chaos and complexity theory

Chaos Complexity Theory

applied to SLA

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"There seems to be much in common between language and complex nonlinear systems. Language can be viewed as a dynamic system"

Choose 2-4 of the following ideas and write how they can explain experiences you have had as a language learner or teacher

"Language, seen synchronically or diachronically, is undeniably dynamic" (Larsen-Freeman, 1997).

"...language can be described as a collection of static units, but their use in actual speech involves an active process "(Larsen-Freeman, 1997).

"...despite the similarities among interlanguages of speakers with different L1s, they are constrained by the strange attractors of their L1s, which can affect more than the strange attractor of English"

"Larsen-Freeman (1997), drawing a number of chaos / complexity parallels in the language class, asserts that languages go through periods of chaos and order just like other living systems"

"...there are orderly periods followed often by periods of chaos. This happens when something new is introduced and students have to figure out how it fits into the system, or they have to revise their understanding of the system in order to accommodate their new awareness. Fortunately, through interaction with others, eventually, order is restored."

the concept of a classroom ‘on the edge of chaos’, that is, in a maximum state of learning, implies sensitivity to every variation in input, for example, the difference between a smile and a shrug of the shoulders on the part of the teacher, ‘openness’ to different types of new input, being ‘adaptive’ to changing learning needs and preferences, and ‘emerging’ of new learning structures.

"...learners are not speaking something that is deficient, but rather a language of their own. It is a creative process".