This article updates the trends and developments of Japanese as a second language (JSL) research since Mori and Mori (2011) by reviewing nearly 200 selected empirical studies published in English or Japanese between 2010 and early 2019. The first section of this review examines the cognitive aspects of second language (L2) Japanese development,…

Examines societies in which varieties and degrees of literacy are possible or ordinary, such as Japan and Korea. Finds that these societies have separate but functionally interrelated writing systems, used for communicatively disparate purposes, differential mastery of which, consequently, has social and economic repercussions. Finds that…

Questions the cultural labels attached to Japanese culture in much of applied linguistics research. Maintains that such labels are constructed by a colonial discourse that views the "other" as being what the West is not. Proposes a pedagogy of critical literacy that supports cultural pluralism while recognizing the benefits of an…