Chaos/Complexity Science and Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

There are many striking similarities between the new science of chaos/complexity and second language acquisition (SLA) Chaos/complexity scientists study complex nonlinear systems They are interested in how disorder gives way to order, of how complexity arises in nature ‘To some physicists chaos is a science of process rather than state, of becoming rather than being’ (Gleick 1987 5) It will be argued that the study of dynamic, complex nonlinear systems is meaningful in SLA as well Although the new science of chaos/complexity has been hailed as a major breakthrough in the physical sciences, some believe its impact on the more human disciplines will be as immense ( Waldrop 1992) This belief will be affirmed by demonstrating how the study of complex nonlinear systems casts several enduring SLA conundrums in a new light