A phenomenological inquiry: essence and experience of learning English among international students’ at Florida state university

Abstract

Learning English as a second language can be overwhelming for international students, especially when they are studying abroad and living in a foreign country. Some of the challenges include overcoming the anxiety to communicate with their peers and having assurance that they are being understood by others. The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry is to gather understandings about the international students’ experiences and essence of learning English conversational skills at the International Center’s English class. For this study, two international students were interviewed and three observations were conducted throughout the semester. Handouts and documents from the class were collected for further review and analysis. Based on the results from the interviews, observations, and document review, several categories were identified which included purpose, teacher’s role, motivation, preference, emotions, and problems. From those categories, two themes were emerged, (i) Interaction is important for learning English, and (ii) One needs to put much effort to learn English.