Variable co-adaptation: exploring the emergence of teacher-student interaction patterns in award-winning EFL classes through the CDST lens

The low-cognitive-demand TSI pattern is shaped by contest evaluation priorities and performative teaching characteristics. Teachers designed for higher-order thinking, but student cognitive output failed to match, revealing linguistic-cognitive misalignment. Variability and co-adaptation are core mechanisms for global pattern emergence from local dynamics. We call for integrating cognitively challenging interactions into routine FLT and refining contest criteria to prioritize cognitive activation over surface-level interaction fluency, extending CDST applications in L2 classroom research.