title: Second language writing development from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory
      perspective
title: a multiple case-study of Hungarian learners of English
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Wind, Attila Miklos
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2018
Subjects: second language acquisition
Second language writing
complex dynamic systems
complex dynamic systems theory
co-adaptation
mathematical modelling

description: Second language (L2) writing (especially English as a foreign language) is
      generally considered as one of the most important skills that language
      learners need to acquire during their language education (Lee, 2016).
      However, L2 writing might be one of the most difficult skills for English
      as a foreign language (EFL) learners to develop throughout their language
      learning process (Barkaoui, 2007; Frydrychova Klimova, 2014).
      Consequently, writing has often been found to be one of the weakest skills
      of EFL learners around the world (“IELTS Test taker performance 2016”,
      2016), including among Hungarian language learners (Csapó &amp;
      Nikolov, 2001, 2009; Mihaljević Djigunović, Nikolov, &amp; Ottó,
      2008). In Hungary, as in other contexts, although writing might be one of
      the most difficult skills to acquire, language learners have been found to
      spend an insufficient amount of time learning to write in the foreign
      language classroom (Árva, 2007; Cook, 2005, 2008; Nikolov, 2002). In
      addition, research has shown that Hungarian university students make
      limited use of self-regulatory strategies during writing, despite the
      important role they play in second language writing development (Kormos,
      2012; Lam, 2015; Nitta &amp; Baba, 2015, 2018). Research on L2 writing
      development in the Hungarian context is therefore important to establish
      where particular challenges may exist, and how these might be addressed in
      language education programs. L2 writing development has been mainly
      investigated by studies adopting a two-wave longitudinal research design
      (Barkaoui, 2016; Bulté &amp; Housen, 2014; Knoch, Rouhshad, &amp;
      Storch, 2014; Knoch, Rouhshad, Oon, &amp; Storch, 2015; Mazgutova
      &amp; Kormos, 2015; Storch, 2009; Storch &amp; Tapper, 2009). In a
      two-wave longitudinal research design, changes in complexity and accuracy
      indices are measured at two points in time from a large population.
      Although two-wave longitudinal studies are useful in pointing to
      tendencies and making generalisations in L2 writing development, most
      recent research suggests that L2 writing development is idiosyncratic,
      that is, no two learners exhibit similar developmental patterns (Chan,
      2015; Rosmawati, 2016). The 2000s saw the emergence of an influential
      approach to second language acquisition, the Complex Dynamic Systems
      Theory (CDST), which acknowledges that there is no average language
      learner (de Bot, Lowie, &amp; Verspoor, 2007). According to the CDST,
      language is seen “as a dynamic, complex and nonlinear process”
      (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, p. 142). CDST studies usually adopt a multi-wave
      research design to gain insight into the dynamic and complex nature of
      language development (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Spoelman
      &amp; Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor, de Bot, &amp; Lowie, 2004;
      Verspoor, Lowie, &amp; van Dijk, 2008; Verspoor, Lowie, Chan,
      &amp; Vahtrick, 2017; Verspoor, Lowie, &amp; Wieling, 2018). This
      study investigates the second language writing development of four
      Hungarian EFL learners over a nine-month period by adopting a multi-wave
      mixed-methods research design. The participants were enrolled in an EAP
      programme offered by a university in Budapest, Hungary. Two argumentative
      essays were composed each month by the four participants in their
      naturalistic setting. Furthermore, one argumentative essay was written by
      the four learners on a monthly basis under a controlled setting. The final
      mini corpus consisted of 92 argumentative essays collected from the four
      participants over the nine month period. The four participants were also
      interviewed on their self-regulatory processes over the nine-month
      investigation after each controlled written sample was collected. This
      study found that lexical and syntactic complexity indices developed
      nonlinearly in the four participants’ written data over the nine-month
      investigation, substantiating previous studies on L2 writing development
      (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Rosmawati, 2016; Spoealman &amp;
      Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor et al., 2004, 2008, 2017, 2018). However, the
      directions of the trends were different for all lexical and syntactic
      complexity and accuracy indices in the four EFL learners’ written data.
      Lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy indices showed a great deal
      of variability in the four learners’ written data over the nine month
      period. The amount of variability constantly changed in the complexity and
      accuracy indices over time. In addition, the degree of variability was
      also different in the four participants’ written data which supports
      previous studies on L2 writing development (Caspi, 2010; Larsen-Freeman,
      2006; van Dijk, Verspoor &amp; Lowie, 2011). This study found that
      there was a general improvement in one of the participants’ lexicon and in
      another participant’s accuracy over time as demonstrated by the
      statistically significant developmental peaks (van Geert &amp; van
      Dijk, 2002). The interactions between lexical and syntactic complexity and
      accuracy were dynamic over the nine-month investigation. The polarity of
      the interactions between lexical and syntactic complexity and accuracy
      changed from negative to positive and vice versa over time. Moreover, the
      magnitude of the interactions oscillated over time, ranging from weak to
      strong associations. The polarity and the magnitude of the interactions
      within lexical and syntactic complexity and between lexical and syntactic
      complexity and accuracy were different in the four participants’ written
      data which supports previous studies on L2 writing development (Spoelman
      &amp; Verspoor, 2010; Verspoor &amp; van Dijk, 2011). The
      self-regulatory processes developed nonlinearly and at different rates in
      the four participants’ learning journey. The four participants’ focus
      shifted from self-observation to self-evaluation processes at different
      points in time which substantiates earlier studies on self-regulation
      (Nitta &amp; Baba, 2015; Sasaki, Mizumoto &amp; Murakami, 2018).
      In addition, only two learners’ focus shifted from self-evaluation to
      goal-setting over the nine-month investigation. The findings of this study
      bear important theoretical, methodological and pedagogical significance
      and implications. First, the findings of this study support the Complex
      Dynamic Systems Theory perspective on second language development. Second,
      this study demonstrated how quantitative and qualitative CDST methods can
      be combined. Third, this study presented pedagogical implications for
      teaching and language learning. By demonstrating that language development
      is dynamic and idiosyncratic and language development is the outcome of
      the self-organisation of the language systems, this study questions the
      validity and the effectiveness of an item-processing approach. This study
      offers a new approach to the study of second language writing development
      and advances our understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of second
      language development itself.