Complexity, or Complex Systems Theory, and its role in language teaching and learning is a theme that comes up often in my academic publications and in this blog (e.g., in these posts). It can be an intimidating topic (and its name does it no favours in terms of reader-friendliness!), but the ideas behind it are actually quite simple. In this post, which contains a slightly revised extract from my book, A Language School as a Complex System (pp. 20-21), I outline my understanding of what the theory is about:
What are complex systems?
Complex systems are groups of entities that are so closely intertwined that it makes most sense if we try to understand them as a whole. Entities within a complex system are still discrete; so, for example, a class or a school is made up of individuals with discrete identities, histories, aspirations, behaviours and so on. But there is also a sense in which the system operates collectively: a system (such as a school) has a collective identity, a shared history, a common future-oriented trajectory, and a collective behaviour. These properties pertain to the system as an entirety, and they cannot be reduced to the properties of the people who make it up. If anything, these properties have permanence that transcends individual membership. That is, the collective properties of the system stay in place even when one or all the individual constituents have been replaced. Thinking again of the school as a complex system, it may well have a history, traditions and visions all of which transcend generations. So, when we decide to study a system, this means shifting our focus from the individual constituents to the system as a whole.
What is particularly interesting about complex systems is that they very often behave in ways that are quite unexpected. Characteristically, the activity of complex systems is non-linear. This means that small events could produce disproportionately large effects in the activity of a system, a property popularised in everyday usage as the butterfly effect. And yet, complex systems can also be surprisingly resilient. So, if an outside influence perturbs their structure or their activity, complex systems tend to reconfigure themselves and maintain equilibrium. It is on account of this resilience that they are also known as complex adaptive systems. But while complex systems seem to have preferred patterns of activity, they also change dynamically (hence ‘complex dynamic systems’ or ‘complex dynamical systems’), and this change happens across different timescales. For instance, if we view an individual’s psychology as a complex system, moods can change rapidly, whereas personality traits develop at a slower pace. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the activity of complex systems is emergent. This means that the interaction between the constituents of the system can produce higher-order phenomena, which are not centrally designed. The emergence of cognition from the bioelectrical activity of the neurons that make up the brain is a one example of that.
In writing this overview, I have deliberately chosen examples from a range of domains, including neurobiology, psychology and the social organisation of education. I have also drawn examples from a range of levels, from the neurons to entire communities. My intention was to show that complex systems theory can help us to understand diverse phenomena that interest us in language education. Therein lies, for me, one of its greatest appeals. Whatever our specific focus in language education, complexity can provide us with a unifying discourse, which can help to bring theoretical coherence to the field.
If you enjoyed reading this extract, the following posts may be interesting as well:
- A Language School as a Complex System: Why did I write this book?
- Describing a school as a complex system
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Describing a school as a complex system
In this extract from my book, A Language School as a Complex System, I discuss why it makes sense to describe a school through the lens of a complex systems theory, and I outline some advantages that such a perspective brings.
A Language School as a Complex System: Why did I write this book?
In this extract from ‘A Language School as a Complex System’, I explain what the purpose of the book is, and what contribution I hope to make. I also write about a more personal reason that motivated the writing of the book.
A Language School as a Complex System
This is a post announcing the publication of my latest book, A Language School as a Complex System. In the post you can find a very brief summary of what the book is about, and what it aims to do.
About me
Achilleas Kostoulas is an applied linguist and language teacher educator at the Department of Primary Education, University of Thessaly, Greece. He holds a PhD and an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Manchester, UK and a BA in English Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
His research explores a wide range of issues connected with language (teacher) education, including language contact and plurilingualism, linguistic identities and ideologies, language policy and didactics, often using a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory to tease out connections between them. Some of his work in the field includes the research monograph The Intentional Dynamics of TESOL (2021, De Gruyter; with Juup Stelma) and the edited volume Doctoral Study and Getting Published (2025, Emerald; with Richard Fay), as well as numerous other publications.
Achilleas currently contributes to several projects that bring together his long-standing interests in language education, teacher development, and the social dimensions of language learning. As the coordinator of the expert team of AI Lang (Artificial Intelligence in Language Education), an initiative of the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, he works on developing principles and resources to help educators make informed, pedagogically grounded use of AI in their teaching. He also leads the University of Thessaly team of ReaLiTea (Research Literacy of Teachers), a project that supports language teachers in developing the capacity to engage with, and contribute to, educational research. Alongside these, he contributes to LocalLing, a Horizon-funded initiative to preserve and strengthen heritage and minority languages globally.
In addition to the above, Achilleas is the (co)editor-in-chief of the newly established European Journal of Education and Language Review, and welcomes contributions that explore the dynamic intersections between language, education, and society.
About this post
This blog is a space for slow, reflective thinking about applied linguistics language education, professional development, and the role of technology in language teaching and learning. Transparency about process, tools, and authorship is part of that commitment.
- I wrote this post on 30th July 2018, as part of a series of posts on Complexity Theory that coincided with the publication of my book, A Language School as a Complex System. I revised the post on 11th January 2018 to improve aesthetics and functionality, but did not make substantive changes to the content of the post.
- The views expressed here are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Thessaly or any other entity with which I am affiliated.
- The featured image, Fractal Flame, is from Wikipedia and belongs to the public domain.
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