scholarly journals Complexity and identity reconstruction in second language acquisition

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 515-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Assis Sade
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Identity Reconstruction ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Complex Chaotic System

The participation of the individual in different discursive practices contributes to the social formation of identity which is not only constituted, but also, fractalized and emerged via discourse. Taking the concept of polyphony, proposed by Bakhtin (1981, 1986), this work intends to discuss the social formation of the self and the emergence of multiple identities through the perspective of Complexity Theory. Borrowing the concepts of attractors, bifurcation points and fractals from Chaos Theory, and relating them to identity issues, this paper shows how the acknowledgement of identity as a complex/chaotic system can be useful to a deeper understanding of the language acquisition process. Some narratives of AMFALE project are used in order to exemplify the theoretical issues proposed.

Ways of seeing: The individual and the social in applied linguistics research methodologies

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Benson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Research Methodologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

Those who have advocated social approaches to applied linguistics have often been critical of the individualism of second language acquisition (SLA) research. This paper identifies the emergence of a more balanced view of the social and individual in recent work. Adopting Berger's (1972) metaphor of ‘ways of seeing’, it offers a history of applied linguistics based on three eras: the era of ‘the invisible learner’, the era of ‘learner-centredness’, and the era of ‘person-centredness’, which we may now be entering. It suggests dominant research methodologies have led to the particular ways of seeing language learners that are characteristic of each of the three eras. In spite of the critique of individualism, the preference for individual case studies in social approaches is leading to a new theoretical focus on the individual that may be best captured by the term ‘person-centredness’.

scholarly journals Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Lev-Ari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
The Social

AbstractPeople learn language from their social environment. Therefore, individual differences in the input that their social environment provides could influence their linguistic performance. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of individual differences in input on performance has been mostly restricted to first and second language acquisition. In this paper I argue that individual differences in input can influence linguistic performance even in adult native speakers. Specifically, differences in input can affect performance by influencing people’s knowledgebase, by modulating their processing manner, and by shaping expectations. Therefore, studying the role that individual differences in input play can improve our understanding of how language is learned, processed and represented.

scholarly journals Methodological reflections on gesture analysis in second language acquisition and bilingualism research

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Gullberg
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Interconnected System ◽  
Combined Analysis ◽  
Gesture Analysis ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Gestures, i.e. the symbolic movements that speakers perform while they speak, form a closely interconnected system with speech, where gestures serve both addressee-directed (‘communicative’) and speaker-directed (‘internal’) functions. This article aims (1) to show that a combined analysis of gesture and speech offers new ways to address theoretical issues in second language acquisition (SLA) and bilingualism studies, probing SLA and bilingualism as product and process; and (2) to outline some methodological concerns and desiderata to facilitate the inclusion of gesture in SLA and bilingualism research.

Methods of pedagogical support for foreing students: social formation of students and formation tolerance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-97
Author(s):  
Victoria V. Romanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Students ◽  
Culture Shock ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Cultural Immersion ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

The article examines some aspects of the socialization of foreign students in the Russian education. In particular, the transformation of foreign students' perception of the culture of Russia from a state of culture shock to “entering” the Russian-speaking society is seen not so much as a process, but as a significant result of using a set of methods of pedagogical support of social formation. The methods of pedagogical support in the social formation of foreign students are understood as a set of pedagogical practices based on the joint activities of the teacher and students. In the process of these avtivities they identify and content the key points of the individual trajectory of the social formation of students in relation to the study and perception of the Russian culture. The article highlights the following methods of pedagogical support of social development: cultural immersion, empathy, building an individual trajectory. The concept of "the key point of the individual trajectory of social formation" is interpreted as a situation of choice, awareness of the significance and value of this or that knowledge, skill, action on their basis. It is noted that pedagogical support from a teacher involves subject-subject interaction, understanding, motivation and support of students in the educational process, the ability of a more experienced person to correlate his opinion with another and to respect the opinion of a less experienced student.

Introduction: Supporting learners and educators in developing language learner autonomy

10.47908/8/i ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Michelle Tamala
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Autonomy Development ◽  
The Social

This introduction sets the scene for the volume that explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy. The author gives an overview of the chapters and notes that the findings pay special attention to the ‘social turn’ in researching language learner autonomy development and second language acquisition, and focus on the social, interactive and co-dependent nature of the concept.

scholarly journals Age and Second Language Acquisition in Adulthood: The Learning Experiences and Perceptions of Women Immigrants

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
The Social

Although considerable evidence indicates that age of onset for second language acquisition is related to second-language proficiency outcomes among adult learners Jew studies have actually looked at how adult learners of different ages experience and perceive second language acquisition. This study presents 30 women immigrant learners' accounts of their experiences and perceptions of learning English as a second language in the Canadian context. Findings from this study reveal the complexity of adult L2 acquisition, which involves factors pertaining not only to the learners themselves, but also to the social context in which the second language is learned. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the second language curriculum development and classroom practice.

The Development of Metropolitan Languages in Post-Colonial Contexts: Language Contact and Language Change and the Case of Portuguese in Maputo

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-213
Author(s):  
Christopher Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
The Social

This article explores briefly some phenomena of potential indigenization of the Portuguese spoken in Mozambique. Data for the study has been taken from work that is currently underway in Maputo, Mozambique, that was originally initiated to investigate contact varieties of Portuguese and to probe their educational implications. Speech samples comprise formal interviews and non-formal encounters from a socio-demographically representative sample of informants. The article first provides an inventory of some non-standard European Portuguese variants that are found in this data, and subsequently focusses upon a discussion of what contribution different linguistic processes make to indigenization, specifically the role played by processes of second language acquisition in a context of massive and diffuse language contact and change. Special attention is also paid to the social contexts in which different manifestations of language contact are found, and the importance of linguistic ideology for the form that language contact takes in particular cases is explored. The article concludes with the suggestion that the salient characteristics of types of non-native speech community such as Maputo require a reconceptualization of models and methods of contact linguistics and second language acquisition, and that this in turn carries implications for the terms of reference and analysis to which indigenization need be related.

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