Research On The Developing Mode Of Chinese College Students' Oral English Based On Dynamic System Theory

Dynamic System Theory,which becomes popular in the study of second language acquisition,focuses on the interrelationship and interaction between factors in second language learning and explains the phenomena involved in a systematic,nonlinear and self-organizational way.However,the lack of empirical studies blocks the further development of the theory.Based on DST,the paper innovatively conducts a case study on the developing mode of Chinese college students' oral English,proving the practicality of DST in the field of SLA.An analysis of developing mode in complexity,accuracy,and fluency dimensions on both individual and group basis is provided.The essay also analyzes the existing empirical studies of dynamic system theory that are concerned with second language acquisition,including the research process,methods and tools.Through case study,the essay would provide some constructive suggestions to guide second language teaching in China and support for further study in the field of Dynamic System Theory.The research conducts a case study of five English-major junior students and four non-English major students from Tianjin University,lasting for one year.These five students receive the same English-related courses at school.Interviews are done every other week,with each lasting for thirty minutes.During every interview,the questions that are given to the participants are associated with what the students have learnt in Advanced Reading course for the past two weeks and the whole interview is recorded.Afterwards,the recording is put into script for data collection and analysis.According to the results,(1)the developing patterns of oral English acquisition are nonlinear in fluency,accuracy,and complexity.These three dimensions influence each other in a complex way.Sometimes they are mutually supported and sometimes they are in a competitive relationship.How the whole system developed can be determined by any minor change in a subsystem,which is similar to “Butterfly Effect”.All subsystems are entwined together and influenced by one another.(2)During a certainperiod of time,teachers should give attention to different dimension and provide certain stimulus to enhance improvement.It is hardly possible to pursue development in all dimensions at the same time.(3)In spite of fluctuation in the process,along with “Plateau Phenomenon” sometimes,there is no predicable evidence for future developing path.Namely,language as a system is complex and self-organized.(4)Various individuals possess different developing paths in the same dimension while within one same individual,developing mode in different dimensions also differ from one another,which reveals that language acquisition can be considered as a system for sharing its dynamic feature.