What Motivates Chinese University Students to Learn Japanese? Understanding Their Motivation in Terms of 'Posture'

In light of popular nationalism on the rise in China and Japan, this inquiry develops and validates a survey instrument to document university students' motivation to learn Japanese in mainland China and explore how the learning of a foreign language may lead to better cross-cultural understand...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Modern language journal (Boulder, Colo.) Colo.), 2019-03, Vol.103 (1), p.327-342
Main Authors: TEO, TIMOTHY, HOI, CATHY KA WENG, GAO, XUESONG, LV, LEINING
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chinese languages
Chinese university students
College Students
Cultural Awareness
Employment Opportunities
Foreign Countries
Foreign language learning
Intercultural Communication
International Relations
Interpersonal communication
Japanese
Japanese language
Japanese learning
Language Teachers
Learning Motivation
mixed method design
Mixed methods research
Motivation
Nationalism
News Media
Polls & surveys
posture
Purchasing
Second Language Instruction
Second Language Learning
Student Attitudes
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Summary:In light of popular nationalism on the rise in China and Japan, this inquiry develops and validates a survey instrument to document university students' motivation to learn Japanese in mainland China and explore how the learning of a foreign language may lead to better cross-cultural understanding. A total number of 398 Chinese learners of Japanese in Chinese universities participated in the survey and 12 of them participated further in post-survey interviews. The results confirm that participants' interest in Japan-related products, employment opportunities, and activities contribute to the motivation to learn the language for cross-cultural understanding and undertake cross-cultural exchanges with Japanese people. The results suggest that increased exposure to Japan-related affairs in the media coverage undermines their desire for intercultural communication and increases the approach for interacting with Japanese people. This means it is necessary for Japanese language educators to engage with Japanese language learners and to address macro contextual processes such as rising tensions between the two countries, negative coverage on China in Japan's media, and negative coverage on Japan in the Chinese media.
ISSN:0026-7902
1540-4781
DOI:10.1111/modl.12546