CAHAYALinguaVol. 01, No.

01, September 2012 BambangYudiCahyono

Helping EFL Learners to Develop Ideas in Writing Using the “Cubing” Technique

BambangYudiCahyono
State University of Malang, East Java
yudic2000@yahoo.com

Abstract

The article presents one of the techniques in the teaching of writing, namely “cubing.” As the name may
suggest, the technique is based on the physical appearance of idea of a cube that has six sides. The six stages
in cubing represents the six sides of the cube. The six sides or perspectives of cubing are: Describe, Compare,
Associate, Analyze, Apply, and Argue. This article is also based on the author’s exprience in applying the cubing
technique in the teaching of both paragraph and essay writing. It turns out that most of the students were
able to apply the stages quite well. From the experience in applying the technique, it is expected that EFL
learners, especially those at the tertiary level, and English teachers can use the technique to write their own
ideas. It is also expected that this the technique can be shared so that more EFL learners or English teachers
can be helped to develop ideas into written products.

Keywords:Cubing, cubing technique, the teaching of writing, EFL learners, English teachers

INTRODUCTION
In the teaching of writing for learners of
English as a Foreign Language (EFL learners) in
Indonesia, teachers can use various techniques
to help the learners write. For example, the EFL
learners can be helped to write by using
interactive activities such as those proposed by
Ariyanti (2010) and Taselin (2010). Ariyanti
applied the Think-Pair-Share (TPS) technique to
develop the students’ writing ability in terms of
generic structures and language features. The
result of her research shows that the students
made progress in both aspects of writing in their
descriptive texts following the implementation of
the TPS technique. Meanwhile, Taselin proposed
the BACK and DRAW technique in teaching
writing. This technique represents an elaborated
way of writing proses through Brainstorming,
Attaching, Correcting, Keeping, Developing,
Revising, Arranging, and “Wonderful,” with its
acronym BACK and DRAW.
EFL learners may also be helped to write
by using techniques based on blended learning of
the writing process and application of
Information and Communication Technology. For
example, Agustin (2011) conducted action
research in her secondary school classroom to
solve the students’ problem in writing narrative
texts. She taught writing using animation stories
taken from Bookbox collection published in
YouTube, a popular video-based website. She
found out that the students could improve their
ability in writing narrative texts after being
exposed to a series of animation stories. In a
research study that I conducted (see Cahyono,
2011), I investigated how the process of writing
in the classroom could be integrated with online
writing. Thus, I assigned the students to do a
series of writing process varying from planning,
drafting, revising, to editing in the classroom and
asked them to publish their work in their “Album
Application” in Facebook. The results show that
the students’ final products in writing improved
and they apreciated very much the use of the
online social network. A more extensive review
of various other techniques in the teaching of
writing and their efficacy in improving the EFL
learners’ ability in writing can be seen in a book
that I wrote in collaboration with a colleague
(see Cahyono & Widiati, 2011). In this paper, in
particular, I will present cubing, a technique in
writing which has been introduced in the
literature but rarely applied in the teaching of
writing to Indonesian learners of EFL.
THEORETICAL BASIS
Cubing is a technique in writing whose
application was inspired by the shape of a cube
which has six sides. This technique was
introduced by Elizabeth and Gregory Cowan in
their textbook entitled “Writing” (Scott, n.d.). It
requires someone to see an object or a topic
from six different perspectives. Thus, this
technique is “a way in approaching a topic, or to
combine methods of understanding and treating
a topic” (Ferris & Hedgcock, 1998: 106). To apply

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 CAHAYALinguaVol. 01, No. 01, September 2012
cubing is to write according to the following six
stages:
Describe it.
Compare it.
Associate it.
Analyze it.
Apply it.
Argue (for or against it).
The “six-stage” formula can be used as a
basis to write a paragraph or and essay. “It”
represents an object, a person, a place, or an
abstract concept. Thus, cubing can be used to
write an ordinary thing like a “candy bar” and a
complex idea such as “bilingualism”. For
example, Leki (1998: 30) provided an example of
how to develop ideas through cubing by
choosing a candy bar as the “it”. She stated,
“First, go and buy a candy bar. Then consider
your candy bar from all six points of view. When
you have finished, jot down the ideas you found
that you like.” Meanwhile, Ferris and Hedgcock
(1998: 108) gave an example of how to write
about “bilingualism” by using a cubing technique.
Regarding the application of cubing, they stated,
“thinking carefully about a single issue or
problem from multiple angles offers the writer a
range of rhetorical directions to follow before
planning a piece of writing.”
SAMPLE MATERIALS
Because cubing can be used as a means
to generate ideas and to write them in the form
of a paragraph or an essay, EFL learners can be
trained to develop a paragraph first and then,
when their paragraph is done, they can be asked
to develop their paragraph into an essay. When
it is written in the form of a paragraph, each side
of the cube can be written in one sentence or
more. In the following example, each sentence in
the paragraph represents each side of the cube.
My shiny, Red and Heart-shaped
Keychain
Since the time I bought the shiny, red
and heart-shaped keychain, it has
become my favorite souvenir (Describe).
This keychain has beaten the one I liked
before not only in terms of color and
shape, but also because of its appealing
written message: “I left my heart in
Washington, D. C” (Compare). It always
reminds me of the clean and beautiful
city which is rich of monuments and
historical sites (Associate). As the name
suggest, the keychain has a chain and it
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connects the frame of the heart and a
hook to hold keys (Analyze). Yes, I never
want to bring the keychain everywhere I
go, or have the intention to use it to
hold keys (Apply). Instead, I put is a
display item and I guess, if you see it,
you’ll leave your heart in the keychain
(Argue for).
In the following, a paragraph about “Richard
Gere,” a famous Hollywood film star, is shown as
another example.
Richard Gere
At the first time I saw this brilliant actor,
I fell in love with him immediately! His
name is Richard Gere. Richard Gere is
different from other Hollywood actors
that I have known. He has his own
unique side that others do not have,
especially his smile. Remembering him, I
will remember a good actor and
generous man. Richard Gere has acted
in some incredible and famous movies
such as “Sommersby”, “Autumn in New
York”, “Run away Bride.” With his
personality, he is absolutely terrific and
genius in playing a gentleman in a
romantic movie. However, these
characteristics are not suitable for other
kinds of movies, especially in horror or
action. By the way Mr Gere, don’t really
think about that because I’m still your
number one fan; you still got the magic.
(By Ayu Chandra Astari)
In the paragraph above, all of the sides
of the cube has been stated, regardless of the
number of sentences in each perspective. The
paragraph contains “Describe” (2 sentences),
“Compare” (2 sentences), “Associate” (1
sentence), “Analyze” (1 sentence), “Apply” (1
sentence), and “Argue” (2 sentences). The
paragraph, then can be developed into an essay.
with the same topic “Richard Gere” (see
Appendix 1).
TEACHING PROCEDURES
In this section, the procedures in
teaching the cubing technique to EFL learners are
elaborated. In the teaching process, it is
necessary to make sure that each of the stages of
cubing is elaborated and given a clear example.
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 Pre-teaching
1. Introduce to the students the
concept of “cube” by giving them
some examples. The example can
be a dice or a rubic cube. It is also
important to open all sides of the
cube to show that there are six
sides.
2. Explain that the six sides of the
cube represent six “perspective”
containing “Describe,” “Compare,”
“Associate,” “Analyze,” “Apply,”
and “Argue (for or agains it)” (see
Figure 1).
Figure 1. The six sides of cubes for the six
perspectives in writing.
 Whilst-teaching
3. Ask the students to pay attention to
the stages of the cubing technique.
While explaining, give the students
example from the first sample
material (My red, shiny, heart-
shaped keychain). The picture or
the real object of the keychain can
be shown (see Figure 2).
#1 Describe it.
At this first stage, you should introduce
the topic and describe it so that it
appeals to (any of) the five senses (sight,
sound, taste, touch, and/or smell). For
example,
Since the time I bought the shiny,
red and heart-shaped keychain, it
has become my favorite souvenir.
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Figure 2. The red, shiny, heart-shaped keychain.
#2 Compare it.
For this second side of cube, you need
to compare (and/or contrast) the topic
with another thing. Are the two things
similar or are they different from each
other? If so, you need to point this out
and identify the connection between
the two objects or issues. For example,
This keychain has beaten the one I
liked before not only in terms of
color and shape, but also because
of its appealing written message: “I
left my heart in Washington, D.C”.
#3 Associate it.
At this stage of writing, think of or
reflect on a pleasant memory regarding
the object. You might ask yourself: What
sort of impression do I have when I look
at the object? Does it symbolize or have
a connection with something else? For
example,
It always reminds me of the clean
and beautiful city which is rich of
monuments and historical sites
#4 Analyze it.
For this fourth side of cube, you need to
break down, elaborate, or specify the
objects. For example,
As the name suggest, the keychain
has a chain and it connects the
frame of the heart and a hook to
hold keys.
#5 Apply it.
After breaking down the objects into
some aspects, you need to show the
value of the objects. You might want to
mention the function, the use, or how
the objects could be effective. Tell what
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you can (cannot) do with it. For
example,
Yet, I never want to bring the
keychain everywhere I go, or have
the intention to use it to hold keys.
#6 Argue (for or against it).
For the final side of the cube, you might
highlight the strong or the poor feature
of the objects. In short, you make argue
for or against it. For example,
Instead, I put it as a display item
and I guess, if you see it, you’ll
leave your heart in the keychain.
4. Explain that the combination of all
sentences developed through the
six phases result in the production
of a cubing-based paragraph. Then
show the complete paragraph.
5. Give more examples by showing the
paragraph on “Richard Gere” so
that the students can understand
that a cubing paragraph can be
developed into an essay by adding
some more sentences to the
existing sentences.
6. Explain two rules that have to be
followed in cubing.
To apply this technique, there are
two rules that have to be followed:
Rule #1
All six sides of the cubes must be
used and they should be done in
the proper sequence.
Rule #2
Move fast.
For writing and essay, use between
3 and 5 minutes for each of the
first five sides and use five full
minutes for the last side.
7. Ask the students to develop their
own paragraph using the cubing
technique by distributing the
Worksheet (see Appendix 2). Set
the timing and give 2 minutes for
each side of the cube.
 Post-teaching
8. Remind the students that after
they have finished writing all six sides of the
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cube, ask them to reread the draft and
revise any parts which need to be improved.
9. Ask them to submit the text
that they have written.
REFLECTION
I applied the cubing technique in the
teaching of writing at the undergraduate level in
the English Department of State University of
Malang. I found that in general the students
could develop the ideas about the topic they had
chosen well. One of the examples of their
products of writing using cubing technique is the
text on “Richard Gere.” The text fits the six
perspectives employed in the technique. In
addition, they were also able to expand the ideas
from the paragraph to essay form. When looking
at the students more specifically, I noticed that
the most difficult part of the cubing technique is
the third phase, that is “associating.” Some
students failed in stating the association which is
resulted from the “it”. Thus, the associating part
is not about the “it” per se, but about something
else that comes to mind because of the “it”. In
order to cope with this problem, I advised the
students to state the association more explicitly
by using words such as remind, remember, make
me think, and come to mind.
I also introduced the technique in “the
Teaching of Writing” Course at the graduate level
of students of the same university, where most
of the students were English lecturers, English
teachers, or English instructors. From the
presented materials as I have outlined in the
Teaching Procedures section above, they could
understand about the concept of cubing and
learn one of the ways in presenting the
materials. As I also assigned these teachers to
actually write about the topic of their choice,
they experienced in applying the cubing
technique. Later, the teachers’ writing products
were submitted to me and I evaluated their
works on the basis of the completeness of the six
perspectives. Although none of these teachers
could get the perfect score which can be gained
by applying all the six perspectives successfully,
most of the teachers developed the topic with
most of the six perspectives appropriately.
CONCLUSION
This paper has dealt with one of the
techniques in developing ideas in writing which is
called “cubing”. The name of the technique
entails the necessity to include all of the six
perspectives in the writing products. Thus,
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although a particular writing product is long 147-160). Malang: State

enough to be called a paragraph (for example,
the paragraph has a topic sentence and has a
number of supporting sentences), when one of
the perspectives is missing, the paragraph cannot
be called as a cubing paragraph. Similarly, when
a text is long enough to be called an essay (for
instance it contains five paragraphs), it is not a
cubing essay when the paragraphs focus on
some of the six perspectives. On the other hand,
for a free writing, a writer may use some of the
six perspectives to develop their ideas to make
up an paragraph or an essay. The perspective
may also be applied not in the prescribed order.
Thus, the perpectives of the cubing technique
can be used as a stepping stone to develop ideas.
That is why, the cubing technique can be used as
part of the stages in the writing process, that is
the planning stage. With the presentation of the
cubing technique in this article, it is expected
that EFL learners, especially those at the tertiary
level, and English teachers can use the technique
to write their own ideas. It is also expected that
this the technique can be shared so that more
EFL learners or English teachers can be helped to
develop ideas into written products.
University of Malang Press.
Cahyono, B. Y., & Widiati, U. 2011. The
Teaching of English as a Foreign
Language in Indonesia. Malang:
State University of Malang.
Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. S. 1998.
Teaching ESL Composition:
Purpose, Process, and Practice.
London: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Leki, I. 1998. Academic Writing:
Exploring Processes and
Strategies. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Taselin, M. 2010. Interactive activities
for Improving Students’ Writing
Skills. In B. Y. Cahyono (Ed.),
The Teaching of English
Language Skills and English
Language Components (pp. 103-
112). Malang: State University of
Malang.

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