
Philip HiverFlorida State University | FSU · School of Teacher Education
Philip Hiver
Ph.D.
About
77
Publications
108,250
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1,657
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Phil Hiver is Associate Professor at the School of Teacher Education, Florida State University. Phil does research in second language acquisition, specifically instructed language learning and its interface with psycho-social individual differences. He leads research groups investigating second language development and pedagogy with an explicit focus on context, temporal change, and complex causality--using methodological contributions from complexity theory/dynamic systems theory.
Additional affiliations
August 2016 - June 2017
August 2010 - July 2016
Publications
Publications (77)
A quarter of a century has passed since complex dynamic systems theory was proposed as an alternative paradigm to rethink and reexamine some of the main questions and phenomena in applied linguistics and language learning. In this article, we report a scoping review of the heterogenous body of research adopting this framework. We analyzed 158 repor...
In this chapter, we provide an overview of various topics related to open science, drawing often (and necessarily) on work outside of applied linguistics. Here, we define open science more broadly. Rather than limiting open science to the question of whether a study and its data are open access or behind a paywall, this chapter defines open science...
The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences provides a thorough, in-depth discussion of the theory, research, and pedagogy pertaining to the role individual difference (ID) factors play in second language acquisition (SLA). It goes beyond the traditional repertoire and includes 32 chapters covering a full spectr...
Task-based approaches to L2 instruction have become de rigueur in many learning contexts, and learners routinely encounter tasks in the course of regular L2 instruction. The reality of many instructed L2 contexts is that the same task or sequence of tasks can provoke varying responses when presented to students within the same group or classroom. E...
This book defines engagement for the field of language learning and contextualizes it within existing work on the psychology of language learning and teaching. Chapters address broad substantive questions concerned with what engagement is or looks like, and how it can be theorized for the language classroom; methodological questions related to the...
In applied linguistics research interest has surged in recent years for questions related to individuals’ development and change. The most commonly used methods in the field for analyzing repeated measures data, for studying variation and stability in individual change, and for investigating how individual level outcomes relate to the group may not...
In this study, we investigated how student engagement and disengagement change over the course of a semester in the L2 classroom. We modeled change at the inter- and intra-individual levels, using time-variant predictors to examine differences in student classroom engagement and disengagement trajectories. In addition to these temporal dynamics, we...
In this study we investigated how student engagement and disengagement change over the course of a semester in the L2 classroom. We modeled change at the inter- and intra-individual levels, using time-variant predictors to examine differences in student classroom engagement and disengagement trajectories. In addition to these temporal dynamics, we...
Professor Zoltán Dörnyei (1960–2022) was a Hungarian-born applied linguist who had an immense impact on the field of second language acquisition including individual differences and motivation and attitudes. Besides these substantive contributions, he also educated generations of applied linguists about research methodology through his now classic...
In this report, we reviewed Open Scholarship in Applied Linguistics: What, Why, and How, a two-day online symposium held in June 2022. The symposium was the inaugural event of Open Applied Linguistics, a newly established AILA research network dedicated to the promotion of open scholarship in applied linguistics. We started with the background agai...
Professor Zoltán Dörnyei (1960–2022) was a Hungarian-born applied linguist who had an immense impact on the field of second language acquisition including individual differences and motivation and attitudes. Besides these substantive contributions, he also educated generations of applied linguists about research methodology through his now classic...
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Ivf_8G7NctI - PUBLISHED PAPER: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350159322_Engagement_in_language_learning_A_systematic_review_of_20_years_of_research_methods_and_definitions - ABSTRACT: At the turn of the new millennium, Dörnyei and Kormos (2000) proposed that ‘active learner engagement is a key concern’ for all inst...
Self-determination theory is one of the most established motivational theories both within second language learning and beyond. This theory has generated several mini-theories, namely: organismic integration theory, cognitive evaluation theory, basic psychological needs theory, goal contents theory, causality orientations theory, and relationships...
Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a topic of increasing interest in the field of language learning and instruction. In this study, we set out to investigate the relationship between students' use of SRL strategies in second language (L2) writing, their L2 writing engagement, and L2 writing procrastination. Data were collected from college students i...
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Tslf_m5ZJCw - A talk at the the Open Scholarship in Applied Linguistics symposium. Cambridge, UK. Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Zoltan Dorney, who passed away on the day this campaign was launched. Sign up here: https://freeourknowledge.org/2022-06-06-postprint-pledge-for-linguists/ - See also: https://www.ali-alhoorie.co...
Self-determination theory is one of the most established motivational theories both within second language learning and beyond. This theory has generated several mini-theories, namely: organismic integration theory, cognitive evaluation theory, basic psychological needs theory, goal contents theory, causality orientations theory, and relationships...
VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJWlV4TbEDStlxJo7rQoWdFV6WUDWM-Rj - Engagement is one of the hottest research topics in the field of educational psychology (Fredericks, Filsecker, & Lawson, 2016), and has recently emerged as a topic of interest in language (L2) education (e.g., Mercer & Dörnyei, forthcoming; Philp & Duchesne, 2016; S...
This chapter provides an overview of the status quo of the research on individual difference (ID) factors in second language acquisition (SLA). It opens with a clarification of the scope and significance of IDs in second language (L2) research, followed by a discussion of the theoretical perspectives of the roles of ID variables in influencing L2 l...
This chapter has two broad objectives: first, to provide an accessible introduction that will aid readers in understanding the central concepts of complexity theory; and, second, to examine the utility of complexity theory as a robust conceptual framework for empirical research-particularly in the lives of language teachers and the work they do. I...
As the contributions to this handbook show, the study of individual differences (IDs) in second language acquisition (SLA) is concerned primarily, though not exclusively, with why some learners are more successful than others in their rates and routes of development and their levels of ultimate attainment. Notably, it has now been over a decade ago...
In contemporary methodological thinking, replication is increasingly holding an important place in various disciplines, including applied linguistics. At the same time, relatively little attention has been paid to replication in the context of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), perhaps due to uncertainty regarding the epistemology–methodology m...
Complexity theory/dynamic systems theory (CDST) has captured the imagination of many in the field of applied linguistics (Larsen-Freeman, Diane & Lynne Cameron. 2008. Complex systems and applied linguistics . Oxford: Oxford University Press; Ortega, Lourdes & Zhao Hong Han (eds.). 2017. Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of...
Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a topic of increasing interest in the field of language learning and instruction. In this study, we set out to investigate the relationship between students' use of SRL strategies in second language (L2) writing, their L2 writing engagement, and L2 writing procrastination. Data were collected from college students i...
Complexity theory/dynamic systems theory has challenged conventional approaches to applied linguistics research by encouraging researchers to adopt a pragmatic transdisciplinary approach that is less paradigmatic and more problem-oriented in nature. Its proponents have argued that the starting point in research design should not be the quantitative...
WATCH THE VIDEO: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1FS4y1j7ed - In contemporary methodological thinking, replication holds a central place. However, relatively little attention has been paid to replication in the context of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), perhaps due to uncertainty regarding the epistemology-methodology match between these do...
Recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ubKTIo63lS0 -
Learners' interlanguage development is nonlinear and characterized by phases of stability alternating with high degrees of variability that accompany rapid development (e.g., Lowie & Verspoor, 2019). Variability is thought to be a necessary feature of L2 development (Verspoor & de Bot, 2021), an...
Because human life and learning within that lifespan features such highs and lows, a major part of growth from childhood to maturity involves building the skills to face such difficult events and circumstances. There are many general factors in the psychology literature (e.g., coping, hardiness, optimism, persistence) that contribute to long-term f...
Metacognition is a topic of increasing interest in the field of instruction and learning, but its relation to actual teaching behaviors is seldom investigated in second language (L2) classroom research. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how language teacher metacognition and executive function are linked to high-leverage teaching...
At the turn of the new millennium, in an article in Language Teaching Research in 2000, Dörnyei and Kormos proposed that ‘active learner engagement is a key concern’ for all instructed language learning. Since then, language engagement research has increased exponentially. In this article, we present a systematic review of 20 years of language enga...
Recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eyWpLST50wM - The year 1994 marks the date of the very first contribution on the topic of complexity theory/dynamic systems theory (CDST) in the field—a conference paper delivered at the Second Language Research Forum. Since then, numerous empirical studies have been conducted testing the applicability of CDST...
In language teaching, current understanding of complex classroom contexts and post-methods L2 pedagogy encourages us to adopt a situated and dynamic perspective of the language classroom. Exemplary teaching in such contexts is characterized by critical moment to moment decision-making for building L2 classroom environments that are engaging, demand...
Chinese students’ reticence in English learning has been widely observed in language classrooms. While a number of prior studies have made a significant contribution to understanding Chinese students’ L2 reticence, greater clarity would benefit the field’s understanding of L2 reticence, in terms of L2 reticence as a classroom phenomenon and how lea...
The 40 th anniversary of the Journal of Language and Social Psychology occurs around the corner of another anniversary, the language motivation field reaching 60 years. At this occasion, we pause to reflect on the contribution of language motivation research to language teaching practice. We argue that this contribution has been negligible and put...
Researchers in the field of second and foreign language (L2) education have an abiding concern with the ways and means by which learners actively devote effort and attention to L2 learning. This is because learners’ interest and desire to engage with learning opportunities, and expenditure of effort while learning, are crucial conditions for L2 dev...
In this chapter, our objective is to explore the past, present and future of measuring the construct of engagement. We first introduce some of the more prominent approaches to measuring student engagement from general education, including student self-report, experience sampling, teacher ratings of students, interviews and observations (Hofkens & R...
In this study, we examine the fundamental difference hypothesis in language motivation, which suggests that language learning—at the motivational level—is qualitatively different from learning other school subjects. Despite being a longstanding assumption, few investigations have directly examined it. Using a comparative cross-sectional approach, w...
Vivid mental imagery, particularly of the self in future states, has been linked to a range of desirable motivational outcomes for language learning. In this study, we report a pre-registered conceptual replication and extension of You, Dörnyei, and Csizér (2016), who found a central motivational role for vision. We review essential considerations...
Research on language learning motivation has typically focused on the strength of different motives in isolation and often out of context. The present study aims to explore the applicability of Higgins’s (2014) global theory of motivation to integrate different perspectives. We investigated how adaptive interactions between learners’ motivations fo...
This book provides practical guidance on research methods and designs that can be applied to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) research. It discusses the contribution of CDST to the field of applied linguistics, examines what this perspective entails for research and introduces practical methods and templates, both qualitative and quantitative,...
Introduction The faculty and students of the foreign and second language education program at Florida State University investigate second language acquisition (SLA) from multiple perspectives using a variety of approaches and methods. Our research can be roughly divided into three broad, overlapping areas: instruction, individual differences, and r...
In this chapter we explore the contribution of complexity theory (CDST) to theoretical and empirical work on L2 motivation. Through a review of relevant conceptual tools and principles of complexity, the chapter first examines the ways in which a foundation in CDST has informed theory and practice in L2 motivation. These principles are illustrated...
Two decades ago, scholars first proposed that applied linguistics issues could profit by being viewed explicitly in complexity theory (CDST) terms, and since then CDST has gained considerable currency in the field. There is rapidly increasing interest in adopting complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) in domains as diverse as educational linguistics...
For many researchers across various applied linguistic disciplines, one of the first steps in a research program is determining whether to apply a quantitative or qualitative design. This distinction has dominated the social sciences for decades, with proponents of these respective designs highlighting the drawbacks of the other approach, while oth...
In this study we investigate the situated and dynamic nature of the L2 Learning Experience through a newly-purposed instrument called the Language Learning Story Interview—adapted from McAdams’ Life Story Interview (2007). Using critical case sampling, data were collected from an equal number of learners of various L2s (e.g., Arabic, English, Manda...
A recent development in educational psychology is the study of academic buoyancy—the capacity to overcome the setbacks, challenges, and pressures that are part of the ordinary course of school life. This paper reports the first attempt to test the relevance of buoyancy to second language (L2) learning and achievement. Questionnaire data were collec...
Data elicitation instrument from forthcoming article:
Hiver, P., Obando, G., Sang, Y., Tahmouresi, S., Zhou, A., & Zhou, Y. (in press). Reframing the L2 learning experience as narrative reconstructions of classroom learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.
In this study we examine processes of motivational change for middle school language learners (N = 174) within the classroom ecology of genre-based writing. Through longitudinal cluster analysis, we investigate change in language learners’ writing-specific motivational profiles, supported by a time-series analysis of reflective journals and intervi...
Research in second language teacher education has been slow to address the links between language teachers’ inner worlds, their classroom teaching, and their students’ L2 learning. The purpose of this study is to examine how language teacher well-being, conceptualized through the recently-proposed construct of teacher immunity (Hiver & Dörnyei, 201...
In this study we set out to re-theorize the language learning experience using insights from McAdams’ integrative life narrative dimension (McAdams, 2011). Originating in the work of scholars who proposed a narrative model of psychology and individual differences (see McAdams & Pals, 2006), it has more recently been adapted into reconceptualization...
We begin this chapter by reviewing the scholarship on teacher metacognition in order to situate our study within the larger discourse and understanding of teachers as metacognitive professionals. We then relate this to what we see as the role of language teachers in the complex social ecology of language classrooms. The study we report in this chap...
In this study we set out to investigate the role that the phenomenological manifestations of teacher agency in second language (L2) instructional practices play in teacher identity formation. Using classroom observational data collected from public-sector L2 teachers (N = 4) over a year-long period, we explicitly adopt a dynamic perspective to exam...
This article describes a validation study using Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling, a framework for conducting research from a dynamic and situated perspective, to establish an empirical foundation for a new phenomenological construct—language teacher immunity.
Focus groups (N = 44) conducted with L2 practitioners and teacher educators and a cluste...
In this paper we introduce a new concept termed “teacher immunity”. We propose that this immunity emerges from the accrued experiences of coping with disturbances and problems in stressful teaching environments, and that it functions as an indispensable protective armor allowing language teachers to survive the unavoidable hassles of classroom prac...
In this study we examine processes of motivational change for language learners (N = 38) within the classroom ecology of an instructional method that focuses explicitly on the learning process—project-based learning. Through longitudinal cluster analysis, we investigate change in language learners’ motivational profiles, supported by grounded analy...
Because current thinking in our field acknowledges the situated nature of language learning, integrating various situative processes with individual constructs offers an innovative way to empirically examine L2 learning and development in particular contexts as a function of individuals’ participation in social practices. The purpose of this study...
Because current thinking in our field acknowledges the situated nature of language learning, integrating various situative processes with individual constructs offers an innovative way to empirically examine L2 learning and development in particular contexts as a function of individuals’ participation in social practices. The purpose of this study...
In this article, we introduce a template of methodological considerations, termed “the dynamic ensemble,” for scholars doing or evaluating empirical second language development (SLD) research within a complexity/dynamic systems theory (CDST) framework. Given that CDST principles have yielded significant insight into SLD and have become central to t...
This study examines the links between L2 linguistic knowledge, L2 listening strategy use, self-determined motivation, and L2 listening anxiety relative to L2 listening proficiency. Prior theoretical and empirical work suggests that these variables are interrelated in complex ways, and this hypothesis is tested here using structural equation modelin...
Over the past decade I have met and worked with over 1000 pre-and in-service language teachers in training programmes in which I teach. Each of them unique, they have possessed an almost irrational sense of idealism and hope in equal measure to their agonising and desperation. This experience has been enlightening in some respects, but more than an...
The human existence is unmistakably varied but, just as patterns materi-alise in natural and human-made systems – one language class is 'dead' but the next one is 'engaged', global weather patterns such as 'El Niño' affect the climate for months at a time and the latest sports car is 'fast and fun to drive' – it is the norm rather than the exceptio...
Empirical research on possible selves proliferates in the literature on psychology, yet it is only in the latter half of the 2000s that possible selves were exploited in applied linguistics fields. Kubanyiova’s (2007, 2009) recent mixed-methods study introduced the concept of ‘possible language teacher selves’ as a construct through which to explor...
Projects
Projects (3)
Research on the conceptualizing, measuring, and improving student engagement in the language classroom and beyond.
Complexity and Dynamic Systems Theory for Second Language Development Research