Deleuzean "Becoming," Complexity Theory, and International Student Language Research

• In Event: 33.049 - Using Complexity Theories to Move Toward Justice in Educational Research and Praxis

Abstract

This paper discusses the potential for Deleuzian ontology of ‘becoming’ to connect with Larsen-Freeman’s & Cameron’s (2008) complexity perspective of language development to inform research on international student language use. The utility of Deleuzian focus on difference and change problematizes binary fixed categories of identity and language proposing a reconceptualization of the construct of international students, native/non-native language users, language development, communities of practice, adjustment, and universities. This paper then reviews principles of complexity theory and explores the potential for a complex view of language to further our understanding of the types and processes of change that occur in language development and use, and what these shifts produce in terms of international student ‘becoming’ members of the host university.

Author

• Eugenia Gene Vasilopoulos, University of Ottawa