A study was conducted to find out from learners how they actually direct their own language learning in a variety of social settings. In this study, self direction includes the phenomena represented by the terms "conscious learning strategies," either a focused approach or a general strategy, and "self directed learning," in distinction from collaborative and institutional learning. The data were derived from interviews with 25 adult learners who had lived in the United States for no longer than 2 years. They were asked to fill out a grid of social settings in which they usually found themselves and the language they used in each one. The interview required that they reflect upon language experiences in these social situations. Analysis of the data revealed that these adults directed their own learning by engaging in the following assessments and action decisions: coping, designating, discriminating, evaluating, planning, self analyzing, and theorizing. Each of these processes is illustrated and defined by referring to the experiences of four of the learners; these definitions are amplified by reference to the self reports of all the interviewees. Interview questions, profiles of the four learners mentioned above, the interview schedule, and tables of processes and outcomes are appended. (AMH)