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Multichronic complexity in second language development


K de Bot
M Verspoor

Abstract

Taking a dynamic systems perspective on second language development, this paper argues that development is change over time, which is never stable and has no end state. Moreover, time can be defined at different scales: from the millisecond, minute, week and year to the lifespan. At all scales we can see change over time in language development at different levels of granularity; however, the time scale and level of granularity we useĀ  determines to a great extent what we find. What seems a change at one level may be nothing more than natural variation at another one.

Keywords: Multichronic complexity, language development, variation, time scales


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eISSN: 2958-9320
print ISSN: 0259-9570