Elka Todeva - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Elka Todeva

Language teaching research quarterly, Nov 30, 2023

Complex dynamic systems theory is a post-structural metatheory with its own ontology and epistemo... more Complex dynamic systems theory is a post-structural metatheory with its own ontology and epistemology. Plurilingual scholars also perceive languages and speakers’ plurilingual and pluricultural competence as fluid, dynamic, and changing over situations and time. Thus, plurilingualism discourages seeing languages as ‘fixed and discrete entities’. Plurilingualism also offers fertile ground for engaging students in discussing the nature of language by considering the conceptualization of languages linked to nations with a shared history compared with the Indigenous regard for ancestral languages as intimately connected to the land where one lives. This opens up opportunities for connecting issues of linguistic and bio-diversity and the socially embedded nature of both language maintenance and good stewardship. Positioning plurilingualism within the framework of a multidimensional metatheory requires listening more to learners’ voices and gathering more emic, longitudinal data, particul...

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Applied Linguistics, 2006

We share an interest in language. We want to understand it, its origins, structure, functions, us... more We share an interest in language. We want to understand it, its origins, structure, functions, use, acquisition, instruction, and change. We seek causes for observed effects. Scientific studies of language representation and competence and of language acquisition and use are complementary. Yet these two theoretical enterprises have traditionally been kept distinct, with models of representation (property theories) focusing on static competence, and models of acquisition (transition theories) and use focusing on dynamic process and performance. This Special Issue is motivated by the belief that our interests in language can better be furthered when it is conceived of as the emergent properties of a multi-agent, complex, dynamic, adaptive system, a conception that usefully conflates a property theory with a transition theory. L2 AREAS OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE Consider the history of research in the following key areas of Applied Linguistics, and some morals of each quest. Case 1: Interlanguage developmental sequences: The morpheme order studies In the 25 years following Brown's (1973) classic descriptions of developmental sequences of first language acquisition, the 'morpheme order studies' investigated the order of L2 acquisition of the English grammatical functors, progressive-ing, auxiliary be, plurals , possessive-s, articles a, an, the, third person singular presents , copula, and regular pasted. These studies show remarkable commonality in the orders of acquisition of these functors across the interlanguage of a wide range of learners of English as a second language, enough for Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) to conclude that they were sufficiently consistent in their general findings for their commonalities not to be ignored: as the hunter put it, 'There is something moving in the bushes'

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

TESL Canada Journal, 2022

Drawing on the evolution of our thinking around expedited learning and more egalitarian classroom... more Drawing on the evolution of our thinking around expedited learning and more egalitarian classroom spaces where learners are afforded greater agency and opportunities to tap into their full linguistic repertoires (Todeva & Morule, 2009; Todeva, 2016) and on insights from complex dynamic systems theory, this paper offers a framework for dynamically aligning research on multimodality and plurilingualism with inquiry-based classroom practice. We argue that despite the existence of important research shedding light on the processes underlying our meaning-making and communicative abilities, languages continue to be taught as bounded entities and many instructional and assessment practices still reflect monolingual ideologies and nativespeakerist mindsets. Adopting a plurilingual, multimodal mindset provides a way for teachers, students, and researchers to bring their practices in line with the increasingly complex manner in which people construct, share, and access knowledge. How to achie...

Nucb Journal of Language Culture and Communication, Dec 1, 1998

Nucb Journal of Language Culture and Communication, Dec 1, 1998

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Language Learning, 2010

Keywords grammatical inflection; morpheme acquisition; rule-based learning; itembased learning; s... more Keywords grammatical inflection; morpheme acquisition; rule-based learning; itembased learning; single versus dual mechanism; implicit and explicit processing; declarative and procedural memory; input frequency; saliency; usage-based; associative learning Learning inflectional morphology is a vexing problem for second language (L2) learners. Children acquiring their native language also experience some difficulty, which results in their committing overgeneralization errors. However, relatively quickly, children sort out the regulars from the irregulars and one allomorph from another. This is not the case for learners of L2s, at least not for older learners. Long after individuals have achieved a high level of proficiency in the L2, they are still plagued by uncertainty when it comes to grammatical inflections (Todeva, 2010), and their production in the L2 is still characterized by morphological omissions, commissions, and substitutions of one allomorph for another. Furthermore, there is great variability in learners' performanceeven volatility . Sometimes a particular morpheme is present in learners' production, sometimes it is absent. Indeed, it is L2 learners' struggle with learning inflectional morphology that has encouraged researchers to study what it takes to process morphology, with the premise that it is processing difficulty that makes its acquisition so elusive .

The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 2012

Todeva, E., & Cenoz, J. (Eds.). (2009). The multiple realities of multilingualism: Personal narratives and researchers’ perspectives (Vol. 3). Walter de Gruyter., 2009

Language teaching research quarterly, Nov 30, 2023

Complex dynamic systems theory is a post-structural metatheory with its own ontology and epistemo... more Complex dynamic systems theory is a post-structural metatheory with its own ontology and epistemology. Plurilingual scholars also perceive languages and speakers’ plurilingual and pluricultural competence as fluid, dynamic, and changing over situations and time. Thus, plurilingualism discourages seeing languages as ‘fixed and discrete entities’. Plurilingualism also offers fertile ground for engaging students in discussing the nature of language by considering the conceptualization of languages linked to nations with a shared history compared with the Indigenous regard for ancestral languages as intimately connected to the land where one lives. This opens up opportunities for connecting issues of linguistic and bio-diversity and the socially embedded nature of both language maintenance and good stewardship. Positioning plurilingualism within the framework of a multidimensional metatheory requires listening more to learners’ voices and gathering more emic, longitudinal data, particul...

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Applied Linguistics, 2006

We share an interest in language. We want to understand it, its origins, structure, functions, us... more We share an interest in language. We want to understand it, its origins, structure, functions, use, acquisition, instruction, and change. We seek causes for observed effects. Scientific studies of language representation and competence and of language acquisition and use are complementary. Yet these two theoretical enterprises have traditionally been kept distinct, with models of representation (property theories) focusing on static competence, and models of acquisition (transition theories) and use focusing on dynamic process and performance. This Special Issue is motivated by the belief that our interests in language can better be furthered when it is conceived of as the emergent properties of a multi-agent, complex, dynamic, adaptive system, a conception that usefully conflates a property theory with a transition theory. L2 AREAS OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE Consider the history of research in the following key areas of Applied Linguistics, and some morals of each quest. Case 1: Interlanguage developmental sequences: The morpheme order studies In the 25 years following Brown's (1973) classic descriptions of developmental sequences of first language acquisition, the 'morpheme order studies' investigated the order of L2 acquisition of the English grammatical functors, progressive-ing, auxiliary be, plurals , possessive-s, articles a, an, the, third person singular presents , copula, and regular pasted. These studies show remarkable commonality in the orders of acquisition of these functors across the interlanguage of a wide range of learners of English as a second language, enough for Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) to conclude that they were sufficiently consistent in their general findings for their commonalities not to be ignored: as the hunter put it, 'There is something moving in the bushes'

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

TESL Canada Journal, 2022

Drawing on the evolution of our thinking around expedited learning and more egalitarian classroom... more Drawing on the evolution of our thinking around expedited learning and more egalitarian classroom spaces where learners are afforded greater agency and opportunities to tap into their full linguistic repertoires (Todeva & Morule, 2009; Todeva, 2016) and on insights from complex dynamic systems theory, this paper offers a framework for dynamically aligning research on multimodality and plurilingualism with inquiry-based classroom practice. We argue that despite the existence of important research shedding light on the processes underlying our meaning-making and communicative abilities, languages continue to be taught as bounded entities and many instructional and assessment practices still reflect monolingual ideologies and nativespeakerist mindsets. Adopting a plurilingual, multimodal mindset provides a way for teachers, students, and researchers to bring their practices in line with the increasingly complex manner in which people construct, share, and access knowledge. How to achie...

Nucb Journal of Language Culture and Communication, Dec 1, 1998

Nucb Journal of Language Culture and Communication, Dec 1, 1998

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives, 2009

Language Learning, 2010

Keywords grammatical inflection; morpheme acquisition; rule-based learning; itembased learning; s... more Keywords grammatical inflection; morpheme acquisition; rule-based learning; itembased learning; single versus dual mechanism; implicit and explicit processing; declarative and procedural memory; input frequency; saliency; usage-based; associative learning Learning inflectional morphology is a vexing problem for second language (L2) learners. Children acquiring their native language also experience some difficulty, which results in their committing overgeneralization errors. However, relatively quickly, children sort out the regulars from the irregulars and one allomorph from another. This is not the case for learners of L2s, at least not for older learners. Long after individuals have achieved a high level of proficiency in the L2, they are still plagued by uncertainty when it comes to grammatical inflections (Todeva, 2010), and their production in the L2 is still characterized by morphological omissions, commissions, and substitutions of one allomorph for another. Furthermore, there is great variability in learners' performanceeven volatility . Sometimes a particular morpheme is present in learners' production, sometimes it is absent. Indeed, it is L2 learners' struggle with learning inflectional morphology that has encouraged researchers to study what it takes to process morphology, with the premise that it is processing difficulty that makes its acquisition so elusive .

The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 2012

Todeva, E., & Cenoz, J. (Eds.). (2009). The multiple realities of multilingualism: Personal narratives and researchers’ perspectives (Vol. 3). Walter de Gruyter., 2009