pedagogical problem arises.
This framework may serve as a basis to explain the causes underlying the high
percentage of attrition in SAC Oaxaca. Many ex-students of SAC have expressed that, in
spite of their high motivation when they started working in the SAC, they soon found
themselves, consciously or unconsciously, lost. I wonder if this is not the same situation
depicted in position 2 of Fig. 3.5 (the lower right comer). Part of the answer could be that
the learners had neither the authoritarian figure of the teacher to oblige them to study (a
situation to which they are very used) nor the authoritative figure of the counsellor to help
them to manage their own study programmes. It is a fact that our experiences in SAC
Oaxaca cannot be equated to the situation represented in number 4, where the learners are
supposed to expect and find the expert and knowledgeable advice of the counsellor to help
and guide them but do not expect the authoritarian figure of the teacher. Although some
authors have suggested that learners do fine without the authoritarian figure of a teacher, for
example in learner-centred approaches, (see Tudor: 1996) it is still undeniable that the help
of an authoritative person is cardinal for giving meaningful structure to the pedagogical
situation. As Widdowson has stated,
Language learners need some given conceptual framework within which to operate
if their activities are to have any point. The central task of pedagogy is to find the
framework which is most effective in learning...a framework of some kind, some
sets ofbearings to enable learners to find their way. (1990,194)
As the reader can see, two essential concepts in education have converged here:
learner autonomy and teacher authority. As I have stated above, they are neither contrary nor
mutually exclusive. On the contrary, the more the teacher exercises her transactional
authority, the more the learner can achieve a state of complete autonomy. As I see it, the
more the SAC student is helped, guided and taught by the counsellor on the two aspects
mentioned earlier (learning to Ieam and learning the language) the more she can manage her
processes and make decisions about her own way of learning. However, all of this depends,
as I mentioned above, on two things: first, a convergence of roles, which refers to a
convergence of beliefs and values, and second, the interaction between counsellor and
learner. As I see it, it is obvious that these two issues have the further implication that
autonomy is not independence, but interdependence (Voller;! 997, 109) I will delve into this
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