A Dynamic Systems Account of Learning a Word: From Ecology to Form Relations

Abstract

This paper responds to calls for studies that investigate multiple types of word knowledge and the processes of word learning. Focusing on a single word, this three-month diary study describes the micro-development of an adult male's Japanese L2 lexical knowledge. In contrast to most L2 vocabulary acquisition studies, this study posits a dynamic perspective on language and development. The theory of learning applied is based on Hutchins’ (1995) notion of coordination, supplemented by Gibson's (1979, 1986) theory of affordances. The findings suggest that the learning was non-linear, shaped in non-trivial ways by environmental affordances, and proceeded through several quasi-stable states attained in circuits of coordination. It is suggested that the learning in this case study behaved very much like a dynamic system.

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