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For decades, the transmission of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong and China has faced considerable challenges, including a lack of valid assessment. This study aims to propose a holistic theoretical framework for the assessment of Cantonese operatic singing after {1) analysing two graded examinations of Peking opera and Cantonese opera and {2) interviewing ten Cantonese opera experts and their students from Guangdong and Hong Kong. Findings reveal that the designs of the existing graded examinations in xiqu are still developing; multiple problems exist in the daily assessment practices including: (1) dependence on subjective perception, (2) a focus on the assessment of performance skills and a lack of multidimensionality, and (3) an inclination to momentary judgment and a lack of sustainability in assessing and documenting students' progress. Suggestions include introducing criterion- and standard-based assessments and increasing cooperation between artists and education experts, which may further promote the inheritance, popularity, and development of this traditional art form.

A revised abstract is as follows: Cantonese operatic singing is widespread in Hong Kong with numerous amateurs learning in community club settings. However, limited research has been taken on how amateurs learn in the community. This article reports on an autoethnographic study of a community music club catering to Cantonese operatic singing in Hong Kong. The author joined the club for six years as a full member and attended weekly gatherings to identify the features characterising informal learning with participant observations and informal conversations as research methods. Trustworthiness of the study was built on developed rapport with three members and lengthy period of data collection. Influenced by Chinese traditional culture and beliefs, a proactive learning attitude with industry, a competency of self-learning, and the development of positive inter-personal relationships were keys to earning the respect of senior members for access of learning. This study implies a need to balance between informal learning and a systematic pedagogy.

The purpose of this study was to explore how instrumental teachers reflect their professional development pathways with reference to their own apprenticeship experiences. The participants were three female instrumental teachers who taught the piano and violin. Reflections of teachers' own learning experiences on their career pathways and professional development were collected from the participants through interviews, teaching diaries, and field notes. Several themes emerged from the data collected over an approximately six-month period. First, all the participants experienced long musical apprenticeships. Second, the teachers rarely perceived pedagogical skills are 'learnable' skills as performing skills. Finally, all the teachers were only interested in practical, examination-oriented professional development programmes, as opposed to academic or pedagogically-oriented outcomes such as journals or conferences. The unitisation of professional development choices would appear to be the most urgent and pressing problem faced by instrumental teachers.

In this study, we investigated the factors affecting the motivation of studio-based instrumental learners in Hong Kong. We interviewed a total of 13 participants who learnt the violin and/or the piano. We analyzed the interview data by selective coding accordingly to the three basic needs in the conceptual framework of Basic Psychology Needs Theory, which is one of the mini-theories from Self-Determination Theory. The thematization of basic needs are (1) autonomy, (2) relatedness, and (3) competency. We found relatedness and competence were more related to our participants. This study contributes to the understanding of studio-based, learning-environment characteristics as well as specific motivation factors attributed to the distinctions between the violin and the piano learning environments in Hong Kong. We also discussed the issues of music learning in school and teacher's style of teaching practice.

Transmission of traditional art forms in the modern world has been a major issue in the field of arts education. Different issues have been raised on how to preserve the traditional art forms for further development. Cantonese opera is a representative Chinese opera popular in south China including Hong Kong. However, the genre has been experienced fluctuation since 1950s with the difficulties of transmission through oral tradition to conservatory tradition. While the Hong Kong Government promotes the genre to reserve the cultural tradition, great masters have been fading out and younger generation encounters difficulties in inheriting the genre. This article reports parts of a large-scale study on the nature and characteristics of oral tradition, learning in community settings, conservatory tradition, and proposes a model of transmission of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. The model may shed light on preserving, inheriting, and further developing traditional performing arts in the modern world.

This study aims to examine how and why students transform in terms of learning motivation in learning the Cantonese opera with a teacher-artist partnership approach in Hong Kong schools. An artist and seven teachers from four schools collaborated to teach the genre for eight weeks. Students' learning motivation changes in Cantonese opera was measured by a set of pre- and post-learning questionnaires. Qualitative data were drawn from class observations and focus group interviews with teachers and students. Results indicate that students' motivation in learning the genre has been changed. The statistical analysis suggests that, while primary students had significantly increased their motivation in learning Cantonese opera, the secondary students' motivation had not increased. Attributions include age differences, self-consciousness, intrinsic value and socio-cultural impact. However, the partnership was found to be an appropriate and effective approach in teaching the ethnic genre for its "role supplementation" between the teacher and the artist. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The Cantonese opera was traditionally transmitted by an apprenticeship approach, which has faded out in the mid-twentieth century. Instead, the conservatory approach adapted from the West has replaced the major mode of nurturing professional artists in China and Hong Kong. This study aims to investigate and examine the current practice of the conservatory approach in nurturing professional artists for the field of Cantonese opera. Two institutions from South China and Hong Kong were the subjects of this case study with observation and interviews as research tools. A cross-case analysis reveals that modern institutions have transformed the transmission mode of the traditional genre. While concentration on formal learning in the conservatory tradition may lead to efficient training, advantages from informal and non-formal learning adopted by the apprenticeship approach are abandoned. An eclectic approach is implied for improvement in nurturing professional artists for the Cantonese opera.

Schooling has been the main approach for transmitting knowledge and skills in both Eastern and Western cultures. The conservatory, for instance, has been the main cradle of great musicians. However, traditional folk arts in the East relied on apprenticeship using an oral approach for transmission. Applying Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation as a theoretical framework, this article reports an interview study with five Cantonese opera artists in Hong Kong, all of whom have previously served and led apprenticeships. It was evident that the master artists took on limited numbers of apprentices for the purposes of transmitting personal artistry rather than monetary benefit. The master and the apprentice build up a quasi-parental relationship while the apprentice was regarded as a family member of the field. This study supplements the aforementioned theoretical framework with the Chinese cultural element of family ethics which may imply an application of apprenticeship in artistic and non-artistic transmissions through schooling.

The Hong Kong Government has advocated teaching Cantonese opera in the school music curriculum to promote Chinese culture education. This longitudinal study aims to examine how and why teachers transform within 3 years in learning and teaching Cantonese opera with a teacher-artist partnership approach in schools. Five primary and two secondary teachers collaborated with a Cantonese opera artist to teach the genre for 8 weeks in 2008. With reference to the Transformative Learning Theory, two rounds of interviews with teachers in 2008 and 2011 were carried out to investigate the extent they had transformed in relation to teaching Cantonese opera. Informational learning from the partnership and self reflection in sufficient time are the main attributes in teachers' transformation. It is implied that music teachers may reinterpret their old experience of learning the Chinese music with the assistance of relevant experts in order to make new meaning of their perception on music education.

This article reports on the personal beliefs and attitudes of highly motivated Hong Kong school-age subjects who studied music. A total of 24 participants who demonstrated high achievement and interest in learning music were interviewed. Content analysis of the interview data was performed to elucidate four topics: background information about the music learning of participants, their feelings about learning music, their perceptions of parental expectations of the learning of different subjects, and music learning in schools. A detailed analysis was conducted to understand the views of participants on attainment value, task value, task difficulty and intrinsic motivation. Based on the results, a theoretical framework was derived that includes three developmental stages: (1) initial motivation, (2) short-term involvement and the learning process and (3) long-term involvement and ongoing commitment. The study contributes to the understanding of the developmental trajectory of these Asian participants by detailing intrinsic and extrinsic factors that impacted on their musical development. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

This study reports students' motivation changes after they were guided to compose. A total of 582 students in five primary schools responded to a set of pre- and post-activity questionnaires before and after participating in composing activities. A univariate ANOVA and a series of repeated measures ANOVAs were used to compare the mean scores before and after the composing activities to measure the different levels of student perception towards music composition. Results suggested that students' gender and their instrumental learning experience were two factors that significantly affected the motivational changes. In general, boys and non-instrumentalists had a significantly lower level of motivation than girls and instrumentalists. However, after experiencing the composing activities, boys had significantly elevated their self-efficacy, while non-instrumentalists had increased their self-efficacy, intrinsic value, utility value and expectancy. (Contains 6 figures and 2 tables.)

Background: Aspartic acid to glycine substitution (D222G) of haemagglutinin subunit (HA1) was associated with adverse outcomes in 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infections., Objectives: To characterize the virological profile and antiviral response of patients infected with the HA1 D222G mutant., Study Design: Sixty-three adults admitted for pandemic influenza in Hong Kong were tested for D222G mutation by direct sequencing. Nasopharyngeal viral concentration on presentation was measured by real-time PCR to evaluate shedding from the upper respiratory tract. Serial upper and lower respiratory tract specimens were monitored to determine preferential tropism and document virological response to treatment., Results: The frequency of D222G infection was 17.4% among cases with severe pneumonia, and 26.7% among cases requiring intensive care. Altogether, four sporadic D222G cases spread across the first and second waves in Hong Kong were detected. A significant association between D222G infection with severe pneumonia (100% vs. 32.2%, P=0.015) and intensive care admission (100% vs. 18.6%, P=0.002) was observed. D222G was associated with lower concentrations of virus in the upper respiratory tract compared to wildtype, but persisted in the lower respiratory tract at high concentrations, despite clearance from the upper respiratory tract following antiviral treatment., Conclusions: These observations suggest that D222G can arise de novo, sheds less virus from the upper respiratory tract and may be less transmissible, but more pneumotropic and more resistant to antiviral treatment. D222G is associated with a higher chance of developing critical disease. Lower respiratory tract specimen is needed for a reliable detection of this mutant., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)