far behind the other ethnic groups when it comes to participation in musical training.

Of the total sample, only about 24% were learning to play an instrument, with the

highest percentage among Chinese Christians (about 49%), Indian Christians (about

42%) and Chinese Buddhists (about 32%). The high percentage of learners among

Christian children in particular seems to indicate that this group is more inclined

towards learning music. One possible explanation may be that this group is engaged

more regularly with music making in their homes and in their church, in contrast to

other religions where music is less utilised in worship. In view of this, the low

percentage of learners among Malay Muslim children may then be attributed in part

to their religion, which often does not sufficiently recognise or acknowledge music as

a tool in religious worship, nor does the Malay Muslim society more generally

consider serious involvement or formal learning of music as suitable for their

children.

The analysis of the profile of Malay Muslim children in the final part of the

questionnaire where they were asked to list the activities which they undertake

outside of school reveals that they spent more time than the other ethnic groups

watching TV, playing computer games, playing with friends and playing sports. Like

the other ethnic groups, they also reported high levels of doing homework. As

indicated in the high percentage of non-learners, Malay Muslim children as a group

are also less inclined to learn to play an instrument. In contrast, we found that

Chinese and Indian children spent more time than the other ethnic groups doing

homework and less time on the other personal and social activities. This suggests a

more serious attitude towards schoolwork and studies in general, as well as a more

disciplined home environment that stresses school achievement. This is in line with

findings by Chen and Stevenson (1989) regarding Asian children’s favourable

attitude towards homework; that is, Chinese children possess more positive attitudes

than American children and are more inclined to spend more time doing homework.

Further research by Hong et al. (2000) confirmed that Chinese students’ out-of-

school activities centred on homework and academically inclined activities, rather

than socialising with their peers as American adolescents in their study were more

inclined to do.

Interestingly, despite the Christian and Indian children’s greater engagement in

academic subjects, their participation in musical activities, especially in learning to

play an instrument, far exceeded the number of learners among Malay Muslim

children. Thus, the results infer that Chinese and Indian children perceive musical

training in a more positive light compared to Malay children and are more inclined

to forego other leisure activities for the sake of their musical training and other

pursuits that may be considered to enhance their development. It can be speculated

therefore that Chinese and Indian parents devote energy and resources into ensuring

that their children are given opportunities that more fully enhance their chances of

succeeding in life.



Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to investigate Malaysian children’s expectations and

valuing of music in and outside of school. As shown in our analyses, we found

important differences between the ethnic groups according to their expectations and

valuing of music in and outside of school. We also reported that girls had a generally

more favourable view of learning music than did boys.

Our study was driven by an urgent need to address the status and direction of

Malaysian music education based on our view that the music curriculum is

dependent upon the support and collaborative efforts of the whole educationsystem, not only among the music teachers themselves, but also significant others

such as other subject teachers, school principals, parents, policy makers and the

society.

At a practical level, further work is needed both in schools and among the

Malaysian society to promote the benefits of formal music learning. Based on our

results, there appears to be an urgent need to advocate music in the school

curriculum, as well as the general value of music in children’s lives. While parents

who provide music studies for their children may have some idea of the benefits ofmusical training, the relatively low percentage of music learners in our sample

suggests that many children and their parents are unaware of the positive value of

music and the ways that music can benefit one’s education. For real change to occur,

Malaysian society more generally will need to be convinced through research and

practical applications that music is a worthwhile subject and that it enriches

children’s education in profoundly important ways.

Notes on contributors

Ghaziah Mohd. Ghazali is a lecturer at the Faculty of Music, Universiti Teknologi MARA(UiTM), Malaysia. She earned her doctorate from the University of New South Wales,Australia. She is currently the head of the Music Education Programme at the Faculty ofMusic, UiTM. Ghaziah has presented papers in various Malaysian conferences and herresearch interests are in psychology of music, motivation, child and adolescent music teachingand learning, music teacher education and vocal training.

Gary E. McPherson is the ormond professor and head, School of Music at the University ofMelbourne, Australia. Former positions he has held include the Marilyn Pflederer Zimmermanendowed chair in music education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He gainedhis doctor of philosophy at the University of Sydney. Gary is a former national president (1995�1997) of the Australian Society for Music Education and president (2004�2006) of theInternational Society for Music Education. He has served on the editorial boards of all themajor English language research journals in music education internationally and published over100 articles and book chapters in a wide range of journals and books. Among his recentcontributions is an edited volume for Oxford University Press entitled: The child as musician:A handbook of musical development.

References

Asmus, E.P. 1994. Motivation in music teaching and learning. The Quarterly Journal of MusicTeaching and Learning 5, no. 4: 5�32.

Austin, J., J. Renwick, and G.E. McPherson. 2006. Developing motivation. In The child asmusician: A handbook of musical development, ed. G.E. McPherson, 213�38. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.



Bamford, A. 2006. The wow factor: Global research. Compendium on the impact of the arts ineducation. New York: Waxmann Munster.

Bond, M.H. 1991. Beyond the Chinese face: Insights from psychology. Hong Kong: OxfordUniversity Press.

Chen, C., and H.W. Stevenson. 1989. Homework: A cross-cultural examination. ChildDevelopment 60: 551�61.

Davidson, J.W., and G.E. McPherson. 1998. Self and desire: why students start music lessons.Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition 413�419.

Eccles, J.S., and A. Wigfield. 1995. In the mind of the actor: The structure of adolescents’achievement task values and expectancy-related beliefs. Personality and Social PsychologyBulletin 21, no. 3: 215�25.

Eccles, J.S., and A. Wigfield. 2002. Motivational beliefs, values and goals. Annual ReviewPsychology, 53: 109�132.

Eccles, J.S., A. Wigfield, R. Harold, and P. Blumenfeld. 1993. Age and gender differencesin children’s self- and task perceptions during elementary school. Child Development 64:830�47.

Eccles, J.S., A. Wigfield, and U. Schiefele. 1998. Motivation to succeed. In Handbook of childpsychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development, ed. W. Damon (SeriesEd.) and N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), 5th ed., 1017�95. New York: Wiley.

Eccles, J.S., T.F. Adler, R. Futterman, S.B. Goff, C.M. Kaczala, J. Meece, and C. Midgley.1983. Expectancies, values and academic behaviors. In Achievement and achievementmotives, ed. J.T. Spence, 75�146. San Francisco, CA: Freeman.

Education Planning and Research Division (EPRD). 2000. Laporan kajian pengajaran danpembelajaran pendidikan muzik sekolah rendah. [Report of study on teaching and learning ofmusic in primary schools]. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education.

Fredricks, J.A., and J.S. Eccles. 2002. Children’s competence and value beliefs from childhoodthrough adolescence: Growth trajectories in two male-sex-typed domains. DevelopmentalPsychology 38, no. 4: 519�33.

Hallam, S. 1998. The predictors of achievement and dropout in instrumental tuition.Psychology of Music 26: 116�32.

Hallam, S. 2002. Musical motivation: Towards a model synthesizing the research. MusicEducation Research 4, no. 2: 225�44.

Hallam, S. 2006. Musicality. In The child as musician: A handbook of musical development, ed.G.E. McPherson, 93�110. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hong, E., A. Topham, S. Carter, E. Wozniak, J. Tomoff, and K. Lee. 2000. A cross-culturalexamination of the kinds of homework children prefer. Journal of Research and Developmentin Education 34, no. 1: 28�39.

Hurley, C.G. 1995. Student motivations for beginning and continuing/discontinuing stringmusic instruction. The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 6, no. 1: 44�55.

Jacobs, J.E., S. Lanza, D.W. Osgood, J.S. Eccles, and A. Wigfield. 2002. Changes in children’sself-competence and values: Gender and domain differences across grades one throughtwelve. Child Development 73, no. 2: 509�27.

Lamont, A. 2002. Musical identities and the school environment. In Musical identities, ed.R.A.R. MacDonald, D.J. Hargreaves, and D. Miell, 41�59. New York: Oxford UniversityPress.

Lamont, A., D.J. Hargreaves, N.A. Marshall, and M. Tarrant. 2003. Young people’s music inand out of school. British Journal of Music Education 20, no. 3: 229�41.

Lehman, P.R. 2003. Why study music in school? http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/91/-1/26 (retrieved December 14, 2007).

MacKenzie, C.G. 1991. Starting to learn to play a musical instrument: A study of boys’ andgirls’ motivational criteria. British Journal of Music Education 8: 15�20.

Maehr, M.L., P.R. Pintrich, and E.A. Linnenbrink. 2002. Motivation and achievement.In: The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning, ed. R. Colwell andC. Richardson, 348�372. New York: Oxford University Press.



http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/91/-1/26

http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/91/-1/26

McPherson, G.E. 2000. Commitment and practice: Key ingredients for achievement duringthe early stages of learning a musical instrument. Bulletin of the Council for Research inMusic Education 147: 122�7.

McPherson, G.E., and J.M. Renwick. 2001. A longitudinal study of self-regulation inchildren’s musical practice. Music Education Research 3, no. 1: 169�86.

McPherson, G.E., and J.W. Davidson. 2002. Musical practice: Mother and child interactionsduring the first year of learning an instrument. Music Education Research 4, no. 1: 143�58.

O’Neill, S., and G.E. McPherson. 2002. Motivation. In: The science and psychology of musicperformance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning, ed. R. Parncutt and G.E.McPherson, 31�46. New York: Oxford University Press.

O’Neill, S.A. 2001. Young people and music participation project: Practitioner report andsummary of findings. From the Unit for the Study of Musical Skill and Development, KeeleUniversity, UK. http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ps/ESRC/Practitionerimp.doc (retrievedJanuary 28, 2003)

Reimer, B. 2003. The danger of music education advocacy. http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/96/-1/26/ (retrieved December 14, 2007).

Sloboda, J.A., and M.J.A. Howe. 1991. Biographical precursors of musical excellence: Aninterview study. Psychology of Music 19: 3�21.

Wigfield, A., J.S. Eccles, K.S. Yoon, R.D. Harold, A.J.A. Arbreton, C. Freedman-Doan, andP.C. Blumenfeld. 1997. Changes in children’s competence beliefs and subjective task valuesacross the elementary school years: A 3-year study. Journal of Educational Psychology 89,no. 3: 451�69.

Appendix 1. Examples of questionnaire items

For me, learning a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is:

Not IMPORTANT Very IMPORTANT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not ENJOYABLE Very ENJOYABLE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Very DIFFICULT Very EASY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Very BORING Very INTERESTING

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not USEFUL Very USEFUL

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

For me, learning music IN SCHOOL is:

Totally UNIMPORTANT

Very IMPORTANT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not ENJOYABLE Very ENJOYABLE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Very DIFFICULT Very EASY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Very BORING Very INTERESTING

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not USEFUL at all Very USEFUL

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ps/ESRC/Practitionerimp.doc

http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ps/ESRC/Practitionerimp.doc

http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/96/-1/26/

http://www.isme.org/article/articleprint/96/-1/26/

Documents

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Malaysian children's attitudes towards learning music