Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-fnl2l Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-19T05:32:35.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Complex, dynamic systems: A new transdisciplinary theme for applied linguistics?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2011

Diane Larsen-Freeman
Diane Larsen-Freeman*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this plenary address, I suggest that Complexity Theory has the potential to contribute a transdisciplinary theme to applied linguistics. Transdisciplinary themes supersede disciplines and spur new kinds of creative activity (Halliday 2001 [1990]). Investigating complex systems requires researchers to pay attention to system dynamics. Since applied linguists study language systems that change (for example, as they develop in learners, this is a useful perspective to bring to bear on many of our concerns. To introduce Complexity Theory, I list twelve principles undergirding this perspective and elaborate on three of them: those to do with dynamism, complexity, and the role of context. I then discuss several studies of L2 development that have been informed by the perspective. I conclude by suggesting that the ultimate promise of Complexity Theory is the help it provides in humanizing science.

Type
Plenary Speeches
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 202 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T. & Okada, H. (2007). Alignment and interaction in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal 91.2, 169–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolinger, D. (1996). Oddments of English. Journal of English Linguistics 24.4, 4–24.Google Scholar
Briggs, J. & Peat, F. D. (1989). The turbulent mirror. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Burns, A. (2006). Applied Linguistics: thematic pursuits or disciplinary moorings? A conversation between Michael Halliday and Anne Burns. Journal of Applied Linguistics 3.1, 113–128.Google Scholar
Byrne, D. (2005). Complexity, configurations and cases. Theory, Culture, & Society 22.5, 95–111.Google Scholar
Cilliers, P. (2001). Boundaries, hierarchies and networks in complex systems. International Journal of Innovation Management 5.2, 135–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cilliers, P. (2005). Complexity, deconstruction and relativism. Theory, Culture & Society 22.5, 255–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cilliers, P. (2008). Knowing complex systems: The limits of understanding. In Darbellay, F., Cockell, M., Billotte, J. & Waldvogel, F. (eds.), A vision of transdisciplinarity: Laying foundations for a world knowledge dialogue. EPFL Press and CRC Press, 43–50.Google Scholar
de Bot, K. (2008). Second language acquisition as a dynamic process. The Modern Language Journal 92.2, 166–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K., Lowie, W. & Verspoor, M. (2005). Second language acquisition: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K., Lowie, W. & Verspoor, M. (2007). A dynamic systems approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 10, 7–21 and 51–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K. & Larsen-Freeman, D. (forthcoming). Researching second language development from a Dynamic Systems Theory perspective. In Verspoor, M., de, K. Bot & Lowie, W. (eds.), A dynamic approach to second language development: Methods and techniques. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). Language emergence: Implications for applied linguistics. Introduction to the special issue. Applied Linguistics 27.4, 558–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C. with Larsen-Freeman, D. (2009). Constructing a second language: Analyses and computational simulations of the emergence of linguistic constructions from usage. Language Learning 59, Supplement 1, 93–128.Google Scholar
Elman, J. (2003). Development: It's about time. Developmental Science 6, 430–433.Google Scholar
Evans, J. (2007). The emergence of language: A dynamical systems account. In Hoff, E. & Shatz, M. (eds.), Handbook of language development. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 128–147.Google Scholar
Franzen, J. (2004). Runaway: Alice's Wonderland. Sunday New York Times Book Review, 14 November.Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. (2006). Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (1991). Towards probabilistic interpretations. In Ventola, E. (ed.), Trends in linguistic studies and monographs 55. Systemic linguistics approaches and uses. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 39–62.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (2001). [1990]. New ways of meaning: The challenges to applied linguistics. In Fill, A. & Mühlhäusler, P. (eds.), The ecolinguistics reader: Language ecology and environment. New York: Continuum, 175–202. First published in Journal of Applied Linguistics 6 (1990), 7–36.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (2007). [1990]. On the concept of ‘educational linguistics’. In Webster, J. (ed.), The collected works of M. A. K. Halliday, Volume 9: Language and education. London: Continuum, 354–367. Originally published in R. Giblett & J. O'Carroll (1990) (eds.), Discipline, dialogue, difference: Proceedings of the Language in Education conference, Murdoch University, December 1989. Murdoch, Australia: Duration, 23–42.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. & Burns, A. (2006). Applied Linguistics: thematic pursuits or disciplinary moorings? A conversation between Michael Halliday and Anne Burns. Journal of Applied Linguistics 3.1, 113–128.Google Scholar
Harris, R. (1993). Integrational linguistics. In Crochetière, A., Boulanger, J.-C. & Ouellon, C. (eds.), Actes du XVe congrès international des linguistes. Sainte-Foy: Presses de l'Université Laval, 321–323.Google Scholar
Herdina, P. & Jessner, U. (2002). A dynamic model of multilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heylighen, F. (1989). Self-organization, emergence and the architecture of complexity. In Proceedings of the 1st European Conference on System Science. Paris: AFCET, 23–32.Google Scholar
Heylighen, F. (2008). Complexity and self-organization. In Bates, M. & Maack, M. N. (eds.), Encyclopedia of library and information sciences. Oxford: Taylor & Francis, 1215–1224.Google Scholar
Heylighen, F., Cilliers, P. & Gershenson, C. (2007). Worldviews, science and us: Complexity and philosophy. In Bogg, J. & Geyer, R. (eds.), Complexity, science and society. Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing, 41–49.Google Scholar
Horn, J. (2008). Human research and complexity theory. Educational philosophy and theory 4.1, 130–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hult, F. (2010). Theme-based research in the transdisciplinary field of educational linguistics. In Hult, F. (ed.), Directions and prospects for educational linguistics. Dordrecht: Springer, 28–50.Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (ed.) (2002). Language acquisition and language socialization. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2008). Ecological perspectives on foreign language education. Language Teaching 41.3, 389–408.Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. & Whiteside, A. (2008). Language ecology in multilingual settings: Towards a theory of symbolic competence. Applied Linguistics 29.4, 645–671.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics 18.2, 141–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English. Applied Linguistics 27.4, 590–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Macqueen, S. M. (2009). Patterns in second language writing. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Meara, P. (2006). Emergent properties of multilingual lexicons. Applied Linguistics 27.4, 620–644.Google Scholar
Miller, R. C. (1982). Varieties of interdisciplinary approaches in the social sciences: A 1981 Overview. Issues in Integrative Studies 1–37.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S. (2003). Biological complexity and integrative pluralism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moran, P. (1994). Towards coherence in language teaching: The case for a transdisciplinary approach. Ph.D. Qualifying Paper, Lesley College, Cambridge MA.Google Scholar
Morin, E. (2007). Restricted complexity, general complexity. In Gershenson, C., Aerts, D. & Edmonds, B. (eds.), Worldviews, science and us: Philosophy and complexity. Singapore: World Scientific, 5–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morin, E. (2008). On complexity. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Nowotny, H., Scott, P. & Gibbons, M. (2001). Re-thinking science: Knowledge and the public in an age of uncertainty. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Rutherford, W. (1987). Second language grammar: Learning and teaching. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Smith, L. & Thelen, E. (eds.) (1993). A dynamic systems approach to development: Applications. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Thelen, E. & Smith, L. (1994). A dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Toolan, M. (2003). An integrational linguistic view. In Leather, J. & van Dam, J. (eds.), Ecology of language acquisition. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic, 123–140.Google Scholar
Whitehead, A. N. (1978). Process and reality: An essay in cosmology (First published 1929, corrected edn edited by Griffin, D. R. & Sherburne, D. W.). New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Widdowson, H. G. (2005). Applied linguistics, interdisciplinarity, and disparate realities. In Bruthiaux, P., Atkinson, D., Eggington, W., Grabe, W. & Ramanathan, V. (eds.), Directions in applied linguistics. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 12–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar