factors of the PC were different. It is interesting to notice that
“The most appropriate” did not mean the easiest, or the most comfortable
context. It meant the PC that best favoured their control and regulation of
either fluency or accuracy and sometimes that meant not going for the
easiest context. As subjects were aware of the fact that some pressure would
add to their learning and would take them closer to real linguistic use, some
of them tried to construct the most appropriate PC with a certain amount of
pressure. (Clemente; 1996b, 24)
This conclusion seems to be very much on line with Johnson’s formula ra-l. In
general, the results of the study showed that self-directed learners can self-regulate task
factors in order to make the most of their practice. I believe that the concept of
appropriate psycholinguist context is extremely relevant for a self-directed scheme.
7.2.4. Conclusion
As a way of a conclusion, Fig. 7.10 shows what I consider the most relevant
findings from the data gathered in the Oaxaca/97 project, and the reflections that it
generated. This figure is divided into three sections. In the middle we can see the
different stages that were analysed from the learning processes of the participants. On
both sides of these stages I have summarised the fmdings∕reflections into two main sets:
external and internal forces. As the reader may have noticed, analysing internal and
external elements was a recurrent topic of all the stages discussed (except for structuring,
for there were no instances of it). This distinction highlights the importance of both
external factors along with internal ones. The latter obviously correspond to self-
management, while the former are other-directed factors.
The nine learners in this project presented a varied proportion of extemal∕intemal
forces, according to a number of different factors. However, I have noticed that
awareness plays an important role in this proportion. It seems to me that the more aware
the learner is, the better she can manage her internal forces. Furthermore, as it was stated
above, the most experienced self-directed learners and the most linguistically advanced
were noticed to be the most aware learners.
However, I want to emphasise the fact that self-directed learning schemes not
only depend on the self-management of internal forces. This is important, above all,
because I strongly believe that, for elementary learners (in both areas, target language
and self-direction) to have access to the management of internal forces, it is necessary
the action of external forces in order to make up for the weakness on the internal
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