SLA RESEARCH ON SELF-DIRECTION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

Fig. 4.1 Attentional elements in other-directed learning (adapted from Tomlin and
Villa;1994,197)

In addition, Tomlin and Villa talk about orientation, "a heightened sensitivity to a
specific feature of some incoming stimulus" (197) and add that it is "the specific alignment
of attention" and it represents "the possibility of a significant difference of some sort"
(1994,197). The oldest and most common way of "orienting" learners that human beings
know is formal instruction. The function of it, that is, the function of teaching (van Lier,
1996;53), has been to make the learners focus on certain elements in order to increase the
possibility for these elements to be detected.

Finally, Tomlin and Villa mention awareness, which they define as "a particular state
of mind in which an individual has undergone a specific subjective experience of some
cognitive content of external stimulus" (193). There are several instances of awareness and,
again, formal instruction provides the best example. In order for teachers to be able to orient
learners' attention, that is, in order to teach, they need to be aware of their own learning

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