Positioning ELT in applied linguistics in Japan: A diachronic approach

ABSTRACT

Applied linguistics was originally brought to Japan primarily through English language teaching (ELT) professionals, and its potential has been explored exclusively in connection with ELT. As a result, there is a prevailing belief as though applied linguistics were a synonym of ELT. After nearly four decades since the discipline emerged in Japan in the 1980s, the primary focus of applied linguistics has shifted from ELT to the application of linguistics to the solution of problems in society, and then to a more interdisciplinary approach to the solution of problems related to communication, including language. In this article, the author uses reflective narrative to discuss the developments of applied linguistics as an academic discipline with special attention to its relationship with ELT: to clarify the position of ELT within applied linguistics in Japan, in the past, present and future.

KEYWORDS:

• Applied linguistics
• transdisciplinarity
• translingualism
• English language teaching
• Japan

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the JAAL-in-JACET symposium at the 58th International Conference of the Japan Association of College English Teachers in Nagoya, Japan in August 2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

Part of the study has been funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in Aid for Scientific (KAKENHI) Research [(C) 18K00792].