Representation of Voice: A Narrative Inquiry of Indonesian EFL Learners in Poetry Writing Experience

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the students' voices and the challenges in writing the poetry from the narratives behind their poetry writing. Since the primary source of the study data was the students' narratives, this study was conducted by following the narrative inquiry method. Fifteen EFL learners who took poetry classes were taken as the study samples. The study data were collected from the students' poems, journals, and interviews. Those three different methods were applied to ensure the data validity and reliability. To identify the voices, the researchers interpreted the voices from the dictions that the students chose to write the poetry. Then, the researchers confirmed the voice's interpretation by comparing them with the students' journals and interview results. To identify the challenges, the researchers qualitatively analyzed the students' journals and the interview results using cross-case analysis. This study found that behind the narratives of learners, there are voices that have been unheard for years, the unspoken words that are kept for themselves. The voices are trauma, anxiety, and hope. The trauma includes the trauma of paranoia, bullying, and past life, and the anxiety includes anxiety of the past, present, and future. Meanwhile, the voice of hope covers optimism and enthusiasm. Besides, this study also identified that the students found some challenges in writing poetry, and they overcame those challenges by practicing more, reading more literature, finding new words, accepting more information, being more flexible, and being open to new contexts.