SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

Another researcher who holds that mature cognition develops devices immature
systems do not is Birdsong (1994). For him, the learning procedure specific for language
(Chomsky's LAD) is replaced by a general problem-solving system. This system, along with
the knowledge of the native language

could approximately, but not perfectly, compensate for the loss in
adults of the child's knowledge of Universal Grammar and a
Learning Procedure design specifically to construct grammars
(Birdsong; 1994,175)

A major difference between these two systems is that while the one used by children
is a hundred percent reliable (everybody in natural conditions has learned a first language
during her childhood), the adult one is not, i.e. "human problem solving is notoriously prone
to failure" (ibid.). This difference would partly explain the difficulty adults undergo when
learning a language and the differences between native and non-native performance. Within
this scheme, Birdsong highlights the importance of decision-making as one of the factors of
adult problem solving system.

It is precisely this element of mature problem-solving systems, decision-making,
which makes the difference in autonomy. According to Holec, autonomy is the "ability to
take charge of one's own learning" which in turn means that "the self-directed learner is
himself capable of making all (the) decisions concerning the learning with which he is or
wishes to be involved" (my italics, 1980,3). With the purpose of describing the nature of
decision making in self-direction, in his article titled "The learner as a manager" (1987),
Holec analyses the different kinds of decisions the learner carries out. Nevertheless, at the
beginning of the article, Holec reflects on different meanings of the word "learning" and
makes clear that he is only focusing on the learner as a "studier". I want to make clear
however, that the definition that underlies my own view is not restricted to the study side of
learning. Thus, when talking about learning I am referring to the process of acquiring
knowledge and skills by means of study, but also by other means such as instruction and
experience⁴.

Within this scheme, the decision-making process starts when an individual decides to
Ieam a second language. This decision turns the process of learning into an intentional
process, which according to Schmidt (1990,134), who calls it "conscious learning", is
distinguished "at the basis of intention and effort".

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