Volume 60, Issue 1 - Special Issue: Transdisciplinary Research Methods and Complex Systems in Applied Linguistics; Guest Editors: Phil Hiver and Ali H. Al-Hoorie

Complexity theory/dynamic systems theory (CDST) has captured the imagination of many in the field of applied linguistics (Larsen-Freeman, Diane & Lynne Cameron. 2008. Complex systems and applied linguistics . Oxford: Oxford University Press; Ortega, Lourdes & Zhao Hong Han (eds.). 2017. Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman . Amsterdam: John Benjamins). As recent syntheses of the growing number of CDST-informed strands of applied linguistics research illustrates, it has emerged as an important influence on applied linguists’ thinking (see Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 2017. Complexity theory: The lessons continue. In Lourdes Ortega & Zhao Hong Han (eds.), Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman , 11–50. Amsterdam: John Benjamins). The fact that CDST has continued to permeate questions throughout the field is to be expected and welcomed.

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.

Real-time verbal interactions between foreign language teachers and their students are of vital importance for language development, but classroom interactions are also multi-faceted and complex. The way a teacher understands and responds to learner utterances can be a powerful pedagogical strategy to scaffold learner language development. In this paper we present the Questions and Answers in English Language Teaching coding scheme which can be used to observe and describe the dynamics of teacher questions and student responses in language classrooms. We piloted the instrument in English as a foreign language lessons of four experienced teachers teaching 16 lessons in total. State Space Grids were used to visualize classroom dynamics and quantify intra-individual variability of each lesson. The results show that interactions between teachers and students have the tendency to self-organize and stabilize in one specific area of the grid. Lessons taught by three of the teachers revealed a dominant pattern formed by closed questions and short student responses. One teacher taught lessons in which more complex question and answer sequences were prevalent. These patterns of variability and stability show that teacher-student interactions have the properties of a shallow attractor state. The analysis of moment-to-moment turns in classroom interaction indicate that students in this study generally adapt their response to the level of teacher questions, but that teachers do not seem to adapt their questions to the level of the previous student answer. This suggests that, even for experienced teachers, scaffolding and adaptive teaching might be easier said than done.

In this study, I present dense, longitudinal data exploring the insights that a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective can bring to bear on patterns of relationships found between learner individual differences – notably age of onset (AO) and extracurricular L2 English use – in children in (pre)primary programs in Switzerland. We studied 71 children who had received 50/50 bilingual instruction in German and English (so-called “partial CLIL” programs) as well as 105 children in “minimal CLIL” programs with almost uniquely monolingual German instruction (90% German, 10% English). In the data analysis, (1) generalized additive mixed modeling (GAMM) was combined with (2) mixed-effects regression modeling. The findings show that AO may exert an effect on L2 performance in bilingual but not traditional instructional settings. Furthermore, contact with English outside school is a strong predictor for learner outcome, regardless of the intensity of instruction and an early or late start respectively. We conclude that the traditional view of the age factor in instructional settings needs to give way to a new understanding of L2 development in intensive exposure conditions, in which age of acquisition is seen as a major determinant.

The idiodynamic method is a relatively new mixed-method approach to studying in real time the complex dynamics of integrated affective and cognitive states that interact continuously with human communication. The method requires video recording a sample of communication from a research participant and then using specialized software to play the video back while collecting contemporaneous self-reported ratings (approximately one per second) on one or more focal variables of interest to the researcher, such as willingness to communicate (WTC) or communication anxiety (CA). After the participant rates the communication sample, a continuous graph of changes in the focal variable is printed. The final step is to interview the speaker to gather an explanation for changes in the ratings, for example at peaks or valleys in the graph. The method can also collect observer ratings that can then be compared with the speaker’s self-ratings. To date, studies have been conducted examining WTC, CA, motivation, perceived competence, teacher self-efficacy, teacher empathy, and strategy use, among other topics. The strengths and limitations of the method will be discussed and a specific example of its use in measuring WTC and CA will be provided.

This paper investigates measures of change to help demonstrate the necessity of variability as a developmental mechanism for advancing different features of L2 learning (related here primarily to writing, but also to reading) with a particular focus on learners at different stages of development. To do so, the work draws on three studies to build a case for using variability as a meaningful marker of change. Lowie, Wander M. & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2019. Individual differences and the ergodicity problem. Language Learning 69. 184–206 found in a group of 22 Dutch learners of English that the Coefficient of Variation (CoV), rather than individual factors such as motivation and aptitude, showed a significant correlation with writing proficiency gains. A replication study by Huang, Ting, Rasmus Steinkrauss & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2020b. Variability as predictors for L2 writing proficiency. Journal of Second Language Writing , with 22 Chinese learners of English revealed that the CoV rather than motivation, aptitude or working memory was a significant predictor in writing proficiency gains. A study by Gui, Min, Xiaokan Chen & Marjolijn Verspoor. Submitted. The dynamics of reading development in English for Academic Purposes, on reading for academic purposes with 27 Chinese Chemistry majors showed that the Standard Deviation of differences (SDd) rather than proficiency in English or knowledge of Chemistry correlated with reading gains. Two further studies present tentative evidence that these changes take place especially at transitional phases while learning a new skill.

The claim that educational contexts are dynamic, complex spaces is hardly a novel one. Yet, to date limited explicit treatment in the literature engages L2 classrooms as such. This paucity is partially explained by methodological concerns with investigating diverse and contextually dense places in ways that capture the richness of these environments. While no single method can mitigate this concern, system mapping can help researchers explore system dynamics through a mapping technique that diagrams system variables through the interpretive lens of relevant stakeholders. Stakeholders engage with variables relative to a guiding statement, question, or objective meaningful to the system’s development or maintenance, thus providing insights into interactions across and beyond the conventional teacher–student interface. System mapping is particularly useful for problem solving and developing in-depth understandings of relations across system components. After describing and expanding on system mapping and its uses in education research, this work moves through a sample study in the L2 writing context to demonstrate its utility.