2019 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 203-218
This study verified and analyzed the motivations of Russian university students learning Japanese. Setting the index of autonomy, that is, when learners personalize a theme and try to improve on that theme, this paper verified whether the participants’ motivations were spontaneous. In regard to direction of motivation, we adopted a task-value evaluation scale, and examined the composition of participants’ motivations. We then divided subjects into two groups: one of subjects that prioritise finding a job that utilises Japanese language, and another of subjects looking for other jobs. We compared the two groups, analysing the gaps between them and the relationships between the index of autonomy and the task-value evaluation scale. In the former group, while the utility value (with an objective learning value) was high, it was also related to the index of autonomy. This sugests that motivation was caused by something more than just exterior stimuli. On the other hand, in the latter group, the public attainment value (the desire to learn content from another’s point of view) was seen to be functioning. We are thus hoping to increase classroom activities that bring social values into the classroom for this latter group.
