(Macaro; 1997,167), and, as many people see it, a very justifiable one in many different
ways ( Tait & Knight; 1996,1). However I would add that teaching autonomy is also a very
demanding task. Above all because the teacher has to practice what she preaches.
So far I have been referring to all sort of research dealing with autonomy and self-
directed learning in second or foreign language in order to give a broad overview of the
discussions of the areas related to the goals of the present study. However there are some
sources that fail to fully reflect the philosophy of autonomy they are trying to convey. A
good example of this problem is the book Learner strategies for learner autonomy by Anita
Wenden (1991)1. As an example of a general problem, I would like to look into its content
and discuss it.
Before starting, let me stress the fact that I consider this book to be a very good
contribution to the field. I have already referred to it and quoted from it several times in the
two previous chapters. As I see it, this book is a good demonstration of how theory and
practice can be combined. Specifically, I like the way Wenden analyses the theory about
metacognitive knowledge and strategies and from that develops a framework to develop
autonomy.
However, the book suffers from one major flaw: its inconsistency. Although the
rationale of the book is autonomy there are several ways in which it goes against this
concept. Let me mention what I consider the most problematic:
First, some of the activities proposed for the learner do not promote autonomy at all.
Autonomy, as I understand it, means critical thinking. However, there are proposals of tasks
and activities that are completely mechanical. A good example of this is the reading exercise
which Wenden includes for the text about the good language learner. After having reading
the text "A definition of a good language learner", the learner has to complete the
comprehension guide. The following is the last paragraph of the text and the last exercise
of the guide:
TEXT: .
...They team to laugh at their mistakes; they know that it will take a long
time and that it can get very boring. They Ieam to work with their feelings.
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