The dynamism of strategic learning: Complexity theory in strategic L2 development

Abstract

Learners of foreign languages (L2s) apply strategies to support learning processes and L2 development. They select strategies according to their individual needs and preferences and adjust their strategic actions to suit situational circumstances and contextual conditions. A holistic investigation of strategic L2 learning processes requires the integration of numerous interconnected, flexibly-interacting influences, which are at constant interplay with each other and whose development is difficult to predict. Validated as effective in other fields of applied linguistics, complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) can also provide an appropriate frame for researching strategic L2 learning. Based on state-of-the-art methodological guidance for complexity research, this article presents the re-analysis of empirical data from a previous study through a complexity lens. It further examines the suitability of CDST in strategy research, explores its practical value, and demonstrates that a complexity perspective can generate new, profound information about strategic learning.

The Role of Nested Systems in EFL Students' Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and Engagement

“…Complexity dynamic system theory is a theory that originated from hard sciences to study change, dynamism, and evolution of complex systems and subsystems of a phenomenon (Nematizadeh and Wood, 2019;Yang, 2021). It explores the underlying processes and factors involved in the performance of a variable and its related variables that dynamically interact to cause an event (Amerstorfer, 2020). Instead of a macroscopic approach, CDST takes a holistic approach to examine complex systems by focusing and engaging in a deeper observation of the phenomenon.…”

“…They also urged researchers to scrutinize the dynamism of many L2 constructs via complexity dynamic system theory (CDST). CDST is a meta-theory that highlights the underlying systems and subsystems of a phenomenon to reveal its dynamic interactions and developments (Larsen-Freeman, 2019;Amerstorfer, 2020). Based on this theory, many behaviors and events are unpredictable, dynamic, nested, and in an interactive relationship with other factors (Larsen-Freeman, 2019).…”

Revisiting Research Methods in Language Learning Psychology From a Complexity Dynamic System Theory Perspective

“…It aims to unpack the underlying processes and factors which dynamically interact to cause an event, change, or development. This meta-theory has its roots in natural sciences such as biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics where it has been implemented to justify simple systems (Amerstorfer, 2020 ). CDST takes a holistic approach to deal with dynamic and complex systems in which the incidents are no longer viewed as predictable, fixed, isolated, and in a simple cause-and-effect relationship (Larsen-Freeman, 1997 ).…”

Strange Attractors in Writing Competence Development from the Perspective of Complexity Theory Based on Sensor Data

“…This research is aimed at finding strange attractors in the development of Chinese as a second language (CSL) writing competence, with two novelties. (1) Few empirical studies have referred to attractors in second language development, which is still in the early stages of theoretical concept development [6][7][8]. The study of strange attractors in this research aids in further understanding this crucial construct in the complex system of language development; (2) there is a lack of effective methods to analyze attractors in the social sciences.…”