SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

sessions they talked about learning processes, an attribute that must be present, according to
Holec's description of it. From the counselling sessions studied in Oaxaca, it can be said that
'talking about learning processes' is a marked element, that is, it rarely occurs.

Fig. 3.1 Divergence of counsellors and learners about counselling sessions.

The protocol analyses of the counselling sessions uncovered feelings and attitudes of
both, learners and counsellors. From the SAC students, I learned that there were different
degrees of dissatisfaction, a fact the counsellors were not aware of. The counsellors, in turn,
dealt with the power factor either consciously avoiding it or consciously (and unconsciously)
deploying it. The short interaction of the counselling session (10 to 20 minutes) was long
enough to develop good or bad records, that is to say, good or bad opinions of the
counsellors about the learners. When a good record was developed, the CS was smooth and
pleasant but if a bad record evolved, the CS turned to be a difficult event for the learner as
regards both interactional and illocutionary acts. At an interactional level the counsellor
tended to control the discourse, holding the openings and changing the topic. The only
possibility for the learners was to reply. At the illocutionary level a bad record session was
notorious for its absence of praising in the form of overt and positive feedback. The
following extract of a protocol analysis of a counselling session (translated from Spanish)
shows the difference of views between counsellor and learner:

Counsellor:

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