| Summary: | The paper presents a study designed to investigate the subjective theories used by learners involved in tandem language learning. We describe the interplay between these theories, the learners' interactional behaviour in tandem, and possible modification of inadequate subjective theories through counselling. Following Holec (1979), self-directed learning is commonly conceptualized inside a cognitivist action-theoretical model of learning. The analysis of the data collected shows, however, that in order to describe “self-directed learning” from the learner's point of view, we need a much broader definition than just “the freedom to set one's own objectives” in the narrow context of tandem work. It is argued that the approach to “learning” described by studies in critical psychology, might help to interpret data which would not be accessible in a purely cognitivist action-theoretical approach, and might also help to redefine the conditions and aims of counselling language learners.
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