In the case of the Mexican project, most of the training courses were devoted to
practical issues, however, we had also input on the theoretical aspect of self-directed
learning. And this helped us, in the SAC of Oaxaca, to be aware that if the technical factors
were necessary, the pedagogical foundation was even more important. Fortunately, from the
very beginning we realised that we did not want that the former to draw all the attention to
the detriment of the latter.
In the following section I shall take the reader on a tour through some of the most
relevant literature and some comments about the way I perceived the theoretical rationale of
self directed learning at that time. Basically, I will deal with the literature that makes up the
cornerstone of self-directed language learning. Names such as Holec, Riley, Little and
Dickinson, among others, have become essential in the literature of autonomy and self-
direction. Their work has focused on the main areas of the field and has represented an
inspiration for others to work in the same matter. The main areas that have been covered by
these researchers are: the definition of key concepts such as autonomy, self-access, etc;
learning to learn; learning strategies and learning styles, learner training and learning
materials, among others.
2.2.2 Self-directed learning: a two stage scheme
According to most writers, self-directed learning of a foreign or second language is a
matter of acquiring knowledge and skills by means of self-managing the different elements
that make up the learning context. Thus, Holec (1980,9) mentions five levels of decisions:
definition of objectives, definition of contents and progression, selection of methods and
techniques, monitoring the acquisition procedure and evaluation of the learning process.
There seems to be a logical order to these elements, according to the moment of the decision
that each of them involves. Thus, setting the goals is considered the first step. It implies the
analysis of needs in order to define long and short-term objectives. Once the objectives have
been defined, the learner decides on the contents that each objective implies. This step also
includes the selection of materials that include the desired contents and the progression that
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