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Introduction: Second Language Development as a Dynamic Process
Author(s) -
DE BOT KEES
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00712.x
Subject(s) - computer science , second language acquisition , presentation (obstetrics) , process (computing) , field (mathematics) , development (topology) , focus (optics) , linguistics , cognitive science , psychology , programming language , mathematics , philosophy , physics , optics , radiology , medicine , mathematical analysis , pure mathematics
In this contribution, some of the basic characteristics of complex adaptive systems, collectively labeled Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), are discussed. Such systems are self‐organizing, dependent on initial conditions, sometimes chaotic, and they show emergent properties. The focus in DST is on development over time. Language is seen as a dynamic system, and language development, both acquisition and attrition, as a dynamic process. A number of examples of possible applications of DST in the field of applied linguistics are mentioned. After a short presentation of each of the individual articles, some possible lines of research are discussed.