Unlearning to learn: Investigating the lived experience of learning English

What is the journey of acquiring language? What is the journey of sharing it? These are the questions that compelled the hermeneutic phenomenological investigation (Gadamer, 1960/2004; van Manen, 1997) that led to this paper. Guided by the voice of Heidegger (1954/2008), I discovered the necessity of "un-learning to learn" in order to hear the voices of the elementary English learners who were at the heart of my study. Phenomenology, with its emphasis on lived experience, led me to a re-examination of my own language learning experiences as a point of connection to my participants. Through conversations and visits with elementary English learners, I sought to discover their experiences of learning English in a United States public school and to uncover insights with pedagogical and methodological implications. Through my phenomenological journey, I came to question my previously held conceptions of English learning and teaching. I have been transformed by this study through an un-learning of what I thought I knew and I am now working to re-learn what it means to teach.