There is the case, of course, in non-intentional learning, that learning is a by-product
of other types of experience. In this case, I agree with Tomlin and Villa that no orientation
state is needed. However, a self-directed learner cannot afford the luxury of learning "by
pure chance".
4.2.4.2 Alertness
As was stated before, alertness means "to be ready". In other-directed learning, being
ready has traditionally been interpreted as having acquired the necessary previous
knowledge which allows the learners to understand the new one (Krashen’s 'i + Γ explains
very well this notion). However, this "would appear to be a property of the language rather
than the person exposed to the language" (van Lier; 1996,46). Focusing on the person, that is,
the learner, one runs into a series of aspects that make (or do not make) someone ready to
leam. Actually, all those aspects have been clustered under the concept of metacognitive
knowledge (see 3.3.2.2, p. 56). In self-direction, in order to focus, or orient, our attention to
something, we need to be ready not only as regards the subject matter issues but also as
regards all the elements that make up our metacognitive knowledge. The literature on this
area, and my own experience when working with students struggling to become self-
directed, have led me to the conclusion that two aspects of metacognitive knowledge are
very important for self-direction. These are the learner's motivation and attitudes. I will
specifically focus on the discussion of the role of motivation and attitudes in a separate
section.
4.2.4.3 Awareness
According to Tomlin and Villa, awareness is not necessary for learning. However,
from the point of view of other researchers, this is not the case. Van Lier (1996), for
instance, following work by Vygostky and Csikszentmihalyi, states that awareness is a
perceptual component of consciousness7, without which "it is simply not possible to realise
the conditions...that make progress towards proficiency possible"(74) and adds that
it is clear that the bulk of human learning, being the complex and
protracted activity that it is, can only be accomplished by a
conscious person (ibid, 73)
85