A dynamic systems theory perspective on L2 writing development

This article reports on a study that took a Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) perspective to second language (L2) motivational self system (L2MSS). More specifically, it investigated the influence of an Intensive English Reading course based on the Production-Oriented Approach (POA) upon the L2MSS of Chinese university English majorsfrom the DST perspective. To this end, two intact classes composed of 50 students were assigned into experimental group (EG) (N = 23) and control group (CG) (N = 27), who responded to an L2MSS scale before and after the one-semester intervention. Eight and five students were respectively selected using the purposive sampling method from the experimental and control groups for follow-up semi-structured interviews. The quantitative results revealed that the overall and dimensional (Ideal L2 Self and L2 Learning Experience) levels of L2MSS were significantly strengthened over time in the EG while kept stable in the CG. The qualitative results suggested that the enhanced Ideal L2 Self of the participants stemmed from an attractor basin that was deepened by a number of attractors encompassing Output Tasks and Peer Performance. The interview results also showed that the increased L2 Learning Experience of the participants pertained to an attractor basin that was consolidated by an array of attractors containing Output Tasks, Teacher Guidance, Group Discussion, and Peer Assessment. The findings indicated that the attractors at the subjective and social dimensions in the POA-based course collectively worked together to cause changes in L2MSS among the participants. The implications for intervening L2 motivation from a POA approach in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms were discussed.

The papers presented in this volume, written by active and well- known researchers, discuss experimental research that has validated the importance of infancy in individual development over the age continuum. In addition, a diverse overview section contains informative chapters on conceptual models for individual differences during infancy including: individual differences from the perspective of dynamical systems theory the logic of behavioral genetic designs and their use in the delineation of genetic contributions to individual differences coverage of basic statistical treatments for individual difference data focussing on cluster analytic techniques

From a dynamic systems theory perspective, this study investigated the development of complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) in five undergraduate multilingual learners’ L1 (Chinese), L2 (English) and L3 (French) writing throughout an academic year. Via detailed analysis of the quantitative data, this study aims to longitudinally depict the dynamic and interactive development of CAF in multilingual learners’ writing. Results show that the developmental patterns of CAF in multilingual learners’ (especially each individual learner’s) L1, L2 and L3 writing were characterized by non-linearity, recurrent and elusive increase and backsliding, emergent and constant changes, chaotic iteration, etc. Results also demonstrate that CAF components were integratively and interactively correlated with each other in multilingual learners’ writing over time. The findings hold some implications for theories and methodologies of multilingual acquisition/development studies.

Research involving bilingual education programmes has largely focused on cognitive and academic outcomes, with a paucity of studies investigating what involvement in these programmes means to the participants. Viewing identity using the dynamic systems theory perspective, this paper reports on a study analysing how children experience their linguistic and personal identities through their language awareness within bilingual programmes and explores the influence enforced bilingualism has on these perceptions. Seventy-six children from dual-language bilingual schools participated in the study. A ‘language silhouette’ was coloured by participants according to the languages they felt determined their identity and a questionnaire for fourth-grade participants sought to analyse feelings associated with participants’ languages and language use. Recurring patterns in the silhouettes were studied for frequency and further evaluated according to grade level, number of languages spoken, and type of language. Results support the hypothesis that responses from bilingual/multilingual participants whose languages are supported will differ from responses of those whose languages are unsupported in the schools. An unexpected difference was also observed between multilingual and bilingual perceptions of linguistic identity. The findings have important implications for language awareness for children in bilingual and multilingual education programmes.

In this chapter, we offer a nonlinear dynamical systems perspective on the development of chronic pain (see also Young and Chapman, 2006). We incorporate the simpler understanding of systems, as “the whole being greater than the sum of the parts,” into contemporary systems theory. We consider systems theory both in terms of its original expression as chaos theory and more advanced versions related to complexity theory. By framing chronic pain within the perspective of nonlinear dynamical systems theory, a transdisciplinary model, some phenomena that are difficult to explain in terms of other models become more transparent, revealing the multifactorial nature of pain. We grant that nonlinear dynamical systems theory is not easy to understand in its details, although systems theory in general has an intuitive appeal. Therefore, theorists, assessors, and practitioners alike need to study and integrate this approach into their work with chronic pain patients. Moreover, the model is consistent with the theme of this book, and with forensic psychology, in general, because it provides a multicausal understanding of chronic pain. Williams and Arrigo (2002) have applied chaos and complexity theory to forensic psychology, examining areas such as dangerousness and its prediction, civil commitment, and the right to refuse mental health treatment. However, the work does not address specific conditions such as chronic pain.

We discuss thermal rectification and thermoelectric energy conversion from the perspective of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and dynamical systems theory. After preliminary considerations on the dynamical foundations of the phenomenological Fourier law in classical and quantum mechanics, we illustrate ways to control the phononic heat flow and design thermal diodes. Finally, we consider the coupled transport of heat and charge and discuss several general mechanisms for optimizing the figure of merit of thermoelectric efficiency.

Instrumental and vocal teachers often employ their body in teaching to facilitate sensorimotor engagement with the voice or an instrument. Yet, teacher’s bodily engagement in instrumental and vocal education is scarcely addressed in music educational research studies. In our view, this scarcity is related to the lack of a framework about the role of the music teacher’s body in instrumental and vocal education. In this article, we will adopt a dynamical systems theory perspective to set first steps in conceptualizing the role of the instrumental and vocal teacher’s body in teaching and learning music. From this perspective, learning processes are viewed as emerging from the learner’s goal-oriented, situated, adaptive actions in the learning environment. Teachers play a significant role in that environment, due to the different types of constraints (e.g. environmental and task constraints) they can introduce to aid learners in finding a solution for a musical task. In this article, we argue that different types of teacher’s bodily engagement can act as constraints in instrumental and vocal music learning, thereby facilitating the learning process in non-verbal ways. To demonstrate this, we describe four types of bodily involvement: physical modelling, action demonstration, pedagogical gestures and touch. In summary, based on existing theoretical and empirical research, the article will present a first conceptualisation of the role of the music teacher in instrumental and vocal education viewed from a dynamical systems approach.

We examine stationary regimes in granular materials from a dynamical systems theory perspective. The aim is to enrich the classical view of the critical state regime in granular materials, and more broadly, to improve the fundamental understanding of the underlying mesoscale mechanisms responsible for macroscopic stationary states in complex systems. This study is based on a series of discrete element method simulations, in which two-dimensional assemblies of nonuniformly sized circular particles are subjected to biaxial compression under constant lateral confining pressure. The lifespan and life expectancy of specific cluster conformations, comprising particles in force chains and grain loops, are tracked and quantified. Results suggest that these conformational clusters reorganize at similar rates in the critical state regime, depending on strain magnitudes and confining pressure levels. We quantified this rate of reorganization and found that the material memory rapidly fades, with an entirely new generation of force chains and grain loops replacing the old within a few percent strain.

EAP reading ability development during the process of generating research questions: A CDST perspective

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.

This case study analyzed data from an asynchronous written mediated exchange between a native speaker and nonnative speaker of English. Three methods of analysis- error analysis, propositional complexity (idea units), and qualitative analysis were used to analyze learner performance over time. The results from these methods were visualized and interpreted according from Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective, which allows longitudinal language production data to be interpreted from multiple perspectives so that change can be understood at both the micro and macro levels. Results from the analysis revealed patterns of linguistic change both within and between participants as they interacted over time. Several instances of continuity in language production were observed between the participants, including a drop in error rate that coincided with an increase in minor idea units during one turn of the exchange. Results from a qualitative analysis offer several explanations for this finding and are related to the implications this holds for CDST.

Although spontaneous interpersonal coordination was originally reported in the early 1960s, the accurate measurement of this phenomenon is very recent. Sophisticated methods used by dynamic systems theory and social neuroscientific perspectives have allowed capturing and analyzing patterns of neural and bodily coordination between interactants, favoring a deeper understanding of the factors and processes involved. In the present chapter, we review neurobiological evidence on interpersonal coordination and acknowledge that, despite the use of cutting-edge technology, extant findings have not yet resulted in an understanding of real-life interpersonal coordination. Theoretical and methodological efforts in social neuroscience aimed to explore interpersonal dynamics through joint tasks have been tacitly based on an individualistic approach to social cognition that underestimates the social nature of interactional phenomena. In turn, dynamic systems theory tends to approach human interaction in the same way as any complex system, disregarding the specific features of social life. We argue instead that interpersonal coordination should be studied under the assumption that people engage in meaningful interactions, so that its study requires the design of more ecological paradigms integrating the benefits of high-precision temporal recordings and a holistic account of the brain and bodily dynamics that occur during real human interaction.

This paper examines the perceptions of one Chinese learner of English at a university. From a Dynamic System Theory (DST) perspective, the student’s perceptions, affective experiences and classroom learning will be explored by identifying the non-linear relationships between them. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the student’s perceived affective experiences and her self-reported performances in a foreign language classroom. The participant was a second-year university student from a foreign language university in China. Diary, questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and class observation were applied to investigate this 6-month longitudinal study. Emotional ambivalence including several different affective patterns and five attractor states, namely, Integrative Disposition, Amotivation, Autonomy, Actual Learning Process and Language Awareness were identified.

This study examined how low-level Japanese English learners’ motivation changes throughout an English course in which English is taught through reflective teaching practice. In order to investigate students’ motivational fluctuation, Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) was applied. CDST can measure how learners’ motivation changes by focusing on the process of change, as opposed to whether learners’ motivation changed or not by investigating pre- and post-data, which has been the mainstream approach in motivational research for decades. At the end of each class, a “Weekly Motivational Questionnaire” (WMQ) (Nitta, 2013; Nitta & Asano, 2010) was distributed to 14 participants, and the instructor kept a journal after the class. The materials and techniques used in this class included an American TV drama, games related to the class contents, group/pair work, and the Jigsaw Method (Aronson & Patnoe, 1997). Since the class focused on improving student listening and speaking ability, a TV drama was used as the main teaching material. Trajectory patterns were obtained using the results of the WMQ. Consequently, five motivational patterns were recognized. Through individual analyses, for instance, the importance of repeated use of tasks that are related to students’ interests are implied. A motivational developmental sequence is also hypothesized.

Introduction: Children with cerebral palsy may receive various rehabilitative intervention programs aimed at facilitating their development and improving their functional independence in such areas as movement, self-care, playing, leisure and school activities. Occupational therapists working with children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) employ a variety of therapeutic approaches among which neurodevelopmental treatment approach has been traditionally the most common. Considering the expansion of family-centered therapy approaches, the importance of obligation to the International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health principles (ICF, WHO, 2001), limitations of current therapy approaches and recent advances from dynamic systems theory, there is an urgent need to develop a new approach in occupational therapy at the present time. The aims of this study were to present a brief description of CP with an emphasis on the role of occupational therapy in it and to explore the benefits of family-centered approach, dynamic systems theory and family-centered functional therapy in the rehabilitation process of children with cerebral palsy. Materials and Methods: In this study, a comprehensive review of the literature published from 1966 to 2011 was conducted via PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest and Google Scholar data bases. The keywords used in search were “cerebral palsy”, “functional”, “therapy”, “family-centered”. All articles were initially evaluated according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and then selected article were reviewed. Results : Of 128 articles found, 22 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were considered as appropriate for this study. Conclusion: Family-centered functional therapy, which combines theoretical principles of occupational therapy, family centered approach and dynamic systems theory of motor development, is an optimal response to developmental needs of children with cerebral palsy. However, the efficacy of this approach has not been proven empirically. Keywords: Cerebral palsy, Family centered functional therapy, Dynamic systems theory