Self-observation                   immediate or early                preferred strategies

Self-revelation                    simultaneous to the                actual strategies

cognitive task

Fig. 5.7 Verbal report outcomes (adapted from Zimmerman; 1987,178)

It is clear that VRs do not reveal processes subjects are not aware of
(Holscher; 1987, 113), but "depending on the task, subjects may be successful at
consulting their memory of cognitive processes and describing them" (Cohen; 1987,89).
In order to enhance the potential of VRs I combined them with metacognitive
experiences which are "any conscious cognitive or affective experiences that accompany
and pertain to any intellectual enterprise" (Flavell; 1979,906). To my mind,
metacognitive experiences give learners awareness of learning processes while VRs
allow them to talk about these learning processes. The main difference with the way
researchers use VRs is that the results of them were analysed and used by both learners
and researcher. In other words, VRs are a learners' tool and not just a researcher's one.

As the reader will see in the next chapter, I combined VRs with different types of
metacognitive experiences which were in turn derived from different tasks such as
learning language activities, games, input sessions or discussion sessions. I also asked
the participants to write about their learning experiences (again metacognitive
experiences) in diaries and questionnaires. The latter were only a way to make them
think about a specific learning issue before a VRs was carried out. They were usually a
link between an input session and a VR individual session.

Again, it might be possible to classify VRs as a type of interview. However, I still
resist doing it. I already stated my concern about the use of this term with the participants
of the Oaxaca/97 project some paragraphs above. With regard to VRs, I would not call
them interviews for they are framed in a counselling context. This means that, as I said
above, VRs are a learner's tool (and not only a researcher's one), which learners carry out
during interactive events in which they can discuss their content with a counsellor and,
sometimes other learners.

5.3 CONCLUSION

In this chapter I explained to the reader the way I carried out a research project on
self-directed learning and why I did it. This led me to a long discussion of the specific

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