A Snapshot of Signature Dynamics in An English Class in Brazil: From a Motivational Attractor Basin Towards An Attractor State

Abstract

Considering the dynamic nature of the foreign language acquisition process, it seems that some components of the learning experience are competing motivational forces that directly influence the teaching and learning outcomes within the relational context of the English class. As the behavior of a complex system is by definition unpredictable and random, documenting nonlinear changes - its signature dynamics, is considered a possible way of researching it. In this perspective, this article aims to outline motivational signature dynamics of an English class using the retrodictive qualitative modelling. Firstly, the teacher's class plan plus the information from a semi-structured interview were used to recover most of the initial motivational conditions of the system - its attractor basin. After that, from the teacher’s description of this class, it was possible to study the ecology of the teaching experience in interrelation with the students’ motivation. An outline of a motivational change in the system state seems to indicate one of the system’s possible attractor state. This result demonstrates that it is possible to document signature dynamics by properly eliciting and exploring the teaching experience.

Keywords: signature dynamics, attractor basin, attractor state, classroom experiences

 

Keywords

• signature dynamics, attractor basin, attractor state, classroom experiences

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