Abstract
189 Japanese and 289 Chinese junior high school students were surveyed to assess their motivation and attitudes for studying English. The results showed that the Chinese students had higher interest and involvement than the Japanese students in English studies. They showed relatively higher achievement, but were less satisfied with their attainment and felt it necessary to exert more efforts than the Japanese. The Chinese are basically instrumentally motivated, i.e., English is seen as an instrument for a future career. Their intense interest, involvement and efforts are pragmatically-oriented and integrated into a single-dimension value. In contrast, the Japanese have multi-dimensional motivation, i.e., partly influenced by extrinsic factors such as entrance exams, and partly influenced by intrinsic factors existing in the learning process itself. Another big distinction is the fact that the Chinese students expressed a very weak longing or aspiration for English culture.
