cultures. In regards to this, we could say that ALP are anthropological values, while their
realisation in actual learning cultures are ethnographic instances. In our current
discussion of the creation of a learning culture, then, it is vital to find out the
ethnographic considerations that should be taken into account for the creation of the
learning culture to be appropriate. Before dealing with what I consider important,
according to my experience, let me just say that I do not see the following as a
prescription of what should be done in self-direction in Mexico. On the contrary, this is
my interpretation, a result of my close contact with the learning culture I work with.
However, as interpretative as it is, I believe that it makes up the foundation of a learning
culture. This foundation may be useful for counsellors and learners working in SACs in
Mexico to state the norms and values for self direction as a scheme for learning foreign
languages.
Some paragraphs above, I mentioned three features of human beings-as-leamers -
adaptation, participation and transcendence- and their relation with what I called the
three conditions from the creation of a learning culture, authenticity, legitimacy and
productivity (based on Thelen’s scheme, see Fig. 8.1). Actually, I found that there are
elements of the three conditions that are particularly relevant in the context of the present
research. However, the reader will notice that there is an imbalance in regards to the
depth in which these three elements are discussed. This is due to the very particular way
in which my empirical research was developed. As I see it, the fact that authenticity, as a
matter ofbeing and becoming ready, was a constant issue during the Oaxaca/97 project.
Legitimacy is less developed than authenticity because of nature of the empirical
research I carried out. As I said before, it implies social agreement. As I see it, it should
necessarily involve the analysis of the discourse of most of the community concerned.
This consensus, moreover, needs time to be achieved and my study was short-term in
nature. In relation to the third condition, productivity, it became obvious that, because of
the characteristics of most of the learners, the present research did not give much
information about it (although the lack of information was in itself a salient factor).
Having said that, let me now discuss each condition from the ethnographic perspective of
the culture concerned.
259