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Complexity theories and language teaching practice – a compatible pairing?

Sarah Mercer, University of Graz

This talk will address both the tensions and the compatibility I experience as a teacher and researcher working with a complexity framework. Essentially, and perhaps contrary to the expectations of some, I have found complexity theories can serve as a way of bridging the gap between theory and practice. However, there are challenges of working from this perspective, which may lead us to fundamentally reflect on our expectations of and assumptions about the relationship between theory and practice in our applied field. I will begin my talk by outlining my understandings of complexity theories and describing how I have found a synergy between such frameworks and my experiences in practice. I then consider some of the challenges for research of a complexity-informed approach and raise some key criticism and challenges that researchers in this paradigm will need to engage with. I conclude by proposing a set of next steps myself and others will need to reflect on if we are to move forward with this theory in a way that is relevant for and of use to both theory and practice.

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