Abstract
Usage-based dynamics (UBD) perspectives examine how learners’ language systems develop within dynamic interaction of variables. Pushing these perspectives forward, Lowie et al. (2020) assembled a range of studies that take UBD approaches in L2 development. Perhaps the book’s content is better represented by its subtitle than by its main title. This collection offers ‘a fitting tribute to Marjolijn Verspoor’ (p. 295), who has been a pioneer in complex dynamic systems theory (CDST). The editors have aggregated a breadth of topics that aligns well with Verspoor’s scholarly interests. These interests include cognitive linguistics, applied linguistics, UBD approaches, and second language (L2) development. This volume consists of 12 chapters contributed by 33 researchers. Most of the contributions are by her colleagues and PhD students, but others are made by seasoned scholars such as Ron Langacker, Andrea Tyler, and Peter MacIntyre.
The editors have a broad definition and scope of ‘usage-based dynamics’, and the book covers many topics such as cognitive linguistics, UBD-inspired experimental studies, and pedagogical applications. Findings of the empirical studies will not only contribute effectively to theory-building but also provide a valuable guide for researchers on how to conduct an experiment drawing upon CDST.
Experimental studies showcase how CDST is commensurable with L2 research. In Chapter 4 (Peng et al.); Chapter 7 (MacIntyre and Ayers-Glassey), and Chapter 8 (Sulis et al.), the researchers explicate that language learning is a process of dynamic interactions between individuals’ internal (e.g. motivation, emotion, and learning styles) and external (e.g. learning context and group dynamics) attributes and resources. They investigate intra- and inter-individual changes of L2 learner motivation, self-regulation, and willingness to communicate in the L2 classroom using micro-level analysis. These interwoven components jointly contribute to the process of individual development, giving subsystems a way to enter an attractor state before jumping to another increased/high variability state which provides a benchmark for development.
Other studies analyse learners’ language production retrieved from corpus data with numerous data points. Chapter 2 (Murakami); Chapter 3 (Bulte and Housen) and Chapter 6 (Wind and Harding) use learners’ written data, and Chapter 5 (Eskildsen) uses spoken data. The chapters feature data spanning from a semester up to two years. By adopting general and specific measures, researchers successfully trace the evolving relationships between different L2 subsystems over time. Qualitative methods also complement quantitative measures in explaining participants’ dynamics of language learning motivation and their tendencies to stay in the attractor state.
The last three chapters, along with Chapter 1 (Cardierno), are concerned with the pedagogical application of the theory. Chapters 10 (Tyler et al.), 11 (Piggott et al.), and 12 (Kassenberg et al.) provide detailed resources that readers can use in their classrooms. For example, these chapters demonstrate the survey studies that readers can replicate in their own instructional contexts. This presentation helps readers to better understand not only the design of the research but also the nature of the data. It also assists teachers because it provides a detailed description of the materials and scripted classroom language.
Rich visualization throughout the chapters helps readers envisage the results of each study. The graphs show descriptive variation of the subsystems (e.g. target measures), cross-sectional developmental patterns of individual learners along with the overall trend, and moving correlations between subsystems (e.g. supportive or competitive relations). Different diagrams, such as learners’ utterance schema (Chapter 5) and nested locatives (Chapter 9), facilitate conceptual understanding of the dynamicity of linguistic structure and meaning networks. Moreover, the demonstration of overall changes in the linguistic indices, aligned with interview data, was a helpful aid to visualize the trajectory of learners’ development, although it would be much easier to read if the indices were coloured.
This book will contribute to the field of psycholinguistics by problematizing the use of aggregated data to describe individual development. By adopting a longitudinal case-study approach along with general and specific measures on learners’ language production, researchers successfully address both general trends and individual variations. All chapters will also provide illustrative guides for researchers on how to conduct an experiment drawing from CDST. Given that subsystems are dynamic and are interconnected, the contributors adopted bottom-up statistics such as hierarchical cluster analysis and non-linear regression models. The chapters have effectively shown that qualitative methods may be used to involve a range of alternative statistical procedures. For example, survey or questionnaire data can be used to model trends in individual learner variability. Despite the strengths of the book, it would have been more helpful if researchers had elaborated on the rationale for choosing certain subsystems (e.g. target measures and construct) and mathematical/statistical methods. Moreover, the variability in terms of the theoretical approaches and statistical procedures adopted can be detrimental to readers not thoroughly informed in the latest thinking on CDST. Researchers seeking an introduction to the theory itself will need to refer to another book.
In summary, this volume assembles a collection of papers representing a broad range of CDST-driven research approaches in applied linguistics. This book would be helpful to researchers and postgraduates interested in developing a research design based on the following topics: UBD-informed experimental research, cognitive linguistics and its translation into effective instruction in the language classroom, and ways to visualize trajectories of (sub)systems and to conduct statistical analysis. This book will help researchers dig deeper by following the references and will allow them to step beyond previous limitations for conducting future research.
