Complexity thinking is concerned with the dynamic relationships and patterns among phenomena rather than the static properties of isolated objects. Complexivists view education in terms of the dynamic, adaptive and self-organizing processes that are always emerging within and among individuals and collectives. For complexivists, learning and knowledge emerge in a simultaneous and intertwining (or nested) manner at multiple levels, not only at the level of the individual.1

Cognition, consciousness, experience, embodiment, brain, self, human interaction, society, culture, and history are all inextricably intertwined in rich, complex, and dynamic ways in language. Everything is connected. Yet despite this complexity, despite its lack of overt government, instead of anarchy and chaos, there are patterns everywhere. Linguistic patterns are not preordained by God, genes, school curriculum, or other human policy. Instead, they are emergent.2

In ELT, complexity thinking has slowly resonated among research methods, for example in the work of Diane Larsen-Freeman; and in classroom practice, for example in Dogme ELT, whose proponents focus on language emergence (as opposed to acquisition). The question is whether teachers and learners are willing to move away from determinism (language learning as linear cause-effect events) and reductionism (understand the parts to understand the whole); and move toward a new mindset that, since the unexpected will occur anyway, focuses on language and learning primarily as innovative and transformative processes where barriers between self and others and self and worlds begin to dissolve and where control is distributed and shared.

Complexity Theory & ELT Willy C. Cardoso authenticteaching.wordpress.com

@willycard cardoso.elt@gmail.com

Reference: 1 www.complexityandeducation.ualberta.ca | 2 The “Five Graces Group” (2009) ‘Language is a Complex Adaptive System’ Language Learning, 59:Suppl.1 | Cadorath, J and Harris, S (1998) ‘Unplanned classroom language and teacher training’ ELT Journal, 52(3) | Dalke et al (2007) ‘Emergent Pedagogy: learning to enjoy the uncontrollable-and make it productive’ J Educ Change, 8 de Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(1), 7–21 | Eve, Raymond A. et al (ed.) (1997) Chaos, complexity, and sociology: myths, models, and theories, Sage Publications | Larsen-Freeman, D. and Cameron, L. (2008) Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Meddings, L. and Thornbury, S. (2009) Teaching Unplugged Delta Publishing | Large image: En-dessous de l’arbre © 2010 www.deniscarl.com | Small image: Hampstead Heath (archive)| For comprehensive reference and links to articles visit http://authenticteaching.wordpress.com/complexitytheory

Knowledge is always contextualized

Learning is not a matter of practice achieved

by repetitive cycles devoid of context.

Focus on language from and for learners’

lives and stories. Focus on form should also

be emergent, i.e. contingent and not preset.

CLASS DYNAMICS

Learners must be responsible for

recognizing opportunities to learn.

Learning cannot be reduced to

‘teachable moments’ as it is a

continuous process that is not

always identifiable.

ACHIEVEMENT isn’t LEARNING

Learning does not progress through the

same sequence, neither does it follow a

linear pathway from simple to complex

(abstract). Don’t confuse “achievement”

with learning (one can achieve without

significant learning).

Self-organization Teachers do not control their students’ learning. Teaching does not cause learning; learners make their own paths. This does not mean that teaching does not influence learning, far from it; teaching and teacher-learner interaction construct and constrain the learning affordances of the classroom. (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008)

Emergence When things get together, there then arises something that was not there before, and that character is something that cannot be stated in terms of the elements which go to make up the combination. It remains to be seen in what sense we can now characterize that which has so emerged. (Mead 1938)

EMERGENT CURRICULUM

Content is selected as learners’ needs

arise, this is an on-going process. There is

no predetermined sequence/syllabus to

be followed, unless learners themselves

want to design and frequently revise one.

Learning is not linear and predictable,

hence cannot be thoroughly planned

for. Lesson Plans as usually designed

tend to ignore that. More room for the

‘unplanned’ is needed.

AWAY FROM GRADING and EVALUATION

Learning, being a complex system, cannot

be measured on linear scales. If it could

be measured at all though, it would be

best done by the learner him/herself.

Hence, self-evaluation should be the

cornerstone for assessment and not just

an add-on.

Openness & Adaptability By making goal-setting itself an emergent process, both students and teachers can have constant access to goal formation and revision, feel shared satisfactions in their accomplishments, and have always in front of them the excitement of new possibilities. (Dalke et al, 2007)

Connectedness A language learner is regarded as a dynamic subsystem within a social system with a great number of interacting internal dynamic sub-sub systems… The learner has his/her own cognitive ecosystem consisting of intentionality, cognition, intelligence, motivation, aptitude, L1, L2 and soon. The cognitive ecosystem in turn is related to the degree of exposure to language, maturity, level of education, and so on, which in turn is related to the SOCIAL ECOSYSTEM, consisting of the environment with which the individual interacts. (de Bot et al, 2007)

Unpredictability Thus the first great tool offered by the new science is the concept of the inherently unpredictable situation – a situation unpredictable in itself, not just by virtue of the limits of its observer. We are spared the labor of attempting to predict such situations and thus can devote our efforts to understanding them in different ways, for ‘unpredictable’ does not necessarily mean ‘uninteligible’, or inaccessible to knowledge or understanding. (Turner, in Eve et al, 1997)

LANGUAGE WORK Creation and innovation are more important than segmented production. Language play, informal conversation, open-ended and convergent problem-solving tasks are encouraged.

A good teacher cannot be fixed in a routine…During teaching, each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constantly changing and constantly adapting. (Bruce Lee, quoted in Teaching Unplugged)

Unplanned situations or unstructured activities can sometimes create more effective, natural, and memorable communicative opportunities than well-planned communicative activities. (Cadorath & Harris, 1998)

Inquiries and their duration, as chosen by the learner, have equal (or more!) validity to those chosen by a teacher. Several may be happening simultaneously and independently. Learners don’t need to be doing the same thing at the same time.