Learners in Japanese Language Classrooms: Overt and Covert Participation

"Reiko Yoshida's book starts from the assumption that language learners are active participants in the language classroom and that all of their language use, including language used privately, is relevant to their language learning. Much of the language use analysed in this book would normally not be available for a language teacher because it is by definition private and would therefore often be overlooked as an important part of learning. This book makes available what is often hidden and examines how such hidden language is not only relevant for but a constituent part of language learning. Yoshida's investigation of personal speech opens up second language acquisition research beyond a focus on the code to be learnt and places the learner on centre stage in language acquisition. Her study makes a valuable contribution to understanding language learning as a socioculturally constructed enterprise and reveals the importance of what students do with their whole language repertoire in the process of acquiring a new language."- Professor Tony Liddicoat, University of South Australia