An Analysis Of Individual Differences In Second Language Acquisition From The Perspective Of Dynamic System Theory

Dynamic System Theory, DST for short, originally belonged to classicalmechanics and then was broadly applied to the fields like mathematics, physics,biology, meteorologists and oceanography. At the end of20thcentury, scholars andresearchers in applied linguistics also employed DST in the field of linguistics. LarsenFreeman’s “Chaos/Complexity Science and Second Language Acquisition” in1997was regarded as the unprecedented work of this sort, which symbolized the birth ofthe application of DST to second language acquisition, SLA for short. In contrast tothe traditional cognitive theories, DST holds the idea that the development oflanguage is nonlinear, dynamic and always changing, instead of being static. Thecurrent researches of this kind not only surpass the traditional reductionism in theory,but also develop the corresponding research methods and tools. So the research basedon this new theory combines the cognitive view with social view of languagedevelopment and poses doubts to the linear development of language, providing newframework and perspective for the development of language and language acquisition.Thus this has great impact on EFL instruction.The topic of learners’ individual differences is a very important and broadlystudied one in the field of SLA. Since the1950s learners’ individual differences in thefield of SLA has been publicly focused. Many scholars, like Skehan, Larsen Freemanand Long Ellis have conducted broad and deep researches on this issue. Learners’individual difference in SLA has become one of the main lines in SLA study. Andthere exist divergent views about the causes of individual differences. The focus of thecurrent researches lies in what on earth causes the individual differences, thecongenital factor or the acquired factor or both. However, there exist someshortcomings in such studies. For example, the structure and category of individualdifference are ambiguous and there is difficulty in strictly distinguishing some terms.Especially the current researches have the limitations of being individual, static andisolated. The thesis will mainly discuss the causes of individual differences from theperspective of DST. DST has provided a new angle to this topic, holding that thecauses of individual differences are complicated, dynamic and intricate. This anglewhich jumps out of the previous limitation of being individual, static and isolated intraditional researches, is logical and reasonable, because the biggest difference of thisfrom the traditional researches is that DST is only concerned with the essence ofacquisition, instead of treating cause analysis of individual differences as the finalgoal. Besides, to analyze the causes of individual difference from the perspective ofDST has its practical significance, for it also offers basis to the development of EFLinstruction in class.