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I don’t get how "日本語が上手になるように毎日勉強しています" (日本語が上手になる) is a non-volitional
verb/uncontrollable verb (Uncontrollable Verb - 雨が降る can’t control when it
rains. 朝になった can’t control time) I understand that "早く良くなるように休んでください" (早く良くなる)
is a non-volitional Verb since you can’t control how someone recovers but why
can’t you control becoming/be better at Japanese by studying? For example:
"医者になるために毎日勉強しています" (医者になる)become a doctor by studying/going to a medical
school.
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verbs
Volitional verb (意志動詞) and non-volitional verbs (無意志動詞)
## Volitionals and Non-Volitionals

[意志動詞【いしどうし】 and
無意志動詞【むいしどうし】](http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/nifongo/1h93fy/ishi.html) are verbs
that have "volition" or verbs without "volition". Volition in this context is
the ability of the agent to control the action. In a volitional verb, the verb
is an expression of the agent's will. Non-volitionals, on the other hand, are
verbs that are not controlled by the agent and occur spontaneously.
**Volitionals verbs must be used with agents that have a "will" they can
impose, like people, animals, or personified objects.**

Do not confuse this with 他動詞【たどうし】(transitive verbs) and
自動詞【じどうし】(intransitive verbs). Although a large majority of 意志動詞 are 他動詞, some
are not. Here are some examples:

> 落【お】とす - Transitive, volitional  
>  座る【すわる】 - Intransitive, volitional  
>  落ちる【おちる】 - Intransitive, non-volitional

## になる

So where does になる fit into all of this? Well, it [seems to have a special
place](https://jn1et.com/verb-has-ones-will/) depending on the context. For
example, the phrase 「先生【せんせい】になる」makes なる a verb of volition while
「病気【びょうき】になる」 makes it a non-volitional. The reason for this is you cannot
control whether you "become sick" or not. An easy test for this is adding ください
to the end.

> 先生【せんせい】になってください  
>  Please become a teacher.

This is a perfectly valid sentence. Whether you do or do not become a teacher
is under your own control.

> 病気【びょうき】になってください  
>  Please get sick.

This is grammatically incorrect. You do not control whether you get sick or
not. If someone asked you to "get sick" the best you could do is probably sit
in the rain and hope you get sick. You are not in control. The article I
referenced seems to agree with this notion, but apparently there are scholars
who disagree as well, because you could technically ask someone to at least
try to get sick.

I want to say that this topic is sometimes debated, and as @Eiríkr Útlendi has
demonstrated in the comments, なる is [often listed as an example of
無意志動詞](https://nihon5-bunka.net/difference-intransitive-non-volitional-verb/).

There are definitely other verbs can be both volitional and non-volitional.
For example, in 「家【いえ】をでる」, 出る【でる】 is volitional. However, in 「水【みず】が出る【でる】」,
出る is non-volitional.

## なるために、なるように

From what I have learned, ために is only used when the clause before it is
directly controlled by the speaker. It is an expression of the agent's will.
**The clause before ために must express volition. On the other hand, the clause
before ように should not express volition of the agent** ( _Emphasis on "agent".
ように may express volition of a different subject—please see the comment
section_). Finally, agent of the first clause in a sentence using ために must be
the same as the agent of the second clause.

A more intuitive way to explain this is that ために implies full control of the
situation while ように implies that the agent does not have full control. Here
are some examples from
[Chiebukuro](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1388715483):

> 医者【いしゃ】になるために、一生懸命【いっしょうけんめい】勉強【べんきょう】しています。◎  
>  医者【いしゃ】になるように、一生懸命【いっしょうけんめい】勉強【べんきょう】しています。×  
>  Study hard to become a doctor.

The second sentence is incorrect because なる here is a volitional. You control
whether or not you become a doctor, so this can only be used with ために. As for
上手, 「日本語が上手になる」 makes なる a 無意志動詞 because 日本語 becomes the agent of the verb,
which cannot have volition since it is an inanimate thing.

> 日本語が上手になるために、一生懸命【いっしょうけんめい】勉強【べんきょう】しています。☓  
>  日本語が上手になるように、一生懸命【いっしょうけんめい】勉強【べんきょう】しています。〇  
>  In order for my Japanese to get better, I am studying my hardest.

Another reason why this first sentence is invalid is because the agent of the
first clause （日本語）is different from that of the second （私）.

## More Examples of 意志動詞 and 無意志動詞

ある＝無意志動詞  
いる＝意志動詞  
喧嘩【けんか】をする＝意志動詞  
できる＝無意志動詞  
寝る＝意志動詞  
出す＝意志動詞  

Related Posts: [なります intransitive verb - volitional/non-
volitional](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/68991/%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-intransitive-
verb-volitional-non-volitional)
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answer