2.1 THE INNOVATION
The first time I heard the term self-access related to language teaching was, in 1992,
when two representatives of the Ministry of Education visited the University of Oaxaca
(UABJO). At that time I was the director of the Language Centre of the university. They
wanted to talk to me about this new project that the Ministry OfEducation was sponsoring.
From them I learned that the project started in 1990. The Ministry OfEducation was
concerned about the low English level OfMexican university students. Apart from not being
able to take advantages of scholarships to foreign universities, students did not have access
to the latest publications in their own fields because most of these were written in English.
To tackle these problems, the project "Ingles al alcance de Ios estudiantes Universitarios"
(Access to English for university students) was created. After two years of carrying out
research, they arrived at the conclusion that self-access centres were the answer for all the
Mexican students who needed English as one of the tools to improve their academic
situation.
Furthermore, Mexican educational institutions had serious economic problems. They
did not have enough money. Because of that, the current policy was against the increase of
teaching hours in universities. Therefore, to open self-access centres that would cope with
the large amounts of students without significantly increasing the paying roll was a very
welcome idea.
I became immediately enthusiastic about the project. In Mexico, educational
authorities do not often include language teaching departments in their projects. Besides, the
University of Oaxaca resources are insufficient. As I saw it, the project represented the
possibility to get resources for the Language Centre. As the director, I had witnessed the
disappointment of hundreds and hundreds of students who applied for places on an English
course but never got them. A self-access centre would be the solution for them, I
confidently thought. I wanted to give the good news to the teachers. I was sure that they
were going to be as happy as I was about it.
However, I was not very sure about the authorities. I did not know if they were going
to be as enthusiastic as I was about the project. Therefore, I decided to do my best to
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