From the Preface to the first volume of JSLS proceedings

The Japanese Society for Language Sciences (JSLS) was funded in August, 1999, with the objective of bringing together researchers from diverse academic disciplines who hold a common goal: understanding human language. The Society holds a conference once a year and publishes the proceedings to promote scientific exchanges and discussions among researchers from different  disciplines and approaches. We believe that this volume has successfully achieved this goal. The scope of JSLS includes topics such as first and second language acquisition, language processing, language disorders, speech perception, phonology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics, discourse, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, and comparative linguistics. In addition, we plan to publish a newsletter in electronic form twice a year.

JSLS differs from other academic societies in Japan in the following aspects. First, we provide a forum for intellectual exchange and discussions among researchers from diverse disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, education, second language teaching, and speech and communication sciences. Second, JSLS is a Japanese society but is intended to be an international rather than a local society. We provide an English and Japanese bilingual forum to promote international scientific exchange among researchers throughout the world. We have a Japanese and English bilingual homepage (http://jchat.sccs.chukyo-u.ac.jp/JSLS/). Conference presentations are made in either Japanese or English. Papers are published in the proceedings in either language. We also make special efforts to seek experts throughout the world who best qualify to review papers regardless of their nationality.

The idea of forming a new society for language sciences was born among active members of the JCHAT Japanese CHILDES project in 1977 when a research forum was held for L1 and L2 acquisition researchers using CHILDES (Child Language Exchange System) as part of the JCHAT/CHILDES tutorial workshop in Tokyo. The forum gained good participation from diverse academic groups and provided an exciting opportunity for intellectual exchange and discussion on language acquisition across disciplines. Since such an opportunity was almost non-existent in Japan, active members of the JCHAT project worked together to form a new society. The Japanese name of the society, JCHAT gengo kagaku kenkyuu kai (JCHAT Language Science Society) reflects this history. However, the scope of the new society is not limited to research using the JCHAT/CHILDES tools and database. Rather, the basis of the society is our common recognition that the complex nature of human language could not be understood without integrating knowledge gained from different disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, speech sciences, neurosciences, and education. To make this endeavor a successful one, we need more participation from different disciplines. We encourage the active participation of members from different disciplines to help the society grow. We welcome suggestions and proposals for future activities to facilitate international as well as interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction.

Yuriko Oshima-Takane
President
Montreal, July 2000