Diane Larsen-Freeman’s Fifty-Year Contributions to Language Learning and Teaching: A Systematic Review and Diane Larsen-Freeman’s Personal Reflection

Abstract

The systematic review was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we (Ali Panahi and Hassan Mohebbi) reviewed Diane Larsen-Freeman’s whole works, analyzed her overall contribution to the fields of language learning and teaching and then extracted and analyzed the varying areas of interest she has researched; the most focused and prevalently investigated issues in the order of dominance appeared to be SLA, complexity theory, teaching grammar, complexity theory and second language acquisition/second language development, complexity theory and applied linguistics, morpheme studies, teaching methodology, ESL index of development, teacher education, and ELF. Next, we created two main superordinate components, each containing their own subparts: a theory-practice link (annotations and relevance to language pedagogy or research) and main themes (article theme, technical terminology, and design types). Upon providing an account of a theory-practice link, we finally extracted a total number of 1160 terms sub-grouped into 462 technical terms for applied linguistics, 183 technical terms for complexity theory and 182 main terms for theories, approaches, methods, hypotheses, and views. The other umbrella issues are also briefly elaborated. In the second phase, Diane Larsen-Freeman provided her discussion of this systematic review and her personal reflection.