This paper provides a comprehensive review of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in academia, tracing their origins to the civil rights movements of the 1960s which catalyzed institutional reforms across educational settings, particularly in the Southern United States. Initially focused on racial and ethnic diversity, DEI efforts have expanded globally, influencing policy and governance in universities and educational institutions. Drawing on sociocultural linguistic perspectives, this paper examines research on social (in) justice in academia, with a primary emphasis on North American cases. It underscores the establishment of dedicated DEI offices as pivotal in fostering inclusive environments, while also highlighting the integration of multicultural perspectives in curricula and community partnerships. These strategies exemplify contemporary approaches aimed at extending DEI impacts beyond campus boundaries, promoting sustainable community engagement, and advancing social justice agendas within higher education. The synthesis of historical insights and current practices offers a nuanced understanding of DEI’s evolution and ongoing significance in shaping inclusive educational environments worldwide.

This study focuses on the early and late stages of the introduction of sign language at Mie School for the Deaf and analyzes the language-related community practices at the school from the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation theory. The children at the school learned sign language through participation in the existing sign language community, even though the use of sign language was prohibited. During the period of oral education, deaf children learned to self-evaluate their oral skills while finding their own strategies for participation. As the sign language community outside the school expanded, teachers who were participants in that community helped to bring to the surface and expand the sign language community within the school, leading to the adoption of sign language practices. As oral education declined, sign language was recognized within the school. These findings suggest that the way in which people participate in a community determines language acquisition and specific educational practices. The lack of a perspective that views learning as participation in education for the deaf led to the long continuation of oral education to the exclusion of sign language.

Sentence-final linguistic markers often realize socioemotional functions with interlocutors. Particularly, sentence-final particles (SFPs) in East and Southeast Asian languages are specialized lexical items that express a speaker’s mental attitude toward an interlocutor. Comprising a variety of items and uses, SFPs allow significant individual differences in usage that can impair intergenerational relationships. In this study we examined reactions to the Japanese sentence-final honorific kudasai and SFP ne in sentences among typically developed native speakers of Japanese of older and younger age groups. We compared the auditory perception of these items by generation and gender, utilizing early posterior negativity (EPN) as an emotionally sensitive index of event-related potentials collected via electroencephalograms, as well as participants’ subjective ratings. The results revealed that older adults rated sentences without honorifics more harshly, and that older men and women displayed significant EPNs in opposite directions. Older women exhibited EPN in sentences without ne, whereas older men exhibited EPN for sentences with ne. Younger men also exhibited significant EPN for sentences without ne. We interpret the EPN as an index of emotional anomaly in these usages and discuss how the use of sentence-final markers can affect intergenerational relationships.

In face-to-face conversations, people often orient their bodies toward each other, organizing an interactional space that enables them to continue to talk. Analyzing a case where a visually impaired person and a sighted person appeared to be organizing an interactional space in a multisensorial way, I investigated how interaction is organized in a way that is understandable to the sighted person as an organization of the interactional space. I focused on an interaction in which an Orientation and Mobility specialist (with clear vision) conducted a gait training session for a blind student. Focusing on the multisensorial organization, I analyzed in detail a single case, sequences where an interactional space was construced when the student stopped, maintained temporarily, and then dissolved. The results showed that the interactional space between the visually impaired and the sighted was organized by the visually impaired relying on auditory cues produced by the sighted. At the same time, the visually impaired was seen to orient towards the visual perception of the sighted, and the interactional space was organized as a result of the sighted person’s perception of embodied conduct of the visually impaired. Such multisensorial organization of an interactional space demonstrated the adaptive behavior of the visually impaired in an ocularcentric world created and operated primarily by the sighted.

Conflicts that occur between typical development (TC) individuals and those with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are usually attributed to the communication difficulties of those with ASD. However, when analyzed from the perspective of “discommunication theory”, both parties can be understood as suffering from a discrepancy in interactional norms arising from differences in their worlds of experience. If there is a mismatch in the standards of appropriate pragmatics between the two groups, clarifying the unique patterns of ASD, which differ from those typical of TD, is a fundamental task in the pursuit of coexistence that embraces diversity.

This paper focuses on care workers in technical intern training programs and the people involved in their workplace training within Japan’s increasingly diverse care sector. It explores the process of language socialization by visualizing the language and experiences of the discourse that emerged through Japanese language education practices aimed at improving daily caregiving. Research on interactions in Japanese care settings remains limited, and care workers in technical intern training programs are rarely recognized as the agents in language socialization. Therefore, this study prioritizes their agency depicting their linguistic and communicative practices while exploring how Japanese language education can contribute to realizing a more inclusive society. It examines how intern care workers perceive language in the workplace, how those around them actively negotiate and co-create values, and how both parties transform through this process. Using participatory action research as a methodology, the study analyzes the discourse of daijōbu, collected through proactive and interactive Japanese language education. The analysis revealed that care workers in technical intern training programs, as active agents in language practice, engaged in meta-analytical reflection on language, sometimes resisting the process of language socialization while transforming their behavior thorough experiences related to caregiving expertise.

This study analyzes a quiz activity involving a child with an intellectual disability and a teacher. Initially, the teacher demonstrated how to pose questions, after which the child took on the role of questioner. Through detailed examination of interactions, it was revealed that both participants utilized resources such as the position of utterances, the form of utterances, the projectability of actions, and gestures to make each other’s conduct recognizable. These practices enabled the quiz format to be organized locally. This organization was achieved through reflexive interaction between the child and the teacher, thereby demonstrating the format’s flexibility and adaptability. Furthermore, the quiz format served as scaffolding, facilitating not only the execution of the quiz itself but also the expression of sequences of events and the verbalization of negative attitudes toward experienced events, acts that are often considered challenging for a child with an intellectual disability to achieve independently. The study suggests that instead of rigidly adhering to predetermined plans or standard methods, it is crucial to inquire why a child behaves in a particular way at a given moment, establish intersubjective understanding, and collaboratively create educational practices with the child.

In this study, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed to examine turn-taking in conversations between deafblind people using finger braille. The quantitative analysis measured the interval between the moment the speaker began lowering their hands and the moment the recipient began raising theirs. The results revealed that turn transitions tended to occur within 0.4 s, with the explicit completion of a sentence enabling rapid initiation of the next turn. The qualitative analysis considered cases of rapid turn-taking despite the absence of sentence completion. Our investigation of how deafblind people link their actions through contact between their hands and fingers showed that turn-taking arises in the process of resolving misunderstandings, detected through the comprehension of prior turns. The contribution of unique cues, such as question marks or hand movements accompanying nods, to the shared understanding of individual turns was also demonstrated.

In recent years, active learning has become central to university education, emphasizing autonomous, interactive, and collaborative approaches. The importance of self-disclosure has grown, as it promotes well-being and helps enhance teacher morale and reduce burnout. To build open collegiality among educators, research is needed to explore the impact of self-disclosure from the perspective of the recipient. This study examines how self-disclosure influences collegiality from the recipient’s viewpoint. Using dialogic autoethnography (AE), the qualitative investigation focused on the impact of Teacher A’s (Tanaka’s) self-disclosure on Teacher B (Kimura), facilitated through dialogue with Teacher C (Nakamura). Dialogic AE encourages self-objectification and new insights through feedback from conversations. The findings revealed that Tanaka’s self-disclosure prompted Kimura to reflect, recognize unconscious biases, manage conflicting emotions, and adopt a positive attitude toward rapport-building. Kimura also showed increased interest in understanding others and enhanced psychological well-being in six aspects: personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, and positive relations with others. These results suggest that self-disclosure contributes to building open collegiality and enhances psychological well-being.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Japan began accepting Ukrainian refugees in March of the same year. Given the lack of precedent for such an immigration policy in Japan, it is essential to examine the linguistic challenges faced by Ukrainian refugees as part of their integration into Japanese society. This paper presents the results of an online questionnaire survey conducted among 109 Ukrainian refugees in Japan between July 2023 and August 2024. Specifically, it examines changes in the criteria for choosing a mother tongue, attitudes toward the Ukrainian and Russian languages during wartime, self-assessment of Japanese language proficiency, motivation for learning Japanese, and the main patterns of language use among Ukrainians after evacuating to Japan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the standard for interpersonal distance, which may have a huge and long-lasting impact on human communication behavior. By investigating the situation in regions classified as either contact culture (where interpersonal distance during communication is close) and non-contact culture before the COVID-19 pandemic, we can determine people’s sense of interpersonal distance—that is, how much distance is needed for people to feel comfortable and allow smooth communication. Diachronic research is needed to ascertain the complete impact of the pandemic on people’s communication behavior as well as the possibility of whether they will return to the pre-COVID norms of proximity shared within their community. This paper introduces findings from several field studies conducted in 2023, immediately after the pandemic subsided, in Japan and the US — two countries in which Hall’s (1966) proxemics study showed significant differences in perceptions of interpersonal distance. The results suggest that the degree of intimacy and the use of open space led to conditions that influence changes in people’s communication behavior. Furthermore, in cooperation with researchers from the field of architecture, we explored spatial designs that people find comfortable and appropriate.

This paper introduces the Okinawan Natural Conversation Corpus developed on the base of interactional linguistics principles and presents examples of applications. The corpus has five characteristics: 1) natural conversation data: the data are drawn only from spontaneous natural conversations collected by the authors; 2) user-interface design: the recorded dialogues are segmentalized, indexed by topics and accompanied by audio; 3) breadth of topics and applicability: this feature enables use as primary data for fields such as sociolinguistics, folklore studies, and oral history; 4) parallel presentation of Okinawan dialogues with Japanese translations: because Okinawan and Japanese lines are aligned, Okinawan word meanings are easily decodable; and 5) search in Okinawan language: this function supports vocabulary, grammar items I (particles), and grammar items II (verbs, auxiliary verbs) searches in Okinawan. Application examples include: 1) in contrast to ordinary dictionary treatment, elucidation of sentence-final particles sa and ssaa advocates for treating these look-alikes as separate entries; 2) the co-occurrence frequencies of the kakari particles and their endings are quantitatively analyzed; and 3) the additive topic particle n in comparison with Japanese mo is analyzed. These examples can be viewed as representing diachronic change in progress within a synchronic time frame.

This paper focuses on dakara used as an alignment marker in the Miyagi dialect and analyzes its interactional function using the method of conversation analysis. In the Miyagi dialect, dakara is used when the immediately preceding turn displays alignment with the stance that the dakara producer has already expressed. The stance displayed by the dakara producer in their original utterance is often accompanied by non-vernal resources and is often verbalized explicitly in their following turn. The preceding sequence of action has no effect on the use of Miyagi dialect dakara as long as the immediately preceding utterance aligns with the stance expressed in the dakara producer’s turn. Furthermore, by comparing dakara with the similar Miyagi dialect expression nda, which is also used to accomplish alignment, this paper shows that these two forms accomplish alignment differently depending on the sequential environment.

This paper focuses on the display of deviating pronunciations produced by the performers in a Japanese variety show and examines how the deviations are rearranged into objects of laughter. The analysis shows two frames: the “frame of recording” in which the show proceeds as planned, and the “frame of negotiation” in which the show is temporarily halted by linguistic deviation prompting negotiation around the performers’ use of language. Furthermore, two patterns were observed: one recontextualizes the deviation as a contingent happening through broadcasting two frames sequentially, while the other presents the deviation as deriving from the performer’s own personality. This paper argues that the variations in how deviations are displayed derive from variations in language ideology—performers’ beliefs about the use of language, as well as the performers’ characters—the impression performers have of themselves. It also argues that variety shows not only rely on, but also reproduce such language ideologies and characters.

This study focuses on Japanese expressions of apology used at the beginning of request actions and examines their interactional functions using the method of conversation analysis. While previous research on apology expressions has primarily focused on the relationship between the speaker and recipient or the seriousness of the offense, this study analyzes how apology expressions are positioned and constructed within conversational sequences, based on naturally occurring data. Apology expressions in utterance-initial position were frequently observed in requests where the speaker demanded immediate action from the recipient. The beginning of an utterance plays a crucial role in organizing the relationship between the prior turn and the upcoming one. The use of an apology expression in this position indicates that the following utterance involves an action that may impose a burden or inconvenience on the recipient. When combined with a shift in gaze and body movement, these expressions enable the recipient to anticipate the beginning of a request. In addition, apology expressions interrupt the recipient’s ongoing activity and signal the initiation of a new course of action—namely, the request. This study suggests that a detailed analysis of sequential positioning and utterance structure is crucial for understanding the dual function of apology expressions in the initial position of request actions.

This study analyzes a simulated medical interview between a doctor and a patient with different native languages, contextualized within Japan’s status as an immigrant society lacking formal immigration policies. Utilizing multimodal analysis, the research examines how asymmetry between participants facilitates the accomplishment of interaction. The focus is on the deployment of membership categories, gestures, and material resources during the repair sequences. The results revealed that participants use these resources while repairing, and that the way these resources are used nullifies the asymmetry and the associated power gradient in institutional situations. The foregrounding of membership categories, shaped by participants’ linguistic and cultural attributes, serves to maintain asymmetry while utilizing it as a resource. The analysis revealed that in interaction in asymmetric institutional situations, participants use each other’s characteristics as resources to nullify the power gradient. From a micro perspective, this study shows one aspect of how society is formed and maintained in Japan, a country without a clear immigration policy.

This paper reports how we collected video data of shopping interactions focusing on a mobile supermarket in a sparsely populated rural area of Japan. Firstly, we outline the background of the study and the data collection procedures. Then, we illustrate how the recording procedure was able to be accomplished in situations that are generally considered challenging, such as (1) private situations in daily life and (2) the encounter phase in interaction, with the informed consent of the participants. We note that the recording was achieved by the research design, which was based on an analytical understanding of the activities being studied. Additionally, we consider the possibility that the participants’ gaze (manazashi) towards the researchers, which was unforeseen at the time the study was designed, may have influenced the recordings. This paper contributes to providing detailed perspectives on understanding field-based activities that can be used when considering data collection methods tailored to the specific characteristics of individual research fields.

This study explores the use of teiru and teru in Japanese among learners from the perspective of variationist sociolinguistics, aiming to gain a deeper understanding of the process by which Japanese learners acquire linguistic variation. I conducted a quantitative analysis based on previous research findings on Japanese L1 speakers, examining internal and external linguistic factors influencing the choice between teiru and teru. The data for analysis were extracted from the International Corpus of Japanese as a Second Language (I-JAS). The results revealed that Japanese learners do not differentiate as clearly between the use of teiru/teru in written and spoken language as Japanese L1 speakers do. Additionally, the frequency of teru usage was seen to correlate positively with Japanese language proficiency and age. Regarding internal linguistic factors, the presence or absence of a geminate consonant in verb conjugation was also seen to influence usage, demonstrating a similar effect to that observed in Japanese L1 speakers.