A New Paradigm for SLA对二语得的新范式.docVIP

A New Paradigm for SLA SLS600 Gretchen Yamaguchi 3/22/2010 Indeed, the solution the SLA field has perennially adopted when there are conflicting views is to seek a larger frame, one that acknowledges the contributions of each perspective. (Larsen–Freeman, 2007b, p. 773) Introduction In 1994, Diane Larsen-Freeman introduced the concept of Chaos/Complexity Theory (C/CT) at the Second Language Research Forum in Montreal. She offered it as a perspective that could address concerns she had been having regarding the direction that research and development had been taking within the second language acquisition field. Larsen-Freeman explained that since the 1980’s, she had been asserting that: the SLA process was more complex, gradual, nonlinear, dynamic, social, and variable than had been recognized . . . A related aspect of SLA research that I found troubling was the reductionist assumption that by studying influences on the process in a piecemeal fashion, and then aggregating the findings, we would be able to explain the whole. . . (Larsen-Freeman, 2007a, p. 35) The 1994 presentation was followed in 1997 by the publication of a scholarly paper entitled “Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition”. (Larsen-Freeman, 2007a, p. 35) Although Larsen-Freeman did not formally follow up with her ideas for five more years, the seed was planted. In 2002, she published, “Language acquisition and language use from a Chaos/Complexity Theory perspective”. (Larsen-Freeman, 2007a, p. 35) That article effectively marked the beginning of a new wave in the field of SLA, one that continues to grow and evolve into the present time. The fervor engendered by this new paradigm is reflected by the attention it has been receiving in scholarly journals and at professional conferences. Within the past five years, three journals have dedicated entire issues to C/CT and/or its multiple variants and appellations: Lingua 118 (49), 2008 Bilingualism: Language and