なぜ日本語Naze nihongo? : A Study of the Variables Affecting Senior High School Students’ Choice to Study Japanese

In recent years Japanese has become an increasingly popular language choice among students in senior high school in Sweden, but very little research has been conducted as to why this trend has emerged. This study aims to investigate the variables affecting senior high school students’ choice to study Japanese and to proceed with it in institutions of higher education, as well as to delineate any gender-specific and socioeconomic discrepancies amongst them based on Bourdieu’s sociology of education. In addition, it strives to shed light on the students’ attitudes toward Japan and the Japanese culture. The empirical data of the study consists of a survey collection of 112 respondents from 4 senior high schools in Stockholm, Uppsala and Västerås. The results indicate that interest in Japanese popular culture, mainly anime and manga, is the main incentive for learning Japanese and that this interest is commenced many years prior to the instruction. The prospect of traveling, studying and working in Japan, as well as to engage further in their interest in the Japanese culture, appears to be what motivates further and higher education in Japanese. The attitudes toward Japan and the Japanese culture are generally positive and the negative opinions expressed mainly derive from cultural difference. The students in the study are predominantly female who carry a strong cultural capital that stems from a middle class family and household of higher education. Hopefully, this study will contribute to the research field of Japanese language learning and inspire others to broaden the discipline