{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T07:01:17Z","timestamp":1790146877764,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Teachers\u2019 classroom discourse is a key window into the quality of teaching. However, traditional research has mostly focused on the frequency distribution of discourse behaviors, overlooking the dynamic characteristics of discourse in the time dimension. From the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), and using Lag Sequential Analysis (LSA) and State Space Grid (SSG) methods, this study examines four dynamic properties of the teacher discourse strategy system based on a video corpus of 72 lessons from 12 middle school teachers. First, historical dependence: teachers\u2019 strategy selection is significantly constrained by the preceding three turns of the conversation. Second, adaptability: expert teachers identify shifts in students\u2019 psychological states more sensitively and adjust strategies more quickly, with an adaptive switching latency of 2.1\u202fs compared with 5.7\u202fs for novice teachers. Third, nonlinearity: strategy diversity and student engagement show an inverted U-shaped relationship, with a \u201cgolden window\u201d of entropy values between 1.32 and 2.78. Fourth, emergence: five recurring sequence patterns, interpreted here as candidate attractors, were identified; the \u201cgolden path of deep exploration\u201d and \u201chigher-order thinking path\u201d characterize high-quality teaching, while the \u201cdeadlock pattern\u201d signals declining teaching quality. The study offers an integrated methodological approach for operationalizing CDST in educational research and provides an empirical basis for teacher professional development and the design of classroom observation tools.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1924971","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T06:16:48Z","timestamp":1790144208000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A study on teachers\u2019 classroom discourse strategies from the perspective of complex dynamic systems theory: lag sequential analysis based on pragmatic annotation and mental state transition"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jian","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Foreign Languages, Qingdao Agricultural University","place":["Qingdao, Shandong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Wen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management (College of Cooperatives), Qingdao Agricultural University","place":["Qingdao, Shandong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"369","DOI":"10.1177\/27527263251322538","article-title":"Discourse trajectories in mathematics classrooms: an empirical study of preservice teachers in Ghana","volume":"4","author":"Aduko","year":"2025","journal-title":"Asian J. 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