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This paper discusses the recent history of research and pedagogical practice in the field of autonomous language learning. First, the work of the Crapel is examined through one of the topics that has recently been the focus of a team effort: the affective dimension of both self-directed language learning and language learning advising. An overview of the self-directed learning schemes currently in use at the Université de Lorraine is then provided, showing the diversity of ways in which local language training has taken up the Crapel approach.

Adopting a feminist perspective, this exploratory and empirically based study of face-to-face advising dialogue will put into question two related aspects of advising that have seldom been discussed in the literature on advising: the gendered dimension and the psychological support. Based on the general and rarely discussed assumption that women’s speech is more emotional and best suited for establishing and maintaining more equal relationships than men’s speech, and on the fact that many language learning advisors in the world are women, this study examines the ways in which female and male advisors working in different educational contexts verbally establish a relationship where a learner’s autonomy can emerge. The preliminary results suggest that psychological support is provided through a wide range of verbal strategies and that gender seems less significant than work context to explain individual differences.