scholarly journals COMPLEX DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Phil Hiver ◽  
Ali H. Al-Hoorie ◽  
Reid Evans
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
Methodological Rigor ◽  
Method Integration ◽  
Theory Research

Abstract A quarter of a century has passed since complex dynamic systems theory was proposed as an alternative paradigm to rethink and reexamine some of the main questions and phenomena in applied linguistics and language learning. In this article, we report a scoping review of the heterogenous body of research adopting this framework. We analyzed 158 reports satisfying our inclusion criteria (89 journal articles and 69 dissertations) for methodological characteristics and substantive contributions. We first highlight methodological trends in the report pool using a framework for dynamic method integration at the levels of study aim, unit of analysis, and choice of method. We then survey the main substantive contribution this body of research has made to the field. Finally, examination of study quality in these reports revealed a number of potential areas of improvement. We synthesize these insights in what we call the “nine tenets” of complex dynamic systems theory research, which we hope will help enhance the methodological rigor and the substantive contribution of future research.

scholarly journals Autonomy in the Time of Complexity: Lessons from Beyond the Classroom

2017 ◽  
pp. 116-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garold Murray
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Changing Times

Learner autonomy is a construct in motion, unfolding in step with our academic imaginary. Over the past forty years, it has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to changing times. Introduced in the late 1970s during an era characterized by the teacher-dominated language classroom, learner autonomy provided a much-needed focus on learners as potentially independent individuals capable of taking charge of their learning. Later, as the so-called ‘social turn’ gained prominence in the field of applied linguistics, autonomy revealed itself to be a social construct developed through interdependence. Now, as applied linguists turn their attention to complexity science, what facets of learner autonomy can be revealed by examining the construct from the perspective of complex dynamic systems theory? This paper addresses this question by drawing on the findings of three studies – a five-year ethnography, a longitudinal multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry – all of which explored a social space for language learning located on the campus of a large national university in Japan. The aim of these studies was to explore the ways in which learners experienced the facility and how it supported their linguistic and personal development. Adopting an ecological approach enabled the author and fellow researchers to focus on the affordances that emerged through learners’ engagement with the environment. Gradually, as these studies were carried out over the past eight years, the thinking on how to view this space, the learners and their learning has expanded from a community of practice perspective to one embracing complex dynamic systems theory. This article will examine how this shift in theoretical focus has offered lessons on learner autonomy in this out-of-class context.

scholarly journals Cratylus’ silence: On the philosophy and methodology of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory in SLA

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832199245
Author(s):  
Gabriele Pallotti
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
Open Issues

Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) has received considerable attention over the last decades, inspiring a number of second language acquisition studies. This article examines the research from a critical epistemological point of view, starting from the Greek philosopher Cratylus, who concluded that remaining silent is the only way to be entirely coherent with the idea that everything is complex and dynamic. An alternative to this drastic conclusion may consist in ‘saying without saying too much’, that is, setting some limits to theorizing and empirical inquiry. Problems of description, prediction and generalization in a CDST framework are discussed, pointing to some open issues to be addressed by future research. Finally, some proposals are made for a more constructive research program, which may even involve abandoning the ‘CDST’ label.

Toward a transdisciplinary integration of research purposes and methods for complex dynamic systems theory: beyond the quantitative–qualitative divide

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Hiver ◽  
Ali H. Al-Hoorie ◽  
Diane Larsen-Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
Human And Social Sciences ◽  
Starting Point

Abstract Complexity theory/dynamic systems theory has challenged conventional approaches to applied linguistics research by encouraging researchers to adopt a pragmatic transdisciplinary approach that is less paradigmatic and more problem-oriented in nature. Its proponents have argued that the starting point in research design should not be the quantitative–qualitative distinction, or even mixed methods, but the distinction between individual versus group-based designs (i.e., idiographic versus nomothetic). Taking insights from transdisciplinary complexity research in other human and social sciences, we propose an integrative transdisciplinary framework that unites these different perspectives (quantitative–qualitative, individual–group based) from the starting point of exploratory–falsificatory aims. We discuss the implications of this transdisciplinary approach to applied linguistics research and illustrate how such an integrated approach might be implemented in the field.

Complex dynamic systems in students of interpreting training

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanping Dong
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
Contradictory Data

Abstract Students of interpreting training may go through drastic cognitive changes, but current empirical findings are disparate and isolated. To integrate these findings and to obtain a better understanding of interpreting training, the present article tries to reinterpret students of interpreting training as complex dynamic systems. Relying primarily on longitudinal empirical data from several existing studies, the article illustrates how the initial state of some key parameters influences the progress of the systems, how the parameters themselves evolve, and how interpreting competence develops as a result of self-organization. The hope is that a metatheoretical framework such as Dynamic Systems Theory will allow specific findings and particularistic models for interpreting training to be integrated. Moreover, this approach may allow false dichotomies in the field to be overcome and seemingly contradictory data in empirical reports to be better understood, thereby providing guidelines for future research.

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