A: I felt that there was a barrier between the counsellor and me. A feeling
of isolation. With the teacher is different. There is an everyday contact. That
makes him closer to you.
X: Maybe the teacher doesn’t talk to you as an individual but he is always talking
to you as a group. He is not a stranger. You two belong to the same group and that
gives you the confidence to go to him and ask him.
Certainly, most of the participants have not found that closeness with any of the
counsellors in the SAC.
A: Here, the counsellors are cold, indifferent. The facts have proved this
According to the participants, learning a language in a classroom basically means
two things. On the one hand, it means coping with large classes, heterogeneity and
competitiveness. On the other hand, it can be a positive experience because it favours a
close contact with the teacher, which means the possibility for communication.
6.2.4 Beliefs about learning a language in a self-directed way
For the participants, learning in a self-directed way includes the features
mentioned in the last section. Therefore, because most students think that the learning
process should start with a good foundation, they believe that within a scheme of self-
direction such a base should be present as well. In fact, for them, self-directed learning is
not opposed to the presence of a teacher, either in the classroom or as a counsellor in the
self-access centre:
S: In SAC you need to have a guide, to provide you with the basics.
That way self-learning is more beneficial because with that basis
you have the option to choose what you want.
E: I think that the self-access centre has to be complementary to the
classroom. A support to what is learned in the class
K: At the classroom the teacher is a guide for learning X, which can be
elaborated in the SAC. The two things go together
As the reader may recall, this is the base learners talked about when dealing with
their concept of learning a language.
However, for some of the students, it is important to notice that in a self-directed
scheme you need another element as a base to start a good self-directed process. This
base is an awareness of your need.
Ga: The clue is to know where to start, what to look for. That is why
most of the SAC users drop out. They felt lost.