ERIC Number: EJ1202904
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
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On Language Learner Agency: A Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective
Larsen-Freeman, Diane
Modern Language Journal, v103 suppl 1 p61-79 2019
Agency has attracted considerable attention, especially of late. Nevertheless, perceptions of language learners as nonagentive persist. In this article the Douglas Fir Group's call for a transdisciplinary perspective is heeded in a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory's (CDST) conceptualization of agency. It is suggested that CDST maintains the structure-agency complementarity while bringing to the fore the relational and emergent nature of agency. Coordination dynamics is identified as a possible mechanism for the phylogenetic and ontogenetic emergence of agency. CDST further characterizes agency as spatially-temporally situated. It can be achieved and changed through iteration and co-adaptation. It is also multidimensional and heterarchical. In this era of posthumanism, an issue that is also taken up is whether it is only humans who have agency. The article then discusses educational practices that could support learner agency. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of agency and ethical action.
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Ethics, Personal Autonomy, Interdisciplinary Approach, Educational Practices, Learning Motivation, Systems Approach, Second Language Instruction, Independent Study
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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