A Literature Review of Cultural Identity, Learning Motivation, and Learning Outcomes in Japanese Learning among Chinese Students

Abstract

This paper adopts a narrative literature review approach and includes 24 representative studies, drawing mainly on empirical and review articles published in SSCI/CSSCI-indexed journals over the past two decades, while also incorporating a small number of foundational theoretical studies and one highly relevant Japanese-language article. The review focuses on the relationships among Chinese cultural identity, Japanese cultural identity, learning motivation, and learning outcomes in Japanese learning among Chinese students. It first constructs an analytical framework of identity-motivation-outcomes by integrating cultural identity theory, the investment model, self-determination theory, and the L2 Motivational Self System. It then examines empirical studies on Chinese learners of Japanese to analyze how interest in Japanese culture, intercultural orientation, nationalism, multilingual identity tensions, the gate-keeping role of English as a global language, and learning experience shape motivation and learning outcomes. Finally, it summarizes major debates, methodological limitations, and theoretical contributions in the existing literature. The review argues that cultural identity does not affect learning outcomes directly; rather, its influence is mediated by learning motivation and learning experience and further moderated by specific social contexts, thus producing a complex identity-motivation-outcomes mechanism. Existing research still shows limitations in the conceptualization of cultural identity, the measurement of learning outcomes, and the construction of integrated explanatory models. Future research should combine longitudinal designs, mixed methods, and more objective indicators of proficiency to explain this mechanism more systematically.