A Retrodictive Study Of Agentic Engagement Of Chinese L2 Learners:A Complex Dynamic System Perspective

Students should be regarded as active subjects who positively participate in constructing the situation and conditions of their own second language learning.As one of the essential dimensions of learner engagement,agentic engagement can be used to measure the intensity of initiative and autonomy in the process of learning.Previous studies have shown that agentic engagement is positively correlated with academic performance,and is one of the important factors that produce better learning outcomes.Therefore,the agentic engagement of Chinese university students should be given sufficient attention both in research and practice.Domestic research on L2 learners’ agentic engagement is at a start-up phase.The topic is relatively limited,which mainly focuses on the investigation of the overall situation of agentic engagement and there is a lack of analysis on its characteristics and influencing factors with quantitative studies dominate this field.In recent years,Complex Dynamic System Theory(CDST)has gained more and more attention in the international applied linguistics community.From the perspective of CDST,language acquisition is a complex dynamic changing process that integrates multiple factors interacting at multiple levels and dimensions.Research in the field of applied linguistics requires a diachronic exploration of learners’ individual changes and their factors as well as the correlations between various factors with the application of CDST.Based on the actual situation of Chinese L2 learners and guided by CDST,the study investigates the overall situation,characteristics and influencing factors of the agentic engagement system which contains four subsystems with a mixed method design in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of agentic engagement system in English learning experiences of Chinese learners.This study takes into account the “how” and “why” aspects of Chinese L2 learners’ agentic engagement,and focuses on the interaction between subsystems and their influencing factors in the system.The quantitative part of the study found that Chinese L2 learners have a relatively good performance in agentic engagement.From the perspective of the analysis of the four subsystems,Chinese L2 learners were more inclined to learn on their own,to cooperate with the teacher’s teaching as well as to help their classmates but show less preference on helping teachers in teaching,which indicates an estrangement between teachers and students.Subsequently,two participants for qualitative research were selected through data analysis.This part of the study further explores the development of two learners’ agentic engagement in their English learning experiences.In this section,it has been confirmed that the system of agentic engagement can be seen as a complex dynamic system which possesses the characteristics of multidimensionality,nonlinearity and self-organization of complex dynamic system.This part of the study found that agentic engagement of Chinese L2 learners needs to be cultivated and developed in the learning process,and initial conditions have a significant impact on it.Among them,the educational and personal factors of learners play a key role in the change of the intensity of agentic engagement.As a fundamental factor,educational factors have an important impact on learners’ personal factors and agentic engagement,mainly including classroom learning,peer learning,and extracurricular learning.The essential aspects of personal factors include self-efficacy,learning motivation,personality,and learners’ self-cognition on identity.These factors are influenced by educational factors and also have an impact on engagement behavior.Based on the findings of the study,this article provides implications on how to cultivate and improve students’ agentic engagement in English teaching practice.Firstly,teachers need to attach importance to the individual agency of students and create opportunities for them to show themselves based on full consideration of their individual differences.Secondly,teachers need to take effective measures to enhance teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction and create a friendly learning atmosphere.Thirdly,society should further promote educational equity and provide more students with high-quality educational resources.In sum,this study confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of CDST for the study of agentic engagement system,and provides some reference for future research on the construction and improvement of agentic engagement system for Chinese L2 learners.