Entry 1

Hanauer, David I. "Measuring Voice in Poetry Written by Second Language Learners." Sage 32.1 (2015): 66-86. 23 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.

In "Measuring Voice In Poetry Written by Second Language Learners," David Hanauer is conducting research to see if there is a significant voice in the poetry of ESL/2nd Language writers. The reason for his inquiry is that a lot of the current pedagogy for teaching English as a second language to international or foreign students is using creative writing as a tool. The argument for this is that the use of creative writing in that specific classroom setting helps develops a student's voice, provides them with emotional engagement and leaves them with a feeling of ownership over their writing and, ultimately, the language itself.
Through his experiment of seeing whether random participants could discern if two poems were written by the same author or another, Hanauer came to the conclusion that it was possible to identify two different works by the same author. He takes this finding to conclude that the reason one could identify these works as being from the same writer is because the writer has a specific voice and if that is the case, that the writer has a specific voice, than Hanauer believed it is fair to conclude that the use of creative writing in ESL classrooms is appropriate because it does hone a writer's craftsmanship and voice.
While I don't think this study itself is conclusive, I would indeed recommend this article to a lot of my peers, especially those in the MFA program that would want to pursue teaching because, as we have learned from this week's reading, separate classes for rhetoric and comp studies for ESL/EFL students are not as popular and everyone is being treated at an equal standard. This could provide an opportunity for MFA holders to use the skills they, themselves, are familiar with as well as create assignments and curriculum that would be conducive to helping ESL/EFL stay on track and be confident with being in a comp class with those that are native speakers/writers.