"This accessible guide to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) research presents practical methods and templates for how applied linguistics researchers can design and conduct research using the CDST framework and equips readers with the knowledge to ensure compatibility between empirical research designs and the theoretical tenets of complexity"--

This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to methodological analyses, pedagogical proposals, and conceptual frameworks for future research. In a balanced and in-depth manner, the authors provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of second language development, with a wealth of insights that promise to break the status-quo of current research and take it to exciting new territory. The book will appeal to both seasoned and novice researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, bilingualism, cognitive psychology, and education, as well as to practitioners in second or foreign language teaching of any language.

This book provides practical guidance on research methods and designs that can be applied to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) research. It discusses the contribution of CDST to the field of applied linguistics, examines what this perspective entails for research and introduces practical methods and templates, both qualitative and quantitative, for how applied linguistics researchers can design and conduct research using the CDST framework. Introduced in the book are methods ranging from those in widespread use in social complexity, to more familiar methods in use throughout applied linguistics. All are inherently suited to studying both dynamic change in context and interconnectedness. This accessible introduction to CDST research will equip readers with the knowledge to ensure compatibility between empirical research designs and the theoretical tenets of complexity. It will be of value to researchers working in the areas of applied linguistics, language pedagogy and educational linguistics and to scholars and professionals with an interest in second/foreign language acquisition and complexity theory.

Accessible introduction to rapidly growing field of interest across disciplines. Explains key constructs: chaos; complexity; dynamic systems; emergence etc. Demonstrates applications to areas of applied linguistics. Illustrates how complex systems thinking can challenge established ideas. Discusses implications for theory, research, and practice.

This book brings together contributions from the leaders of the language learning motivation field. The varied chapters demonstrate how Gardner’s work remains integral to a diverse range of contemporary theoretical issues underlying the psychology of language, even today, 60 years after the publication of Gardner and Lambert’s seminal 1959 paper. The chapters cover a wide selection of topics related to applied linguistics, second language acquisition, social psychology, sociology, methodology and historical issues. The book advances thinking on cutting-edge topics in these diverse areas, providing a wealth of information for both students and established scholars that show the continuing and future importance of Gardner and Lambert’s ideas.

This book suggests that applied linguistics research is inherently concerned with complexity, emergence and causality, and because of this it also requires a robust social ontology. The book identifies and unpacks a range of conceptual issues in applied linguistics from a social realist perspective, and provides a critique of successionism and interpretivism as two dominant and enduring empiricist tendencies in the field. From this critique, it considers the emergence of complex dynamic system theory as viable yet not entirely unproblematic conceptual sophistication of current applied linguistics research. Although the growing popularity of complex dynamic system theory is undeniable and understandable, this book argues that its integration within a social realist ontology is necessary for further developments in the field. The book will be of interest to applied linguists and social scientists interested in language-related issues including language learning and teaching, language change, language policy and planning, bilingualism/multilingualism, and language and identity.

Critical Sociolinguistic Research Methods is a guide to conducting concrete ethnographic and discourse analytic research projects, written by top scholars for students and researchers in social science fields. Adopting a critical perspective focusing on the role of language in the construction of social difference and social inequality, the authors walk the reader through five key moments in the life of a research project: composing research questions, designing the project, doing fieldwork, performing data analysis and writing academic texts or otherwise engaging in conversation with different types of social actors about the project. These moments are illustrated by colour-coded examples from the authors’ experiences that help researchers and students follow the sequential stages of a project. Clear and highly applicable, with a detailed workbook full of practical tips and examples, this book is a great resource for graduate-level qualitative methods courses in linguistics and anthropology, as well as methods courses in the humanities and social sciences that focus on the role of language in research. It is a timely text for investigating language issues that matter and have consequences for people’s lives.

This book provides a practical overview of the most important methods in the field. Readers are drawn into classrooms where various teaching methods and approaches are being used. They are encouraged to reflect on their own beliefs and to develop their own approach to language teaching. - Publisher.

The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics provides a critical survey of the methodological concepts, designs, instruments and types of analysis that are used within the broad field of applied linguistics. With more than 40 chapters written by leading and emerging scholars, this book problematizes and theorizes applied linguistics research, incorporating numerous multifaceted methodological considerations and pointing to the future of good practice in research. Topics covered include: key concepts and constructs in research methodology, such as sampling strategies and mixed methods research; research designs such as experimental research, case study research, and action research; data collection methods, from questionnaires and interviews to think-aloud protocols and data elicitation tasks; data analysis methods, such as use of R, inferential statistical analysis, and qualitative content analysis; current considerations in applied linguistics research, such as a need for transparency and greater incorporation of multilingualism in research; and recent innovations in research methods related to multimodality, eye-tracking, and advances in quantitative methods. The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics is key reading for both experienced and novice researchers in Applied Linguistics as well as anyone undertaking study in this area.

A study of the relationship between language and complexity.