Abstract
Fundamental to complex dynamic systems theory is the assumption that the recursive behavior of complex systems results in the generation of physical forms and dynamic processes that are self-similar and scale-invariant. Such fractal-like structures and the organismic benefit that they engender has been widely noted in physiology, biology, and medicine, yet discussions of the fractal-like nature of language have remained at the level of metaphor in applied linguistics. Motivated by the lack of empirical evidence supporting this assumption, the present study examines the extent to which the use and development of complex syntax in a learner of English as a second language demonstrate the characteristics of self-similarity and scale invariance at nested timescales. Findings suggest that the use and development of syntactic complexity are governed by fractal scaling as the dynamic relationship among the subconstructs of syntax maintain their complexity and variability across multiple temporal scales. Overall, fractal analysis appears to be a fruitful analytic tool when attempting to discern the dynamic relationships among the multiple component parts of complex systems as they interact over time.
Highlights
It is no secret that recursive, self-similar patterns abound in the world that surrounds us
Given the pervasiveness of self-similarity in the physical world, the present paper empirically explores the fractal nature of language, focusing on the temporal self-similarity of complex syntax
From a complexity theory perspective, examining the fractal-like nature of linguistic phenomena represents a novel approach to the study of language, a point echoed by Larsen-Freeman (2012) who writes that “complexity theory inspires us to think differently about language and language development” (p. 202)
Summary
It is no secret that recursive, self-similar patterns abound in the world that surrounds us. Recognition of the self-similar patterning so common in the natural world is not new; it was not until Benoit Mandelbrot (1982) advanced the notion of fractal geometry that a language emerged capable of examining and describing the traces left by the recursive iteration of complex systems (Peitgen, Jürgens, & Saupe, 1992). Across both time and space, complex systems in the natural world commonly generate fractal-like structures, upholding their intrinsic complexity at smaller and smaller temporal and physical scales
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