Unlike in many other countries, Chinese language is one of the most popular languages selected as a foreign language in Japanese universities. Hence, the motivations of Chinese language learners can differ in Japan. Thus, in this study, we investigate the motivations for studying Chinese as a foreign language at Kyushu University, Japan. The aim is to reveal the reasons that students chose Chinese as their foreign language. The students used in this study are first year bachelor students at Kyushu University. Surveys were collected from six different classes over two years. The survey consists of questions about the students' motivations for learning Chinese their history with Chinese, their impressions about the language, and goals in language learning. This study finds that the main motivations are integrated motivation. instrumental motivation, interest in China, recommendations from others, and similarity to Japanese. In addition, the interest in China and the Chinese language was explored.
Yirong ZHAO (Thu,) studied this question.