A Wave to Worry About? Public opinion, foreign policy and China's anti-Japan protests

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

“…The inquiry was motivated by the researchers’ concern that Japanese language learners’ perceptions of and attitudes toward Japan might have worsened in the last three decades due to increased tensions between China and Japan (e.g., Cui, ; Reilly, ). The inquiry helped develop and validate a survey instrument to document Chinese university students’ motivation to learn Japanese as informed by Yashima's () notion of “posture.” The results have confirmed that the survey instrument is a valid tool to gain insights into the participants’ motivation to learn Japanese.…”

“…As research on what motivates learners to learn foreign languages increasingly focuses on individuals in terms of the self (e.g., Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, ; Dörnyei & Ushioda, ; Kostoulas & Mercer, ), desire (e.g., Kubota, ; Motha & Lin, ) or identity investment (e.g., Norton, ), it has become necessary to reaffirm the significance of individuals learning foreign languages for learners’ and target language speakers’ communities. For this reason, this inquiry has developed an instrument to explore university Japanese language learners’ orientations toward Japan in light of rising conflicts between China and Japan in mainland China (e.g., Reilly, ; Sinkkonen, ).…”

“…The Modern Language Journal, 103, 1, (2019) DOI: 10.1111/modl.12546 0026-7902/19/327-342 $1.50/0 C National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations search on what motivates learners to learn foreign languages increasingly focuses on individuals in terms of the self (e.g., Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, 2015;Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009;Kostoulas & Mercer, 2016), desire (e.g., Kubota, 2011;Motha & Lin, 2014) or identity investment (e.g., Norton, 2000), it has become necessary to reaffirm the significance of individuals learning foreign languages for learners' and target language speakers' communities. For this reason, this inquiry has developed an instrument to explore university Japanese language learners' orientations toward Japan in light of rising conflicts between China and Japan in mainland China (e.g., Reilly, 2014;Sinkkonen, 2013). Japan and China have a long history of mutually beneficial exchanges, but the two countries have also had a bitter war in the last century (1931)(1932)(1933)(1934)(1935)(1936)(1937)(1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945), memories of which have served as a crucial pillar that supports China's state-led nationalist campaign to promote patriotic education, especially since the 1990s (e.g., Ching, 2012;Cui, 2012;Sneider, 2013;Tang & Darr, 2012;Zhao, 1998).…”

“…Japan and China have a long history of mutually beneficial exchanges, but the two countries have also had a bitter war in the last century (1931)(1932)(1933)(1934)(1935)(1936)(1937)(1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945), memories of which have served as a crucial pillar that supports China's state-led nationalist campaign to promote patriotic education, especially since the 1990s (e.g., Ching, 2012;Cui, 2012;Sneider, 2013;Tang & Darr, 2012;Zhao, 1998). In the last few decades, the two countries have been engaged in rows over territorial disputes in the East China Sea and historical memories of the Sino-Japanese War, which has led to the rising of popular nationalism causing large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations in 2005 and 2012 (Reilly, 2014;Sinkkonen, 2013).…”

“…It has been noted that the well-educated middle-class population of young age have played significant roles in anti-Japanese demonstrations, potentially undermining social, cultural, and economic exchanges between China and Japan (e.g., Reilly, 2014;Tang & Darr, 2012;Yang & Zheng, 2012;Zhao, 2013). In contrast, the number of Japanese language learners has been on a steady rise as well.…”