Chapter 10. Dynamic Systems Theory as a comprehensive theory of second language development

In this contribution it is argued that Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) can be seen as a comprehensive theory that can unify and make relevant a number of different ‘middle level’ theories on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) which in our view are theories that attend to different levels of granularity and different time scales, provided of course that the middle level theories are commensurable with DST principles. Such theories, such as ecological and cultural-historical/sociocultural approaches to development, and cognitive, emergent, and distributed theories of language, place language development in the wider perspective of societal change and interaction with cultural and material aspects of the environment.

• Affiliations: 1: University of Groningen