Decolonizing Methodologies in Japan: Ryukyuan Perspectives for Language Education

This Special Issue aims to apply postcolonial perspectives to discussions and practices of Ryukyuan language learning and teaching. The objective is to step out of established binaries that constrain visions and practices of Ryukyuan language learning. These binaries include, for example, first language acquisition–second language learning, mother tongue–foreign language, teacher–learner, correct–incorrect, formal–informal, symbolic–instrumental, central–peripheral, homeland–diaspora, traditional–contemporary, known–unknown, monolingual–multilingual, written–spoken, but also Japanese–Ryukyuan. Taking a postcolonial point of view implies the necessity of grappling with new concepts, visions, and practices. Decolonization requires the creation of new cultural knowledge in a hybrid third space (Bhabha 1994). Shifting into a third space allows us to discuss Ryukyuan language learning as a possibility, and we believe that Ryukyuan language learning is often best situated between these binaries (or beyond them).