Difference between consciousness and self-awareness

to be self-aware is to understand , the difference between the without and the within

Consciousness: The brain activity which is privately manifested in contrast to unconscious brain activity. The former has internal presence as feelings, phenomena slash patterns, linguistic thoughts and conceptual identifications, etc. The latter has no presence except as when detected and mapped externally via instrument scans of neural activity, etc.

Self-awareness: Acquiring the belief, opinion, theory or certainty that such experiences or internal manifestations belong to a "me" or a mind or a body or a distinct sub-process of the latter's brain.

Self-awareness would arguably be one of the more specific items subsumed under the contemporary usage of consciousness as a broader category ("umbrella term").

There may not be much difference between the two. Being conscious is usually defined as being awake (think of a 911/000/112 operator asking you 'is he conscious?')...but it's recognised that sleep walkers, even though they have a seemingly wakeful state (eyes open, walking) aren't conscious of what they are doing. Consciousness could therefore be described as awareness.

The problem with describing it as awareness is, many of the things we do are done at a subconscious level - ie. we are unaware of the processes going on that allow us to do certain things (like walking, balance, language construction, motor skills etc). Writing probably the thing that gives us the most insight into awareness - we think about what we want to write, but not at all about HOW we are writing (or at most, and usually only if we are concerned with neatness...barely do we think about 'how') . Strangely enough, it is for this reason that writing can quite accurately tell us a lot about any one person (even if you have never met them before).

So, often we are conscious of what we want to do, but not how we do it, or (often) why we do it.

It is the learning of the 'why' that delves into self-awareness. The reason this may be be hard to separate from consciousness is that, once you learn the reasons for why you do things, you decisions become a lot more 'conscious' (thoughtful, considered, weighed up etc). Therefore, is it possible that self awareness is needed for any form of consciousness...with the degree of self-awareness determining the degree of consciousness?

Excellent; but what is the relation between the two? Does consciousness entail self-awareness? Does self-awareness entail consciousness? Are they bi-conditional?

Well, remember that the OP asked us to define each without using the other. If that restriction were gone, then I could say:

Self-awareness is another subcategory of consciousness: self-consciousness. Where the agent or cognitive system is reflecting on its own personal existence and characteristics instead of trees, football, buildings, traffic, etc. Or simply making that conceptual distinction of being this entity that is engaging in the perceiving, thinking, and behaviors. But there's also a pre-reflective form of it: Before the language based attentions, one's body already comes individuated and separate from other bodies in the experiences or manifestations of perception -- that body is the very Point of View. Which is part of what helps an animal like a dolphin to discern itself in a mirror without those acquired symbolic aids of humans.

It should be noted, however, that the OP also asked for our own opinions (or understandings), like the above. If instead one consulted the Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind, for instance, then "self-awareness" is offered as the definition of consciousness. The relationship there is "C equals SA", not "SA is subsumed under C" or "SA is one of the kinds in the group of C". But that's the ambiguity problem: Authorities have difficulty universally agreeing with each other on the term "consciousness".

consciousness - Self-awareness. Subjective experience. The way things seem to us. Immediate phenomenological properties.
http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/consciousness.html