A necessidade de dados individuais e longitudinais para análise do desenvolvimento fonológico de L2 como sistema complexo

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to argue that individual and longitudinal data of foreign language (L2) learners are more informative and have more explanatory power of the L2 phonological development process than grouped and cross-sectional data. First, the most important characteristic of complex systems will be related to the L2 phonological developmental process. Then Brazilian learners’ production data of English, previously analyzed in a grouped and cross-sectional fashion, will be reanalyzed with an individual methodology, and both analyses will be compared. The conclusion bridges the epistemological principles of complex systems and the reanalysis of the production data to close the argument in favor of individual and longitudinal data for a better understanding of the L2 (phonological) developmental process as a complex and dynamic system.