Practitioner Research and the Complexity of L+ Study Emotions

by Richard J. Sampson

From around the turn of the century, complexity perspectives on additional language (L+) learning and teaching have become increasingly widespread. In parallel, there has been an expansion of research into L+ study emotions. This session will argue that practitioner-instigated classroom inquiries are uniquely positioned to uncover the complexity of people’s emotional L+ learning experiences. In order to ground the majority of the session, the presentation will commence with an interactive introduction to differences between simplicity (the dominant, reductive scientific tradition) and complexity (understanding phenomena as part of a fabric of dynamic relations). In light of the need for more situated understandings of L+ processes, I will encourage participants to discuss three frameworks that have been usefully applied in classroom research – Reflective Practice, Exploratory Practice, and Action Research. As a practitioner-researcher trying to understand the psychological and social development of the people with whom I work day-in and day-out, I will then share my experiences conducting classroom research based in complexity. Participants will have opportunities to discuss emotionally-laden learner data collected through action research, and consider how complexity thinking might inform or add to understandings of the people forming classroom contexts.