A number of the notions that have proven fundamental for recent second language acquisition research can be found within the global theoretical framework of complex and dynamic systems (CDS), as taken up and articulated around language acquisition by scholars such as Diane Larson-Freeman and Lynne Cameron (2007), Zoltán Dörnyei, Alastaire Henry, and Peter MacIntyre (2015), Jean-Marc Dewaele and Peter MacIntyre (2014), or Geoff Sockett (2012) writing in English and Jean-Claude Bertin (2012), Meryl Kusyk (2017) or Gregory Miras (2017) in the French context.
Systems theory is generally said to have originated with Henri Poincaré’s Chaos theory, established around the end of the nineteenth century and concerning mathematical models explaining the stability of the solar system. Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s work in biology in the 1950s and 1960s is also considered seminal in this area. It establishes the idea that a system consists of different elements participating in some type of central process, interacting with each other and organising themselves as a function of the process itself. The meteorologist Edward Lorenz is another important figure in the history of systems theory, known for his work on initial conditions in the 1970s. Examples of systems from the physical and biological sciences include weather systems, solar systems and ecological systems. Developed by the French sociologist Edgar Morin in the latter part of the twentieth century as part of a general epistemology of the humanities and social sciences, the theory has expanded to include ideas of complexity, uncertainty and self-eco-organisation. Morin argues that a system is more than the sum of its parts (Morin, 2005).
Reference to dynamic systems theory in applied linguistics is relatively recent, with the first major work addressing the subject being published by Larsen-Freeman and Cameron in 2007. Around the same time, members of the University of Gröningen in the Netherlands also began publishing works in applied linguistics referring to complex dynamic systems (De Bot, 2008; De Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007; Lowie, 2017; Verspoor, 2012; Verspoor, Lowie, Chan, & Vahtrick, 2017; Verspoor, Lowie, & Van Dijk, 2008; Verspoor, Schmid, & Xu, 2012). Bertin justifies the use of complex dynamic systems theory in the field of language didactics
insofar as its main objects (language, the learner, the teacher) and the process (language acquisition/learning) around which the system organises itself, are themselves complex constructed objects. (Bertin, 2012, p. 252)
Many aspects of complex dynamic systems theory make it an ideal candidate as an overall theoretical framework for understanding the phenomena of L2 acquisition and development (Dörnyei, Henry, & MacIntyre, 2015; Lowie, 2017). The emphasis on initial conditions, non-linearity, dynamism, attractors, emergence and coadaptation is eminently present in second language acquisition (SLA) research. In order to understand the overall theory in terms of SLA applications, a good starting point will be to look at each of these six parameters one by one.
1 Initial Conditions
Complex dynamic systems theory considers the initial conditions of a system to be decisive in determining the trajectories that will be followed through the system as well as the results obtained at the end. The notion was initially described by the meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1972), with his presentation to the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas? In this presentation, he discusses the fact that minimal changes to the initial data input into computer simulations of weather conditions could create maximal and often unforeseeable trajectories and results. His title was meant to be provocative and not literal, underlining how seemingly incidental initial conditions might have important effects on a system.
Considering contemporary language learning, the subject of this book, it is obvious that initial conditions are far from uniform. Only a generation ago, before the massive arrival of the Internet in our lives, many European students arrived at university with a seven- or eight-year background in school English (middle and high school) and few other experiences or encounters with this language, creating a certain homogeneity among students in general and even within each class group. In today’s fast-paced and constantly evolving world, all language learners, whether they be students in higher education, children at school or adults in continuing education, come into the system (language centre, self-study software program, course, etc.) with their own specific background, composed of their own previous experiences of the particular L2 being learnt, but also of languages, language and learning in general. In the specific case of English, including English for specialists in non-linguistic disciplines (IWLP English, as I shall later call it), learners arrive with their school experience, but also with very diverse out-of-classroom language learning experiences (OCLL) (Benson & Reinders, 2011), often unknown to or unimagined by the teacher. Among these experiences, we might find, for example, a few trips or meetings with other (native or non-native) speakers of the L2. On the other hand, all these students (even the most reluctant) will have encountered English through the media, even if only isolated words or expressions in advertisements or displays. Even in France, where preservation of the French language is considered to be a national priority,1 some very French brands, like Renault, have taken to using English slogans, such as the French touch. The vast majority of students in higher education are in almost daily contact with English: watching American (or sometimes British) series, reading information on websites, interacting on blogs, forums or video games, communicating in either writing or speech with international players in multiplayer online games, etc. For some people, this exposure can reach several hundred hours of English per year (Sockett & Toffoli, 2012), a much higher number of contact hours than classroom exposure, even in the case of bilingual or immersive classes.
2 Non-linearity
Complex dynamic systems are considered to be fundamentally non-linear in nature. As opposed to simple mathematical equations, which result in single straight lines, complex systems, if they were to be plotted on a graph, would result in erratic, non-linear trajectories, with portions that are sometimes curving, sometimes straight and sometimes interrupted. Learning can likewise be pictured as a non-linear and unstable process. Moreover, the terrain through which the language learner progresses is multi-dimensional. Each of the (language) elements being acquired, whether grammatical, phonological or lexical, comprehension or production, can be seen as a separate dimension and none are acquired following a strict order or (as shown below) attained at a fixed pace.
The (language) learning of the students we are interested in is impossible to predict precisely upstream (or even downstream), regardless of context, yet it has become even less predictable because of its integration of what happens both within the university context (the education paradigm) and outside it (the development paradigm).
3 Dynamism
A third important concept of complex dynamic systems theory for applied linguistics concerns the system’s movement. Dynamism can be seen as a synonym for constant change and can be opposed to stability or lack of movement. Dynamism and stability are two manifestations of the same phenomenon. If we consider language learning as a system, we can see that learners go through more or less dynamic phases, where learning can be faster or slower paced, sometimes coming to a stop (when the learner ceases all activity in the L2) or even regressing (which is a dynamic movement ...