Preservice Music Teachers’ World Music Preference for Taught Pieces and Its Transfer to Untaught Pieces

Abstract

We investigated whether preference transfer occurred from 18 taught world music pieces to 18 untaught pieces from the same regions among preservice music teachers. Eighty-three preservice music teachers participated in an interactive, culturally diverse music curriculum over the course of a semester. Participants learned 18 African, Asian, and Latin American folk songs in small groups from culture bearers via video conferencing. They then team-taught the same songs to their peers. Before and after the curriculum intervention with taught pieces only, we tested participants’ preferences for the taught and untaught pieces. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results indicated that the participants’ preference scores increased from the pretest to posttest for both taught and untaught world music pieces in all three regions. This result suggests the existence of possible preference transfer from taught to untaught pieces. Through follow-up interviews and instructor’s reflective notes analyses, we identified four interconnected themes across cognitive, cultural, social, and pedagogical dimensions that explained reasons for preference transfer: applying principles from taught pieces, appreciating cultures with authenticity and legitimacy, learning safely via intra- and intergroup interactions, and experiencing reciprocal course structure. We discuss implications for the profession that bridge formal and informal endeavors of teaching and learning music from diverse cultures.

Keywords

preference transfer specific transfer of learning reciprocal learning culture bearers social learning

In contemporary global societies, openness, cross-cultural skills, and respect for a wide range of cultural manifestations are important goals for education in all disciplines (Borbotko et al., 2019; Sani, 2015). To achieve these goals in music education, Tanglewood Symposia I and II (1967, 2007), the Vision 2020: Housewright Symposium (2020), and the NAfME National Standards (1994, 2014) have recommended that music educators introduce students to a variety of music styles being practiced throughout the world (Yoo & Kang, 2020). In particular, music educators have tried to broaden students’ music preference for diverse music styles across the world because it can provide “a platform from which to seek out a variety of music” (Johnston, 2016, p. 515) or function as a “springboard for further music learning” (Fung, 1995, p. 31). In other words, students may continue to explore and interact with the culturally diverse musics that they prefer, which may lead to deepened cultural understanding and openness (Fung, 1994; Mellizo, 2019). Thus, broadening students’ preference can be an important step that music teachers take to promote openness, cross-cultural skills, and respect for a wide range of cultures.

Preference refers to a degree of liking, and one’s preference can be altered as a result of exposure or instruction in a relatively short period of time (Radocy & Boyle, 2012). Researchers have found positive correlations between familiarity and students’ preferences for Western music pieces (Bornstein, 1989; Finnäs, 1989; Hunter & Schellenberg, 2011) and world music pieces (Demorest & Schultz, 2004; Fung, 1994, 1996; Kang & Yoo, 2016; Yoo et al., 2018). Van Den Bosch et al. (2013) stated that listening to familiar music includes “expectations and predictions over time based on veridical knowledge of the piece.” Such knowledge and familiarity factors seem to play an important role in the elicitation of emotional responses. That is, understanding or knowing certain aspects about music pieces (e.g., musical sound, technique, or culture) could contribute to one’s preference for them (Dobrota & Ercegovac, 2017; Kang & Yoo, 2016).

While music teachers may not directly impact a student’s music preference, they may help students to be more familiar with a variety of world musical styles in their instruction (Shehan, 1984, 1985). However, it is impractical to introduce all musics from varied cultural traditions to students in a music class. Given this reality, music teachers may desire students to transfer their familiarity with a world music piece to other pieces in similar styles through repeated exposure or instruction of selected genres and, consequently, to broaden their preference for pieces in related musical styles.

Specific transfer refers to “the transfer of skills and knowledge acquired in one task to a similar task in which they are directly relevant” (American Psychological Association, 2007). Specific transfer requires a similar condition between stimulus elements in the original learning and those in the transferred learning. Shared elements are detected by learners, leading to a quicker acquisition of the transferred task (Cormier & Hagman, 2014). For instance, scholars in English education discovered that a high level of phonemic awareness led to increased achievement in reading and writing for foreign leaners of English (Djiguimkoudre, 2021; Rajab, 2013; Yoshikawa & Yamashita, 2014). Similarly, physical education researchers found that physical practice tasks developed in one game transferred to other games in the same category (Holt et al., 2006; Mitchell & Oslin, 1999).

In a music context, similar transfer effects can take on diverse forms, such as sight-reading new pieces after training with tonal patterns (MacKnight, 1975), recognizing the thematic structure of musical compositions within the same stylistic genre via repeated listening to music examples (Pollard-Gott, 1983), transferring knowledge and skills from one type of ensemble to another, and composing in a variety of styles (Forrester, 2018). Regardless of the multiple examples of specific transfer identified in music education, limited research has been conducted to examine whether preferences for taught pieces as a result of a music program were transferred to preferences for similar but untaught pieces. As far as can be determined, three music studies have focused on examining the potential of specific transfer of preference (Johnston, 2016; Peery & Peery, 1986; Shehan, 1985).

Shehan (1985) examined whether elementary students’ (N = 26) preferences for non-Western music genres (i.e., African, Asian Indian, Japanese, and Hispanic) were transferred from taught to untaught pieces of the same genre after five sessions (35 minutes for each weekly session). The researcher found that even though students’ preference ratings for the taught pieces increased from pretest to posttest, preference ratings for the untaught pieces did not increase. Thus, Shehan concluded that preference transfer to the untaught pieces did not occur.

Peery and Peery (1986) assessed the effects of a 10-month course of music instruction (45 minutes for each weekly session) on preschool children’s (N = 45) preference ratings for six pieces of classical music. Children in the experimental group (n = 21) had higher preference ratings for the three (out of six) taught musical examples compared to the three untaught pieces (similar but different musical examples) from pretest to posttest. While students’ preference ratings for one untaught piece increased from pretest to posttest, those of the other two untaught pieces did not increase. In sum, preference transfer partially occurred.

Johnston (2016) investigated the effects of repeated exposure to musical examples on undergraduate non-music majors’ (N = 174) preference ratings and examined the potential preference transfer to similar but different musical examples within the same stylistic genre (i.e., Romantic Era, orchestral, and homophonic). Participants’ preference ratings for music increased from pretest to posttest via repeated exposure. Likewise, preference ratings for the similar but unfamiliar musical pieces increased as well. Therefore, he concluded that preference was transferrable within a stylistic genre. This result is contrary to Shehan’s (1985) study with children, in which no preference transfer was found.

Among these three preference transfer studies, only Shehan’s (1985) included non-Western music, and the other two studies used Western classical music. Since Shehan’s study, many researchers and music educators have accepted the idea of no preference transfer in untaught world music pieces, and only few have asked further questions. Although preference transfer to untaught pieces did not occur in Shehan’s study, there may be potential variations in these results if the exposure period, extent of immersion, musical types, instructional designs, and research participants’ developmental stage are different. Shehan included elementary students in her study; however, more advanced students (secondary or postsecondary) may better recognize musical characteristics from taught pieces among untaught pieces of similar genres. Shehan also adopted English lyrics in engaged listening-based activities. If some aspects of cultural immersion are provided, such as direct contact with culture bearers, prolonged engagement with the culture, the provision of contextual information, and so forth, perhaps it may yield different research outcomes (Kang & Yoo, 2019; Mellizo, 2019).

Given the scarcity of preference transfer on non-Western music pieces, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether preference for the same world music genres transferred from taught to untaught pieces among preservice music teachers if aspects of cultural immersion were incorporated. We addressed the following research questions: (1) Did preference transfer occur from taught to untaught world music pieces based on region (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) and time (pretest vs. posttest) among preservice music teachers as a result of a researcher-developed curriculum? and (2) If preference transfer occurred, what were the reasons?

Method

Participants and Context

Following approval from the university’s institutional review board, we recruited participants from an intact undergraduate class during the fall semester of 2019 at a small university (approximately 4,000 students) in the eastern United States. Participants were undergraduate music education majors enrolled in a Music Education Lab course as part of their coursework requirement. The Music Education Lab was a 0-credit course meeting 1 hour per week, and all music education majors were required to take it for seven semesters. The purpose of the course was to discuss current trends and issues in music education and to learn from guest speakers about various perspectives surrounding these issues. At the time of this study, the theme for this course was World Music Pedagogy. While the study’s activities were part of the course curriculum, participation in this study was voluntary. Out of 105 students in the course, 79% of the students (N = 83) agreed to participate and completed all optional assignments for this study (i.e., pretests and posttests).

The participants self-identified as female (n = 55), male (n = 26), or other (n = 2). Among them, 68.8% were White, 12.0% were Hispanic, 8.4% were multiracial, 3.6% were Black, 3.6% were Asian/ Pacific Islander, and 3.6% declined to respond. They were freshmen (24.1%), sophomores (28.9%), juniors (32.5%), and seniors (14.5%), whose ages ranged from 18 to 25 years (M = 19.7, SD = 1.43). Most of the participants (95.2%) were voice and choral music emphasis students, and 4.8% were piano or composition emphasis students.

The first author was the course instructor. Because most student learning was attributed to the culture bearers invited to the class and peer teaching among the preservice teachers, the primary role of the instructor was as a facilitator. As a 0-credit course, students did not receive letter grades; they were assessed on participation and assigned grades of either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. This grading system helped the researcher alleviate potential research biases and conflict of interest. The first author practiced the two distinct roles of researcher and course instructor. Furthermore, the second and third authors from different institutions supported the first author to maintain an optimal and desirable balance between subjectivity and objectivity throughout the process (Hatch, 2002).

Procedure

For the first 3 weeks, the instructor gave a lecture on the course expectations and issues surrounding cultural diversity and world music pedagogy in music education. Participants were divided into 18 small groups of five to six students. Three small groups were assigned to each of the six countries (Kenya, Ghana, China, Korea, Brazil, and Chile) from three world regions (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). Each small group studied one folk song with a culture bearer from the assigned country and team-taught the song to the entire class. We attempted to provide a high-immersion, culturally diverse music curriculum in the course for a semester (13 weeks), which included “the study of one music culture, contact with culture bearers, and the inclusion of contextual information” in the small groups (Mellizo, 2019, p. 475). Three activities were assigned to each group: (a) complete a video conference with a culture bearer of the assigned country and learn a simple folk song, the cultural background of the song, activities related to the song, basic language (e.g., hello, goodbye), and a food recipe; (b) create a general music lesson plan to teach the learned song; and (c) team-teach the song along with other cultural background information (language, lyrics, activities, games, dance moves, etc.) in the class meeting. The three authors recruited six culture bearers, one from each of the six countries represented in the curriculum. Out of the six culture bearers, three were university music professors, two were local music teachers, and one was a music education doctoral student. All six were natives and culture-bearer musicians of one of the six countries and resided in the United States at the time of this study.

In Weeks 2 to 8, each small group had a 1-hour video conference with a culture-bearer musician to learn the song and contextual information. Each group’s meeting schedule was determined first by the culture bearer’s availability and by their assigned team-teaching date. Students were required to video-record the meeting and encouraged to revisit the video as needed. After finishing the video conference, each group met to prepare the lesson plan and practice teaching the whole class in their available time.

Team-teaching began in Week 4 and concluded by Week 12. On their assigned team-teaching dates, each small group set up the table with traditional food using a recipe learned from the culture bearer. Students tasted the food before learning the song taught by each small group. Because there were 18 small groups, by Week 12, all students learned a total of 18 African, Asian, and Latin American folk songs (Kenya, Ghana, China, Korea, Brazil, and Chile). Thus, each student learned one song from the assigned culture bearer via video conference in the small group and 17 more songs team-taught by their peers. The course instructor took field observation notes for all groups’ team-teaching. A wrap-up discussion took place in Week 13.

Data Collection

We framed this study as a mixed-methods convergent design because both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, compared, and combined to obtain “a more complete understanding of a problem” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018, p. 65). For the quantitative data, we employed a researcher-developed Taught and Untaught World Music Preference Scale (TUWMPS) for pretest and posttest (see Table 1). The qualitative data consisted of the instructor’s class observation notes and transcripts of the follow-up interviews with research participants.

Table 1.

An Example Item and Musical Excerpts in the Taught and Untaught World Music Preference Scale.


Country	T/UT	Excerptshttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cFbTzvxQSEclyUTsWKEXy0V9f3BkrfCp?usp=sharing
Brazil	T	Sapo Cururu Peixe Vivo Escravos de Jó
Brazil	UT	O Cravo e a Rosa Prenda Minha Tororó
Chile	T	La Petaguita El gorro de lana Yo vendo unos ojos negros
Chile	UT	El viejo lobo chilote La enredadera Sube a mi lancha
China	T	茉莉花/Jasmine Flower 采红菱/Picking Red Water Chestnuts 太湖美/Beautiful Tai Lake
China	UT	苏州好风光/Beautiful Scenery of Suzhou 拔根芦柴花/Pulling a Reed Catkin 一根丝线牵过河/A Silk Thread Over the River
Ghana	T	Pεtε Pεtε Tue Tue Abena Fosua - Adrobafoɔ
Ghana	UT	Kye Kye Kule Si Simbom: Bankye Bankye:
Kenya	T	Jambo Bwana Waco Wapi Maua Mazuri
Kenya	UT	Twamtaka Rafiki Ukuti Tuwapende Watoto School Song
Korea	T	도라지/Doraji 강강술래/Ganggangsulae 진도아리랑/Jindo Arirang
Korea	UT	새타령/Bird Song 닐리리야/Nililiya 노들강변/Noduel Riverside

Note. T = taught; UT = untaught.

Taught Untaught World Music Preference Scale

To construct an initial item pool for TUWMPS, we asked each culture bearer to recommend YouTube clips of eight folk songs with the following characteristics: vocal songs in a similar musical style for upper elementary or secondary general music classrooms accompanied by traditional choreography, dance, or games for classroom activities. We received 48 recommendations from six culture bearers (eight songs for each culture-bearer musician). We extracted the music from each clip and created a 25-second audio file; each excerpt included the main melody of the piece. We adjusted the sound quality with GoldWave Version 5.70. As a result, the 48 audio music excerpts from the initial version of the TUWMPS were proposed for pretest and posttest.

To assess the internal consistency of the initial version of TUWMPS, we conducted a pilot study with 30 undergraduate music students who did not participate in the main study. Based on the result, we removed two musical excerpts that led to lower internal consistency from each country to ensure high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. The final version of the TUWMPS consisted of 36 audio musical excerpts (six songs for each country). Out of the six excerpts for each country, three were included in the 18 pieces taught to the small groups by the culture bearers (and consequently, to the whole class by team-teaching), and the other three were untaught pieces. In sum, 18 excerpts were taught pieces, and the other 18 were untaught pieces. The internal consistency (α) in each category was acceptable or good (Brazil = .82, China = .87, Chile = .75, Ghana = .63, Korea = .88, Kenya = .78; Hajjar, 2018; Nawi et al., 2020; Taber, 2018).

We examined the preservice music teachers’ preferences for 36 pieces with 18 taught and 18 untaught pieces using the TUWMPS before and after the course activities (Table 1). The order of the pieces was counterbalanced between the pretest and posttest to minimize the likelihood of order effect. The preference test was distributed via Qualtrics by embedding the musical excerpts and was emailed to each research participant. For each of the 36 excerpts, all participants responded on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly dislike, 7 = strongly like).

Follow-up interviews

When the TUWMPS posttest was administered, we checked the participants’ willingness to engage in follow-up interviews to further explain their learning experiences. Seven participants agreed to proceed with the interviews: three students from the Chilean groups, two from the Ghanaian groups, and two from the Chinese groups. After the semester was over, the interviews took place on the Zoom platform individually with the course instructor for an average of 30 minutes. As a semistructured interview, some initial questions were asked, such as “Please share your overall experience in the class,” “Have you noticed the inclusion of taught and untaught pieces in the pre- and posttests?” and “What do you think are the factors that influenced your preference for taught versus untaught pieces?” followed by customized questions based on their responses (Creswell & Poth, 2016).

Data Analysis

The TUWMPS data were analyzed using SPSS Standard Version 27. We conducted preliminary analyses of internal consistency, interitem correlations, and the normality check prior to the main analysis. We computed the descriptive statistics and comparisons between the preference pretest and posttest and taught and untaught.

The interview data were transcribed using the YouTube subtitle creation function. The three researchers analyzed the interview transcripts and the instructor’s class observation notes using DeDoose, an online qualitative data analysis application, which allowed us to collaborate in creating codes. Each researcher separately analyzed the assigned portion of data using the emergent coding system in the collaborative DeDoose platform, and the other two researchers monitored their analysis. If we had disagreements, we discussed until a consensus was reached (Hsu & Sandford, 2007). In this process, 32 codes were created, which were collaboratively regrouped and collapsed. Finally, four themes emerged.

Results

As a preliminary analysis, we checked the internal consistency of excerpts from each country. Pretest items showed acceptable to good reliability (N = 83, αs = .63–.89), and posttest items exhibited good to superior reliability (αs = .78–.92; Hajjar, 2018). We performed intercountry correlations within each region category for pretest and posttest preference scores. All coefficients were significant at the p < .01 level. Additionally, we examined the normality assumption for the potential use of parametric statistics by checking the skewness and kurtosis of the preference ratings. Although we found slight indications of negative skewness, pretest preference variables indicated a normal distribution with an acceptable value of skewness and kurtosis (between –1 and 1). However, some excessive kurtosis values (range = 3.87–4.45) in three posttest preference ratings (Africa-Taught, Latin America–Taught, and Latin America–Untaught) exhibited violations of a normal distribution among posttest variables. A nonparametric approach in analyzing the data was more appropriate.

Research Question 1. Did preference transfer occur between taught and untaught world music pieces based on region (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) and time (pretest vs. posttest) among preservice music teachers as a result of a researcher-developed curriculum?

Descriptive statistics for preference ratings for excerpts from each of the three regions are provided in Table 2. We administered a series of Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, a nonparametric statistical hypothesis test for comparing dependent samples (Field, 2009). In total, we administered 12 comparisons. Six comparisons were conducted between pre- and post-preference ratings of taught and untaught pieces from the three regions, and another six comparisons were conducted between taught and untaught pieces in each pretest and posttest. Thus, a Bonferroni correction was applied for the significance level (p = .05 / 12 = .0042).

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics of the Pretest and Posttest Preference Ratings in the Taught and Untaught World Music Preference Scale (N = 83).

Variable	M	SD	Skew	Kurtosis
Pretest Taught
Africa	5.04	0.89	0.26	0.19
Asia	4.43	1.14	0.01	−0.82
Latin America	5.27	0.82	−0.43	0.26
Pretest Untaught
Africa	4.68	0.90	−0.25	0.10
Asia	4.16	1.32	0.01	−0.47
Latin America	5.05	0.91	−0.34	−0.22
Posttest Taught
Africa	5.61	0.98	−1.21	4.39^a
Asia	5.21	1.32	−0.61	−0.01
Latin America	5.64	1.00	−1.37	4.45^a
Posttest Untaught
Africa	5.07	1.08	−0.45	1.13
Asia	4.57	1.46	−0.29	−0.62
Latin America	5.53	1.01	−1.29	3.87^a

Indicates high kurtosis values.

The first six comparisons revealed that posttest preferences were significantly different from pretest preferences for both taught and untaught pieces from all three regions: Africa (z = 4.92, p < .001), Asia (z = 5.30, p < .001), and Latin America (z = 4.25, p < .001) for taught pieces; Africa (z = 2.88, p = .004), Asia (z = 2.89, p = .004), and Latin America (z = 4.60, p < .001) for untaught pieces. As shown in Figure 1, all slopes of preference increment occurred in the same direction, but they appeared to be nonparallel. This result revealed that preference transfer might have occurred from taught to untaught world music pieces.

Figure 1.

Preference ratings by time, teaching, and region in the Taught and Untaught World Music Preference Scale (N = 83).

The next six comparisons between taught and untaught pieces in each pretest and posttest excerpt category yielded mixed results. Among the pretest ratings between taught and untaught pieces, Asian and Latin American piece ratings were not significantly different (p > .0042), but African piece ratings were significantly different (z = −4.50, p < .001). Among the posttest ratings between taught and untaught pieces, Latin American piece ratings were not significantly different, but Asian (z = −6.48, p < .001) and African (z = −5.74, p < .001) piece ratings were significantly different. All three significant differences showed that the taught pieces were rated higher than the untaught pieces. These mixed findings suggested that the preference increase from pretest to posttest occurred at varying rates across the three excerpt categories. Preference for Latin American excerpts appeared to be most consistent between the taught and untaught pieces in both pretests and posttests, meaning that taught and untaught pieces were alike with similar preference increases from pretest to posttest. Although Asian and African excerpts received increased preference ratings at the posttest, their rates of increase between taught and untaught pieces were not uniform (nonsignificant difference in pretest but significant difference in posttest for Asian excerpts) or undetermined (significant difference in both pretests and posttests for African excerpts).

Research Question 2. If preference transfer occurred, what were the reasons?

While preference ratings indicated that preferences for the taught pieces were transferred to the untaught pieces, we used interview data and the instructor’s field observation notes to determine reasons for the transfer. We coded these qualitative data collaboratively to ensure agreement and trustworthiness. After rounds of cross-checking, discussions, and revised coding, we settled on 32 codes. Four interconnected themes emerged: applying principles from taught pieces, appreciating cultures with authenticity and legitimacy, learning safely via intragroup and intergroup interactions, and experiencing reciprocal course structure.

Applying principles from taught pieces

Preservice teachers frequently referenced applying principles learned in taught pieces when they listened to untaught pieces. They were aware of their own increased familiarity with the musical styles involved as an outcome of their course experience. They described how they became familiar with the musical sound, the musical technique, the culture, the language, and some similarities to Western music.

One participant recalled the musical experience in class when viewing a video excerpt from the course. Preservice music teachers might, in their words, “apply those same principles” learned from a musical piece and transfer to another piece in a similar style. A participant said, “I know something about that song even if you [sic] don’t learn it.” It was evident that the transfer of preference due to cognitive reasons might depend on the preservice teacher’s personal background, such as the vocal style and technique used for singers or the type of instruments used for instrumentalists. The data also revealed that preservice music teachers were aware of the preference transfer within themselves.

Appreciating cultures with authenticity and legitimacy

Preservice teachers learned to appreciate cultures by interacting virtually with culture bearers throughout the course. Culturally, changes in knowledge and attitude as a result of the course activities were substantial. The built-in interaction with culture-bearer musicians, the group project, and the peer teaching and learning had clearly led to the preservice music teachers’ gain in knowledge and experience in the concerned cultures and musical pieces. The participants’ interactions with culture bearers instilled feelings of authenticity and legitimacy when learning, planning, and team-teaching the songs from the assigned cultures. Many participants expressed their initial fear of misrepresenting cultures, which was overcome after interacting with the culture-bearer musicians. One stated that “I want to do the country justice, and I am always afraid that I am not going to.” However, as culture bearers directly provided information from their cultures, preservice teachers felt that they were able to legitimately represent the culture. As one participant stated, the interaction with culture bearers gave her a feeling of “doing the correct thing” and “confidence to teach.” As such, the authenticity and legitimacy gained through these interactions with culture-bearer musicians have empowered them to do justice to the music and have more confidence to teach; therefore, the majority of the preservice music teachers were prone to attend to the information and experience offered by the culture bearers.

The preservice music teachers noted that they become more open-minded to the culture of the assigned folk song because of the authenticity and legitimacy of the culture bearers. One stated, “I had never heard anything like it before, so it definitely opened my interest.” Specific to the transfer of preference, another recognized the “cool things I can appreciate about the music.” One even recognized “an aesthetic” in different musical cultures and traditions.

Learning safely via intra- and intergroup interactions

Many preservice teachers recalled intra- and intergroup interactions helped their preference transfer. Socially, course activities had built-in collaboration, comfort, and fun, allowing preservice teachers to safely explore the songs and experiment on their teaching of the songs. Peer learning and social bonding was integral to the work of intragroup interactions for their extended learning in small groups. One student commented, “We [my small group members] sat down and for a solid . . . two hours, we just . . . dissected the music . . . we went through and we did that all together.” The preservice teachers’ intragroup interactions extended and deepened their learning experiences.

In a broader sense, intergroup interactions were also friendly and supportive as each group took turns in peer teaching. The opportunity for intergroup interactions also extended to include the learner-side in the peer teaching. The learners or the audience in the peer teaching practice followed their peers’ directions and participated in making the music. The participants expressed feeling comfortable working in this mutually supportive environment because they faced many common pedagogical challenges that require similar strategies. The instructor also noted several times that the class members were aware that they were out of their comfort zones and thus did not judge others’ mistakes. One described that she was encouraged by observing other groups’ teaching, stating that, “Okay, if they can do it, then I can do it,” and the peer teaching “[took] some of the fear away from getting it wrong.” Because the class was a “safe environment,” preservice teachers had a “comfortable feeling and [had the] confidence to teach,” and their enjoyment was exhibited with facial expressions and body language during class.

The social aspect of the reasons for preference transfer was also closely knitted to the cognitive aspect as they learned from peers breaking down teaching content for them. The participants were meticulous about various musical elements. One echoed that peer teaching was like “putting together a puzzle.” The social interaction was also related to cultural appreciation as a reason for preference transfer because the social interaction took place between individuals of different cultures, including the culture bearers and the classmates. Due to the collaborative nature of many course activities, the social factors promoting preference transfer were related to the collaborative pedagogical approach that used a reciprocal course structure.

Experiencing reciprocal course structure

The course structure was reciprocal, positioning preservice teachers as both teacher and student, which facilitated their preference transfer. Preservice teachers seemed to learn and recall the songs taught in the course more effectively because of the reciprocal structure. Pedagogically, two components stood out as important features contributing to learning and recalling and preference transfer. First was the involvement of culture-bearer musicians, in which preservice teachers took a learner position. One participant said, “You get some information from the culture bearer that you don’t get communicated as effectively from your peers.” Another comment was even more obvious, “The reason I can remember that song so well is because I learned the songs from culture bearer.” Second was the use of team teaching done by the small groups, positioning participants as teachers. While related to the previous three themes of their reasons for preference transfer, team teaching added an extra layer of confidence when teaching an unfamiliar musical style and enriched the enjoyment and teaching style. One commented that it was “really cool to have each person in a group bring something to the table.” Both learning (from culture bearers) and teaching (within the small group and to the entire class) were elevated to an unexpected level.

Although we present the four themes under separate subheadings, they are interconnected because activities in the class were integrative in nature, cognitively, culturally, socially, and pedagogically, and were experienced by the same participants. It is inevitable that the four themes overlap with a good deal of ambiguity, which is essential to support the holistic experience. None of the four themes show evidence of standing alone in isolation. The transfer process was primarily described in the first theme, applying principles from taught pieces, and the other three themes appeared to support preservice teachers’ transfer, recognizing and applying the principles from taught pieces to untaught pieces.

Discussion

In the current study, we investigated whether preference transfer occurred from world music taught pieces to untaught pieces of the same genre among preservice music teachers. The participants’ preference scores increased from the pretest to posttest for both taught and untaught world music pieces in all three regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The statistical results and the first theme, applying principles from taught pieces, suggested the existence of possible preference transfer from taught to untaught world music pieces, which contradicts Shehan’s (1985) study. Comparing the context and research design between Shehan and our study would shed light on factors that led to possible preference transfer. In this section, based on our results and the literature, we discuss factors that support preservice teachers’ preference transfer, including participants’ developmental stage and musical readiness, the creation of integrated learning community, and the desire to legitimately represent diverse cultures.

Participants’ Developmental Stage and Musical Readiness

One of the salient differences between Shehan (1985) and the current study is the participants’ developmental stage and musical readiness. Whereas Shehan’s study included upper elementary school students, we included college music education majors, who were more developmentally mature and professionally trained as musicians and educators. The interview data showed that the preservice teachers exhibited relatively more advanced music knowledge and skills to grasp stylistic features of the untaught world music genres after learning the taught pieces from culture bearers and peers. The first theme, applying principles from taught pieces, demonstrated that preservice music teachers’ psychological and musical maturity of perceiving principles learned from taught pieces and applying them to a similar setting enhanced their preference transfer.

The ability to obtain knowledge from one task and apply it to another similar task can be explained by specific transfer of learning (Cormier & Hagman, 2014). Although a multitude of research on world music preference revealed the familiarity effect as a crucial reason for preference (Demorest & Schultz, 2004; Fung, 1994, 1996; Kang & Yoo, 2016; Yoo et al., 2018), it only accounts for increased preference among taught pieces. Through specific transfer of learning, listeners may detect shared elements from taught pieces and find familiarity among untaught pieces (Cormier & Hagman, 2014). Given the cognitive reasons that research participants ascribed, it seems evident that preference transfer occurred among preservice teachers when they found similar musical patterns in the untaught pieces.

Creating an Integrated Learning Community Learning Community

Another difference to note between Shehan (1985) and the current study is the mode of learning. Shehan incorporated a 5-week performing lesson, in which elementary students sang melodies with English lyrics and played ostinato on the recorder and percussive instruments. In Shehan’s study, the teaching and learning context resembled a traditional classroom setting. However, the current study provided a platform for creating an integrated learning community by positioning preservice teachers both as learners and teachers, bridging culture bearers and preservice teachers, and facilitating inter- and intragroup interactions. Preservice teachers in the current study were more proactive in interpretation and reflection and may have experienced deeper immersion in the music, the culture, and the teaching and learning process. The social dynamics created by the integrated learning community were absent in Shehan’s study. These elements in the college-level course designed for music education majors added significant weight in not only the preferences for the taught pieces but also the untaught pieces.

In the integrated learning community, social dynamics created from the reciprocal mode of learning seemed to extend the learning moments as well as facilitate engagement with cultures. The interview data revealed that preservice teachers spent a significant amount of time preparing for team teaching, which also created meaningful learning moments. In the small groups, preservice teachers recalled the knowledge together and co-constructed it for team-teaching. The results resonate with Vygotsky’s (1978) notion that learning occurs through interpersonal interactions. The knowledge gain seemed to take place through socialization, not only in the official class meetings but also in participants’ small groups in this learning community.

Desire to Legitimately Represent Diverse Cultures

The preservice teachers’ advanced developmental stages and professional training would also have influenced their nuanced attitudes to diverse cultures. The fact that several preservice teachers expressed fear of misinterpreting cultures revealed that they desired to legitimately represent diverse cultures. Such desires were often reported in the previous literature, especially when people’s musical capacity and flexibility allowed them to perceive and express subtle cultural manifestations in music (Hebert & Saether, 2014; Yoo & Kang, 2018). Hebert and Saether (2014) reported a Danish musician’s struggle to represent Finnish music culture “without destroying the beauty of the original tradition” (p. 427). Yoo and Kang’s (2018) study compared preservice elementary and music teachers’ learning processes in a Korean percussion ensemble. Although preservice music teachers perceived unique qualities of the music and expressed desires to play it in a culturally appreciative manner, preservice elementary teachers found it challenging to perceive and express unique musical qualities.

In the current study, the opportunity to virtually interact with culture bearers seemed to remove a certain degree of fear and satisfy participants’ desires to legitimately represent the cultures. Also, the desire to validly represent cultures may have inspired preservice teachers to engage in the learning process more deeply with culture bearers and in the intra- and intergroup learning. The preservice teachers’ desire to legitimately represent diverse cultures can be another crucial component that elicited contradicting results from Shehan’s (1985) study.

In summary, we identified the research participants’ maturity as preservice music teachers, musical readiness, and cultural sensitivity as primary reasons for preference transfer. Furthermore, the environment provided by the course structure, such as the integrated approach engaging with culture-bearer musicians, collaborative learning and teaching, and cultural immersion, can be the secondary reason for preference transfer. Themes encompassing cognitive, cultural, social, and pedagogical dimensions were interconnected in understanding preservice music teachers’ preference transfer. They demonstrated social dynamics in the integrated learning community and provided evidence to explain how preference transfer occurred in college students with professional training in music education.

Implications and Future Research Suggestions

Because preference transfer did occur in this study, implications can be drawn for music education students, music teacher educators, culture-bearer musicians in a local or virtual community, and the broader profession of music education. While learning every genre is impossible, music education students are encouraged to take every opportunity to learn a piece among a wide range of world musical genres in a community, including direct or virtual contact with culture-bearer musicians, collaborative learning and teaching, and cultural immersion. Furthermore, music teachers may consider purposefully “teach for transfer,” so musical and cultural elements can be understood and appreciated more broadly than the specific pieces and genres. Applying a transfer of learning framework involving “deliberate and systematic approaches” (Forrester, 2018, p. 34) in world music understanding could be tremendously beneficial. Additionally, preference transfer occurred for music from all three regions (i.e., Asia, Africa, and Latin America) in this study. This result suggests that learning more different ones, for instance, pieces from different regions, could prepare them to broaden their preferences for an even wider range of musics (Campbell & Wade, 2004; Fung, 1995).

Nurturing an integrated learning community for world music repertoire was an essential role for the instructor in the current study. Music teacher educators may consider engaging culture-bearer musicians in the local or virtual community when teaching world musical traditions (Fung, 1995; Kang, 2016). Advantages include allowing students (a) to learn musics even if they are not offerred in the music unit of the institution, (b) to deeply engage in the community filled with musical traditions that are experienced in person or virtually, and (c) to establish formal or informal relationships with culture bearers to extend their learning in person or at a distance when video conferencing and other internet tools are available. Video-conferencing platforms became a new normal in the pandemic, thus we can expect more active and generic interactions between institutions and communities with diverse cultures.

Culture-bearer musicians in a local or virtual community may consider partnering with higher education institutions to educate preservice music teachers to keep their precious musical traditions alive in the broader community. Collaboration with culture bearers could lead to a better chance for preservice music teachers to incorporate diverse musical traditions in their practice when they become a practicing music educator in the schools. At the very least, direct experiences with culture bearers would afford preservice music teachers with the knowledge and an increased preference for the pieces, both learned and not yet learned.

The broader profession of music education could benefit a great deal if a large number of culture-bearer musicians, music teacher educators, and music education students are engaged in a learning community similar to the one used in this study. There is a potential to transform music education by widening the scope of music classrooms into a learning community, in which people interact with a range of world musical styles. This way, music education would not be limited to the education of any specific musical style in a local community, freeing the musical, creative, and inspirational spirit of music-making going forward.

Although findings of this study offer a better understanding about preference transfer in preservice music teachers, one study is insufficient to generalize widely. Limitations of this study become apparent when considering (a) potential researcher bias (Wong, 1995), given that the first author also served as the instructor of the course,and (b) potential Hawthorne effect (Merrett, 2006) because study participants were professionally trained music education majors aware of the course objectives and the nature of the study. However, the first author-instructor (also a trained researcher and teacher) has made the best efforts to minimize such methodological limitations. Replication studies are needed to explore its generalizability. Our result also suggested that the varying rates of preference increase could be attributed to specific musical characteristics not identified (or not being questioned) in this study, such as tempo, modality, rhythm, timbre, dynamics, and other stylistic characters. Scholars can deepen the understanding of preference transfer by further exploring these musical features. Furthermore, comparisons of results involving participants of different age levels and music and music education professional training levels between elementary school students and undergraduate music education majors are needed. Researchers may adopt a similar research design for other age groups and ability levels because intercultural and musical learning should occur across one’s life span. While we encourage teachers to apply transfer theories in teaching world musics, more research is needed to delineate various types of transfer (e.g., near transfer and far transfer) in different musical domains (e.g., cognitive, affective). Continuous exploration of human interactions and their effect on preference transfer in an extended learning community would shed light on bridging formal and informal endeavors of teaching and learning music from diverse cultures in the community.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Sangmi Kang

C. Victor Fung

Hyesoo Yoo

Author Biographies

Sangmi Kang is assistant professor of music teaching and learning at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Her research interests include cultural diversity, intrinsic motivation, and 21st-century skills in music education.

C. Victor Fung is professor of music education at the University of South Florida. His research interests include Asian philosophies in music education, older adults’ music participation, and world music preferences.

Hyesoo Yoo is assistant professor of music education at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include students’ motivation for lifelong musical engagement, intercultural perspectives of music education, and the integration of technology into music classes.

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