ABSTRACT
Since one of the first known self-access centres was established by CRAPEL (the research centre headed up by Henri Holec from 1972 to 1998) at the Université de Nancy in the 1970s, self-access language learning (SALL) has been closely linked to the wider field of learner autonomy that Henri Holec was instrumental in bringing to the fore. Since its inception, the last four decades have seen huge changes in how self-access is conceptualized and implemented. This chapter takes a narrative approach to investigate these changes and the ideological shifts and practical considerations which have motivated them, from the perspectives of three veteran SALL practitioners who have been instrumental in driving the field of SALL forward in different contexts around the world.
