In this issue, we are pleased to present four excellent book reviews. The first, by Sean Toland, gives an in-depth and insightful critical review of Adrian Wallbank’s Academic Writing, Assessment, and Neurodiversity: Pedagogies for Inclusion. In his review, Toland, while highlighting areas of weakness in the volume, overall praises Wallbank’s book for “its ability to bridge the gap between research and practice.” Educators who are looking to further their knowledge about how to help neurodiverse students improve their writing will certainly find this review highly useful. Our second review, of David Allen’s Washback Research in Language Assessment: Fundamentals and Contexts, comes from Steven Chak Man Chit. Washback is a familiar topic to educators and has been much written about, but what this reviewer finds is that, “Rather than simply cataloguing existing research, the volume actively tries to move the field forward on several levels simultaneously.” He also mentions that this book is useful for all researchers, from novices to seasoned ones. Adam Littleton, our third reviewer, provides a thoughtful critique of Sam Morris’ Language Teacher Emotion Regulation. Littleton applauds the volume stating that “It is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of affect in second language acquisition, and a welcome aid to all who seek to practice emotionally aware pedagogy; an important and very timely book that bridges the gaps between psychology, cultural studies, and applied linguistics, and leaves all of them the richer for it.” The fourth review, on a related topic, by Kate Piatkowski, is of Kathryn Wentzel’s Social and Emotional Learning. Piatkowski points out that while the articles comprising the volume come from a conference held in 2019, and that much has been written about SEL since then, “the book remains valuable because it identifies research questions that are still relevant today.” She recommends this book particularly to educational leaders who are moving forward to make changes in how their institutions think about learning. As always, we hope that JALT Journal readers will enjoy reading and benefit from the variety of reviews in this issue.
