Non-linearity and the observed lesson David Mallows In this paper I will attempt to argue that the concentration on aims as a central tenet of classroom observation for teacher development is tied to the Newtonian discourses which—despite the rival claims of the ‘new’ science of Chaos and Complexity—still dominate the world of ELT. To do so I will outline the main ideas behind these theories, and relate them to SLA. I will go on to explain why I think the change in discourse is of such importance, and finish by using fractal images to illustrate the futility of the prominence of aims in lesson preparation and delivery. Introduction I arrived at Chaos and Complexity theory through Larsen-Freeman’s (1997) article in Applied Linguistics. As I read her article, the ideas felt intuitively correct. As Bowers (1990) says, ‘You don’t see something until you have the right metaphor for it.’ Chaos and Complexity theory can act as a metaphor for the processes that occur within the ELT classroom; but more importantly, it can replace the discourses which dominate and inform much of our current practice. As James Gleick (1987: 5) puts it, the theory is ‘a science of process rather than state, of becoming rather than being.’ The study of complex systems followed the study of chaos. The early proponents of chaos theory searched for the complexity that emerged from simplicity; the complementary question of how order emerges in large, complicated systems was only asked at a later date. The result was that at first we had complication arising from simplicity, which was followed by simplicity emerging from complication. Chaos is now understood in an interestingly paradoxical way as order without predictability. We cannot predict individual moments in the life of a system, but the end result of its seemingly random movement is discernible order. So what are complex systems, and how can the understanding of their importance in other areas be extended to ELT? Complex systems are non- linear; to describe something as ‘non-linear’ is to describe it by what it is not. Something is linear if its output is proportional to its input. In a complex system this is not the case. Complex systems are non-linear in that the e¤ect of actions upon them is disproportionate to the size or weight of the action. ELT Journal Volume 56/1 January 2002 © Oxford University Press 3