AUTONOMÍA Y RESPONSABILIDAD EN EL APRENDIZAJE DE UNA LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN CONTEXTOS FORMALES. UNA EXPERIENCIA EN EL AULA

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the existence of compulsory general education until the age of 16 -in practice up to 18- is a valuable achievement of our society. Students are offered the opportunity to complete their secondary education reasonably well prepared. Nevertheless, good intentions cannot always be realized due to a variety of circumstances: high student numbers, an overcrowded curriculum, and too few teacher-student contact hours per week are among the more serious obstacles. However, in this paper we will try to prove that in spite this unfavourable scenario a degree of learner autonomy is possible, and even necessary, in formal contexts of education, since we defend that “knowing” is good but “learning to find out” is even better.