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Macau Special Administration Region (Macau SAR) is in the process of revising legislation concerning special and inclusive education. While the institutional discourse revolves around establishing inclusive education, it is unclear as to how the proposed changes will enable or depress this from occurring. This research, therefore, examined teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion as an indication of how well the new legislation may be received. Specifically, it investigated the interplay between 508 teachers working in private schools in Macau, that identified themselves as being inclusive schools, and teachers’ sentiments and attitudes towards the acceptance of inclusion and the role that Confucian values might play in shaping these attitudes. Discussion focusses on four key outcomes that need to be addressed if a significant improvement in including all children in regular schools in Macau is to be achieved. These include the need (1) to clarify the concept of inclusion at government, school, and teacher levels as it currently has ambiguous meaning; (2) to provide teachers with more opportunities to have systematic contacts with students with SEN, as this is crucial to improving their sentiments and attitudes toward people with disability; (3) to provide professional learning about inclusive education with better partnerships between teacher education institutions and schools to bridge theory and practice; and (4) to review the hidden influence of the subtle levels of time-honoured Confucian beliefs in Macau, which are not manifest nor easily detected but possibly have a deep impact on day-to-day practices.

BACKGROUND: Public beliefs concerning the causes of mental disorders are important in their effective treatment. The relative importance of public beliefs related to the etiology of mental disorders among Chinese populations and their relationship to other attitudes to mental disorders are poorly understood. AIMS: To investigate the endorsement of beliefs related to the etiology of mental disorders in Macau, in particular, traditional Chinese beliefs, and to explore their relationship to general attitudes towards mental disorders. METHODS: A survey of 361 members of the public measured attitudes towards 32 possible causes of mental disorders as well as contact with and social distance from individuals with a mental disorder. RESULTS: The results indicated that traditional Chinese beliefs were ranked with relatively low importance compared with psychosocial causes. Traditional beliefs related to two underlying factors and were significantly higher in participants with lower education levels. There was a significant negative correlation between endorsement of traditional beliefs and contact with individuals with a mental disorder and a significant positive correlation between endorsement of traditional beliefs and desired social distance from individuals with a mental disorder. CONCLUSION: Factors underlying traditional Chinese beliefs concerning the causes of mental disorders are associated with more negative attitudes towards individuals with a mental disorder, with such beliefs more strongly endorsed by those with relatively lower education levels.

OBJECTIVE: A wide range of factors can influence help-seeking attitudes when individuals experience a mental disorder. The current study investigated the relationship between traditional Chinese beliefs related to the aetiology of mental disorders and help-seeking attitudes among elderly participants in Macao. METHODS: In order to ensure the suitability of participants for inclusion in this study, the participants were required to complete an initial screening test using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ). Participants who successfully passed the test (n = 183) completed a questionnaire that included the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS), a set of 9 items related to traditional Chinese beliefs about aetiology of mental disorders and demographic items. RESULTS: The IASMHS scores were higher for female participants and for participants who had completed high school compared with those who had never attended school or who had only completed primary education. Endorsement of traditional Chinese beliefs about the aetiology of mental disorders was higher for male participants. There was a negative correlation between traditional Chinese aetiology beliefs related to mental disorders and help-seeking attitudes. CONCLUSION: Traditional Chinese beliefs related to the aetiology of mental disorders are a negative factor that inhibits help seeking. Implications for efforts to increase the utilisation of mental health services by the elderly are discussed.

In Macao, the government has initiated a debate regarding revisions in the Decree Law in order to promote a more inclusive schooling system. In this Special Administrative Region of China, inclusive education is one of three possible types of special education that are likely be legislated in the future. The way the teachers perceive the different aspects related to inclusive education, namely the principles, concepts and law, is essential for its full implementation. The aim of this study is to understand teachers’ perceptions about the proposed amendments in the consultation document for changes in the special education regime. In particular, we focus on teachers’ acceptance of the recommended role of parents, the proposed placement models and expectations for teacher training. A mixed-methods approach with a survey of a sample of 500 teachers in private schools and interviews to a sub-sample of 20 provide the data. While agreeing in principle with the majority of the proposed changes in the Decree Law, there were several reservations made by the teachers, especially regarding the extent of parental choice, placement decisions and teacher training. Recommendations to continue the pathway for a more inclusive education system in Macao and for further research are made.

This paper reports findings of a mixed methods study examining private school teachers’ perceptions of efficacy in dealing with the challenges presented by inclusive education in Macao. This is highly pertinent after the Government invited consultation to propose changes to amendments of the Decree Law of 1996 concerning the education of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) which will likely see private schools being required to accept these students in the future. Within the context of teacher preparedness for inclusive education, the study found that a number of teachers felt that they were not at all prepared to teach students with SEN. Whilst some teachers suggested that they lacked skills and knowledge in teaching in inclusive classrooms, some felt overwhelmed with the challenges. The teachers proposed that they would need to know how to provide instructional adaptations and modifications to support students with SEN. Implications for continuous development of teacher training and education are discussed within the context of improving teacher efficacy and how private school teachers could better respond to the challenges of inclusive education in Macao.

Abstract: This study examines how specific variables such as age, first language, nationality, school grade and socioeconomic status (SES) affect the comprehensibility of second language (L2) speech in 92 second/non-native language learners. Comprehensibility refers to the degree of speech understanding. Fluency, rhythm, grammatical features and word stressing are concurrent factors for the listening comprehension (and the listener comprehensibility) mainly in L2 context. Research evidence focused the quality and differences of speech samples produced by the L2 learners and the comprehensibility rated by native speakers. In reverse scenario there is less evidence on the judgment of L2 learners for speech samples produced by native speakers. In this study we analysed if the comprehensibility ability of 92 young Portuguese L2 learners differ in the following conditions: age, nationality, home language, school grade, proficiency and socioeconomic status. Speech (one text) was recorded by a native speaker and was judged by L2 speakers using 1-5 Likert scale for comprehension difficulty. Main results showed that neither age nor home language had influence for comprehensibility, but socioeconomic, nationality and grades accounted for statistical differences between the groups tested. Also, data suggested that phonetic features are more likely important for the beginner in second language learning compared to the semantic features of speech that heavily depend on vocabulary domain. Keywords: Speech comprehensibility, nationality, grades, socioeconomic status, second language. Read more →

Differences in parental expectations related to cultural background, gender and sibling position were investigated among Chinese college students in Macau. Three-hundred and forty-four Chinese college students completed a questionnaire which included measures of parental expectations and psychological distress, as well as information about their gender, cultural background (Mainland China or Macau) and sibling position. Participants born in mainland China reported significantly higher perceived parental expectations (PPE) compared with students from Macau. Contrary to predictions, there was no evidence of a difference in PPE in relation to gender or being the first-born sibling. These findings are discussed in terms of changes in family values and parental attitudes within Chinese society over the past few decades.

Broadly, on-line communication platforms are online resources that allow the exchange of information using the Internet. They include Email, Instant Messaging, Online Open Forums, Online Blogging and Social Networking Sites. All these platforms have their own specialties and properties. In education, there are great advantages for high-schools to utilize these online communication platforms, especially Online Open Forums and Social Networking Sites. Communication is the backbone of education. Everything from classroom teaching to school policy making depends on effective communication [1]. With these new communication platforms at hand, schools can develop more adaptable and friendly channels among students, teachers and management (only the first two interveners are covered under this study). Various components of the schools will essentially work together in a more collaborative and regenerative way [2]. This research paper analyses how online communication platforms are changing the internal nature of education. It takes sample populations from two schools in Macao (Pre-University of the University of Saint Joseph, USJ, and Colégio Diocesano de São José, CDSJ) with different backgrounds such as medium of language, level of degree, professor's background and style of teaching. Teachers of these schools are communicated first for their opinion on key elements to improve learning with online communication platforms. These factors are implemented in a platform such as Social Networking Sites. As expected, students are instructed to utilize this platform (Facebook) to enhance their learning practice and experience. The result of this utilization is assessed in terms of student opinions and feedback.