Because in the first step they were not able to look at any materials, they had to
make up their own strategy. The planning ideas were quite varied and this variation
clearly matched with the way they described their learning preferences and experiences
in language learning tasks. In the following CSs they talked about their plans. The
second step was to look for the materials that would help them to carry out their plans
and start working on the specific content they have chosen. From that moment on, we
had four CSs for discussing their experiences and evaluating their outcomes.
In general, this set of CSs was very fruitful. They allowed me to get more in
touch with their learning processes. They made me realise the way I conceptualise their
learning according to my own schemata. They made me experience a different way of
counselling. They made me realise the possibilities of using my own expertise
(authoritative knowledge) according to their learning needs.
After the IS on person, we carried out a one hour individual session in which the
participants, based on an open questionnaire, to record the steps they took to Ieam the
specific grammar point (see appendix 6). This time we revised their learning strategies,
evaluated them and started planning a long-term program for their future studies in the
SAC.
As I see it, this final CS was very important. Apart from giving coherence to the
whole project (the questionnaire made links with the theoretical aspects from the ISs), it
allowed the participants to realise the way they wanted, or did not want, to work to Ieam
the target language. The feeling that they had worked with something concrete (and at
the same time with something “difficult” for most of them), gave them confidence to
cope with similar situations. In the next part of this chapter, dealing with task, I will
present a discussion mainly based on the data from this part of the project.
7.1.4 Group discussion sessions (DS)
The group discussions dealt, as it was stated above (p. 125), with the following
topics:
|
DISCUSSION SESSIONS (DS) | ||
|
i |
11 Jul |
The National Educational System |
|
2 |
18 |
Foreign languages in the National Curriculum |
205