Applied linguistics was originally brought to Japan primarily through English language teaching (ELT) professionals, and its potential has been explored exclusively in connection with ELT. As a result, there is a prevailing belief as though applied linguistics were a synonym of ELT. After nearly four decades since the discipline emerged in Japan in the 1980s, the primary focus of applied linguistics has shifted from ELT to the application of linguistics to the solution of problems in society, and then to a more interdisciplinary approach to the solution of problems related to communication, including language. In this article, the author uses reflective narrative to discuss the developments of applied linguistics as an academic discipline with special attention to its relationship with ELT: to clarify the position of ELT within applied linguistics in Japan, in the past, present and future.
