SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

elementary learners they let themselves be other-directed. But they had experienced a
change in their way of learning. For Ga, the change became evident when she compared
the way she used to work when she started coming to the SAC. She used to ask for
guidance about materials and follow course textbooks until finishing them. A year after
that, she reported, she started a change to a self-directed way in which it was her need
that made her decide what to work with and how.

Inner guide

Ga

non-selectivc

Gl

Ga                        _a F

I other guide

Fig. 7.9 Orienting according to source of guidance and degree of selectivity.

The change in F’s style was reported in a different way. For him, it was easy to
notice the difference because at that moment he was studying two languages at two
different levels, advanced English and elementary German. With the latter, he says, he
follows all the directions of the materials and carries out any task they recommend. For
English, on the contrary, he is very selective about what task to do and in which way.

7.2.2 Noticing and restructuring: Declarativisation

In the previous chapter I talked about a major change I made at the final stage of

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