The Centre for English Language Communication's (CELC) self- access facility-the Self-access English Learning Facility (SELF)-is housed in its building at 10 Architecture Drive (next to SDE 2), a central location in NUS. Set up in 2000 in line with the university's mission to encourage independent and lifelong learning, SELF is a unique resource provided specially for students enrolled in CELC courses. Here, students work on improving their English language skills on their own within a comfortable and conducive learning environment.

SELF provides a wide variety of English language learning resources set in user-friendly formats. There are textbooks on language learning skills (e.g. grammar and vocabulary). Graded reading texts found in the Science Research Associates (SRA) laboratory and the Multi-cultural Reading laboratory hone students' reading skills while a variety of magazines and books of general interest provide supplementary reading. Audio-visual materials- movies, documentaries, pronunciation lessons and training tutorials-are available in various formats- VHS, VCDs and DVDs. These are accessible via many computers and audio-visual equipment in the facility. In addition, there are worksheets produced in-house specially tailored to meet students' needs which are not addressed by commercially produced books.

Collaborative work at SELF

SELF is manned during its opening hours by studentassistants who help users with equipment and resources with the supervision of lecturers, and is managed by a committee of CELC lecturers. ITSELF-the online version of SELF-contains links to language learning websites, tailor-made exercises, tutorials and online versions of English grammar worksheets found in SELF. A prominent feature of ITSELF is the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Centre (OVRC) a database of articles (magazine) and essays on a multitude of topics, ideal for students doing research. Students can access ITSELF from inside and outside NUS via http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF.

SELF is used by CELC students in these ways:

• Students on an academic skills course use the reading laboratories to improve their reading skills (see section on Reading Laboratories).
  
  
• Students on a communication skills course use the communication books, training tapes, and online tutorials to do research on topics which they present and peer teach in class; they also use the books on research to aid them in their report writing assignments.
  
  
• Clients of the English Assist programme use the audio materials to practise speech and pronunciation.
  
  
• Students on graduate programmes routinely visit SELF to access the tailor-made materials (e.g. pronunciation homework on audio tapes) or to access materials recommended by lecturers who work with them in SELF.

Understanding that self-access learning is novel and does not come naturally to students, SELF incorporates the following characteristics in the planning and management of its resources:

1. Organisation of Materials
   
   Print and audio-visual materials are organised, arranged and labelled according to language learning skills (e.g. wriiting, grammar, reading, listening and speaking, vocabulary, pronunciation). New categories, depending on users' needs as perceived by lecturers, are constantly added (e.g. research, study skills, thinking, teachers' resources, integrated skills [books on more than one skill], general reading, popular literature, readers). To help specific groups of users know where to look for resources that will meet their needs (for a course or duration of time), materials on some shelves are dedicated to particular courses for easy access.
   
   
2. Cross Referencing
   
   Materials are cross-matched (e.g. a book that has related materials in another form carries an 'Accompanied by' sticker) to alert users to other forms of the material.
   
   
3. Guides for Users
   
   Early on, it was realised that users would need help choosing suitable materials. For a start, users' request for help in areas such as job skills and report writing, directed efforts in providing a list of resources that contained such information. This is likely to be useful for users especially since SELF has no permanent academic staff on duty to answer users' queries, and studentassistants on duty have limited knowledge on how to recommend users to needed resources without direct and immediate supervision of lecturers.
   
   Movie titles are categorised (e.g. young adult, popular, inspirational, historical) in a guide on ITSELF. New titles are also featured as highlights or attractions displayed on the notice board outside SELF just like how special items in a supermarket are displayed near the payment counters.
   
   
4. Familiarisation/Orientation Tours (Physical and Online)
   
   SELF routinely organises tours to familiarise students to the concept of self-access, to teach them how to access both SELF and ITSELF materials and more importantly, to encourage students to continue to use the place for as long as they desire to improve their English language abilities. Each semester, students of courses that integrate SELF into the curriculum are brought to SELF for orientation tours, during which they are shown the SELF/ITSELF online tour, and brought around the facility to get a feel of the materials available. Attention is focused on resources on special shelves that are pertinent to work set in students' course and that will meet their needs. Additionally, the SELF flyer and newsletter alert users to rules and regulations, reminders and announcements of new resources.
   
   

   Users at AV booths

   Users at work in SELF

   
   
5. Reading Laboratories
   
   SELF is equipped with reading laboratories that help improve students' reading proficiency. The SRA reading laboratory, in particular, is completely selfaccess. Here, students can take a test (part of the reading laboratory) and use the results (self-marked, with answer key) to place them at a level which they must better by completing reading passages and doing exercises (also self-marked, with answer key) over a period of time. Students monitor their progress in/with a record book.

Open Mondays to Fridays: 1-5.30 pm, Tuesdays: 9 am- 12 noon and selected Saturday mornings, SELF is poised to make a difference in students who recognise that classroom time is insufficient to develop language skills adequately. It is also a facility that places learning squarely in students' hands so that they learn to improve English on their own, at their own pace and in their own time. More than 500 students from various faculties visit SELF each month of the semester. It is both a drop-in and a valuable resource centre that complements both CELC courses and its mission to "empower our students with effective English language and communication skills for their academic and professional life through innovative teaching, promotion of independent learning and pedagogical research" (CELC's Mission Statement).