that actually happened. Then let’s think of a real situation....
However, I think that my way to solve the problem was very narrow-minded. I
only gave them ideas for how to provide their own content. After having reflected on it I
think that it is necessary to have a deeper reflection on practice, its nature and function.
The following paragraphs are the product of that reflection.
From my experience in FL teaching I know that the psychological barrier that
most students refer to, this fear of producing the language is an unmarked feature in the
culture I work with. In this context, FL teachers really struggle in order to achieve
production by means of appropriate practice situations. This is one of the major obstacles
that the learner has to get rid of. However, I strongly believe that in a self-directed
context the learner has to face another problem: methodology. Certainly they do not
know how to practise and what for. In fact, as I see it, one of the most effective ways to
cope with this ‘psychological barrier’ is methodology on FL practice. It is the
assumption of this study that if the learners knew how to manage practice, how to build
up practising contexts, they would be more willing to attempt practice and get more
results with it. The following sections will delve into some issues related to this area.
7.2.3.2 Restructuring
When dealing with restructuring, there is the temptation to explain this process as
‘structuring again’. However this is not the case. The process of restructuring is far more
complex than structuring since it is related to knowledge changing and going forward
(Ridley; 1997,57). As it was stated above, structuring is the first formulation of
hypotheses while restructuring is the formulation of
Successive hypotheses, with one gradually giving way to another as (the
learner) notices and incorporates more about the target language. Each
hypothesis will be (the learner’s) best bet so far, and, with luck, each
successive hypothesis will be an improvement on its predecessor
(Batstone, 1994,41).
There are mainly two issues to consider when dealing with restructuration. First,
it has been implied that in a way, restructuration and complexity are synonyms (Skehan,
1996). Although I do not agree (for me restructuration is a learning stage while
complexity is a learner’s goal), I can see the connection. When restructuration takes
place, there is a potential for interlanguage to become more complex, that is, the learner
feels as if she can take some risks. This, in a way leads to a new chain of noticing-
structuring-renoticing-restructuring. All this, of course, must occur in a context of
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