integrate the self-access and classroom-based strands of the learning experience.
We then go on to look explicitly at the help that learners may need if they are to
make the most of a self-access resource centre and its materials.
28 Setting up a self-access facility
Many large, well-resourced institutions have self-access centres, which you can
encourage your learners to use, and that you can rely on if converting a part of
your course to independent learning. But if you are working in a context where
no self-access centre is available, you and your colleagues may wish to build up
a smaller facility that can still provide some of the benefits of a formal centre in
helping your students to broaden their range of learning skills. The following
suggestions should help you to set up such a facility.
1 Investigate possible premises. Might a separate room be available for your
facility? If so, you may be able to consider audio as well as print-based
resources. If not, you will need to concentrate on a more portable facility to
be used in existing classrooms.
2 Investigate technical resources. Will you have access to TVs, tape
recorders or computers? The equipment available is obviously a key factor
when deciding what sort of materials bank to build up.
3 Start to collect source material. A small facility could start with a series of
printed texts, and audio texts if you have tape recorders. These texts will
form the core of your self-access materials. You can start with just a few
more texts than there are learners in the class, to give people the experience
of choosing what to do and then swapping around.
4 Try to get other colleagues to join you. A group of teachers working
together will build up a sizeable bank of materials much more quickly, and
learners will benefit from the variety of approaches and ideas. A joint
initiative by teachers could also impress school authorities, and they might
make extra funds available to support your project.
5 Develop a house style for materials writing. It is the rubrics, tasks and
comments that you build around the source texts that give the materials their
‘feel’. Similarities of presentation, whether typographic (eg, always using
the same typeface), or content related (eg, always starting with a statement
of objectives), can be reassuring for learners, and help to present the self-
access facility as a coherent project.
6 State objectives clearly and relate feedback to these. Statements of
objectives make the purpose of the materials clear to the learners, and so
help them to choose the right ones to work on. Feedback on the learners’
tasks should also relate to these stated objectives: this is one good way of
making sure that the tasks really are relevant and appropriate.IMPLEMENTING SELF-ACCESS 53