On The Application Of Chaos Theory In Second Language Acquisition Study

Chaos, as the essential property of human language, is being considered in this century. Linguists are trying to explore the law of language all the time from the historical comparative linguistic to modern linguistics. Language is such a complex system with properties of dynamic, openness strange attractors and sensitive to the initial conditions.Second language acquisition study is complicated and comprehensive, which requires us to analyze it as a whole. The Acculturation Model and Accommodation Theory in the early stage ignore the assembly mechanism of language learning. The five-hypothesis krashen put forward seems to over-generalize the process of second language leaning. The variable competence that is proposed by Rod Ellis and Tarone is criticized by some rationalists for its non-distinction of competence and performance. It is hard to infer the theory of SLA from simple cause-effect links since language learning is so complicated and complex. Learning and learners also cannot be divided into two independently with environment.The thesis consists of five chapters in addtion to an introduction and a conclusion.Chapter 1 overviews the theories in second language acquisition including Acculuturation Model, Accomodation Theory, Discourse Theory, Monitor Model, Variable Competence Model and Neurofunctional Theory and so on. The overviews will lay the ground for the Chaos Theory.Chapter 2 introduces Chaos Theory including the history, philosophical basis and main features. The main features include dynamics, nonlinear, sensitive to initial conditions, strange attractors, open and self-organizations.Chapter 3 and 4 expound the relations between Chao Theory and SLA as well as some studies in SLA which are to be examined from Chaos Theory perspective. In light of Chaos Theory, some studies could be reexmained such as interlanguage fossilization, learning process and effecitiveness, mechanism of acquisition and individual differences. Chapter 5 summarizes the significance of Chaos Theory's impact on SLA Process. Chaos Theory inspires us to warn against simple unvariate cause-effect links, to undescore the importance of details as well as to hold the holism to find a unit of analysis.The conclusion stresses again the importance of Chaos Theory which is applied in SLA study. Ever since language is a complex and dynamic system the same with other phenonmena in the nature. Meanwhile, Chaos Theory, as the classic theory in 20th century, should by all means influence the development of linguisitics. The thesis is only a tentative study of applying Chaos Theory to SLA study that requires more detail evidence.