SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

Fortunately, there are areas of convergence within different research. Most literature
dealing with the content of learner training courses agree on the five elements (see above)
that Holec has identified (Little; 1989,55, Hill; 1994,517, Bamett;1991,308, Sturtridge;
1992,15 or Sheerin; 1989,50). Little, for instance, mentions six aspects (identify needs,
define objectives, select appropriate materials, choose appropriate study techniques, organise
themselves and evaluate and monitor their progress) which are more or less the same.

When Holec explains the first stage, learning to learn, he provides a detailed account
of the objectives, contents and methodology. According to him, learning to learn, or being
prepared for making decisions, implies the acquisition of certain knowledge and skills'^. As
regards knowledge, a programme for learning to Ieam needs to cover two areas: language
competence and language learning. Skill-wise, the learning to Ieam programme should
include the necessary skills that correspond to the application of the knowledge concerned.
The purpose of the knowledge content is for the learner to be able to understand the
information (sometimes new) about language and about learning and contrast it with her
own preconceptions on these areas, either to correct or to complement them (ibid.). The
purpose of the skill content is to get familiar habits of learning and acquire new ones on the
basis of developing preconceptions (See Fig. 2.2).

In earlier work (1979,41) Holec describes these two areas of instruction in a way I
found especially useful. He calls the first one training at a psychological level, where the
aim is "gradual deconditioning". According to him, the learner has a series of attitudes,
feelings, beliefs and experiences about language and learning that determine how she takes
the task of learning the target language. So the objective of this area is to give the learner
enough information in order for her to re-examine these preconceptions and change, adjust
or reinforce them in relation to a self-directed learning approach. In other words this is a
"critical reflection" step (Wenden; 1987a,ll).

The second area is called training at a technical level. It deals with the developing of
skills in order for the learner to "fulfil his/her role" in a self-directed learning approach. This
level is directly related to Holec's five aspects mentioned above. Thus, the learner Ieams

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