BY
ANJEL NURMAULIA SIN. 11810423220
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTAN SYARIF KASIM RIAU
PEKANBARU
1444 H/2023 M
THE INFLUENCE OF USING CUBING STRATEGY TOWARD STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY ON DESCRIPTIVE TEXT
IN THE EIGHTH GRADE OF MTS NEGERI 5 KAMPAR
By
ANJEL NURMAULIA SIN. 11810423220
Thesis
Submitted as partial fulfilment of the Requirements for Bachelor Degree of English Education
(S. Pd)
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTAN SYARIF KASIM RIAU
PEKANBARU
1444 H/2023 M
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Allah S.W.T. The Most Beneficent and The Most Merciful.
praise belongs to Allah Almighty, the Lord of the Universe. Through His guidance and His blessing, the writer finally completed this academic requirement. May shalawat and salam always be presented to the last messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad SAW who has inspired and taken all human being from the darkness to the lightness. This thesis is written and intended to submit in partial of the requirements for the bachelor degree (S. Pd) at Department of English Education Faculty of Education and Teacher Training State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. The thesis is entitled The Influence of Using Cubing Strategy Toward Students’ Writing Ability on Descriptive Text in the Eighth Grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
In conducting the research and finishing this thesis, the researcher got a suggestion, encouragements, motivation, and support from many sides. The researcher truly grateful also for the never-ending supports, love and care of beloved parents, my mother Lindawati and my father Anuar B, who prayed me all day and night long. Their attention is uncreditable.
The researcher would like to show her gratitude to all beloved people that have encouraged. Motivated even helped the researcher in finishing the paper.
They are:
1. Prof. Dr. Hairunas, M.Ag., the Rector of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau has dedicated his time to developing the university to
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achieve its vision and mission. Prof. Dr. Helmiati, M. Ag., the Vice-rector I of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. Dr. H. Mas’ud Zein, M.Pd., the Vice-rector II of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. Prof. Edi Erwan, S.Pt., M.Sc., Ph.D., the Vice-rector III of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.
2. Dr. H. Kadar, M. Ag., the Dean of Education and Teacher Training Faculty of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. Dr. H. Zarkasih, M.Ag., the Vice of Dean I, Dr. Zubaidah Amir. MZ, S.Pd, M.Pd., as the Vice of Dean. II, and Dr. Amirah Diniaty, M.Pd, Kons., the Vice of Dean III and all staffs. Thanks for the kindness and encouragement.
3. Dr. Faurina Anastasia, SS., M.Hum., the Head of English Education Department who has given correction, suggestions, support, advice, and guidance in completing the thesis.
4. Dr. Nur Aisyah Zulkifli, M.Pd., the Secretary of English Education Department, thank you very much for all of your kindness and encouragement.
5. Drs. H. M. Syafi'i S, M.Pd as the supervisor who has given valuable time to correction, assistance, guidance, and suggestion from the very early stage of this research.
6. Mainar Fitri, M.Pd, the researcher’s academic advisor has given motivations, supports, and suggestions.
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7. All lecturers of English Education Department and staff of Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau who have not only giving valuable knowledge but also giving insight, values, information, and motivation.
8. M. Sahlam Putra Tama, M.Pd the headmaster, Muslehan, S.Pd.I the English teacher at MTs Negeri 5 Kampar staffs who have given permission, cooperation and kindness during the writer took the data.
9. Thank you to Anjes Romansah, S.Pd as my beloved Brother and Sari Ramadani, S.E, Devi Winanda Putri, S.Tr.Keb, Husnul Aisaroh, S.Pd as my beloved sisters who given support, motivate and love.
10. I am also thankful to all my beloved family for always giving support and love.
11. Thanks to my beloved friends Martha Yengsi, Romaini Saputri, Dian Novita Sari, Ira Marlina Putri, Sartika Safitri, who are always giving support.
12. The researcher’s B-Classmates, thank you for being my first family in English Education Department, and also thanks to Suri Fandani Priayu Ningsih, S.Pd who always ready helping the researcher in completing this research..
13. The students of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar who have participated in my collecting the data process.
14. For all people who have given the great support in conducting and finishing this thesis that cannot be written one by one. May Allah almighty bless them all. Aamiin Ya Rabbal'alamiin.
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15. I want to thank myself for not giving up during my stressful and during difficult times. Thank to myself for pulling together and enduring the anxiety that I had to go through.
Finally, the writer realizes that this graduating paper is still far from being perfect.
Therefore, constructive comments, critiques and suggestions are appreciated very much. Hopefully, this thesis could provide useful knowledge and information for the readers.
Pekanbaru, 2 Jumaidil Akhir 2022 December 26th 2022 The Researcher,
Anjel Nurmaulia SIN. 11810423534
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ABSTRACT
Anjel Nurmaulia (2022): The Influence of Using Cubing Strategy toward Students' Writing Ability on Descriptive Text in the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
The research aims to find out whether there was any significant difference of using or without using Cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar. The type of this research was quasi-experimental design. Therefore, this research used two classes; experimental and control class. To collect the data, the researcher used pre-test and post-test to find out the students’ writing ability in descriptive text. The population of the research was the eighth grade students of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar. The object of this research was the influence of Cubing strategy towards students’ writing ability in descriptive text. In this research, 50 students from 158 students were chosen as samples. To analyze the data, the researcher used an independent sample T-test through SPSS version 26. Based on independent sample T-test, the result of data analysis showed that the Sig. 2-tailed was 0.00 which is less than 0.05. Thus, it can be concluded that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected. In other words, there was a significant difference on students’
writing ability in descriptive text taught by using Cubing strategy at the eight- grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
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ABSTRAK
Anjel Nurmaulia (2022): Pengaruh dari Penggunaan Strategy Cubing Terhadap Kemampuan Menulis Teks Deskriptif Siswa Kelas 8 MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah ada perbedaan yang signifikan dengan menggunakan atau tanpa menggunakan strategi Cubing terhadap kemampuan menulis siswa pada teks deskriptif di kelas delapan MTs Negeri 5 Kampar. Jenis penelitian ini adalah quasi-eksperimental design. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini menggunakan dua kelas; kelas eksperimental dan kelas kontrol.
Untuk mengumpulkan data, penulis menggunakan pre-test dan post-test dalam bentuk tes tertulis untuk menemukan pencapaian siswa dalam kemampuan menulis teks deskriptif. Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas delapan MTs Negeri 5 Kampar. Objek dari penelitian ini adalah pengaruh dari Strategi Cubing terhadap kemampuan menulis siswa dalam teks deskriptif. Didalam penelitian ini, 50 siswa dari 158 siswa dipilih sebagai sampel. Untuk menganalisis data, peneliti menggunakan rumus independent sample T-test dengan menggunakan SPSS versi 26. Berdasarkan analisis data dengan independent sample T-test, hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa Sig. 2-tailed adalah 0.00 yang mana kurang dari 0.05. Oleh karena itu, dapat simpilkan bahwa Ha diterima dan Ho ditolak. Dengan kata lain, tedapat perbedaan yang signifikan terhadap kemampuan menulis siswa pada teks deskriptif dengan menggunakan Cubing strategy pada kelas delapan MTs Negari 5 Kampar.
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صّخلم
نجأ ( ،ايلوامرون لي ٠٢٠٢
مادختسا يرثتأ :) ةيجيتاترسا
بيعكتلا ةباتك ةراهم ىلع
ةسردلمبا نماثلا فصلا ذيملات ىدل يفصولا صنلا ةيموكلحا ةيملاسلإا ةطسوتلما ٥
رابمك
يفصولا صنلا ةباتك ةراهم في ماه قرف كانه ناك اذإ ام ةفرعم لىإ فدهي ثحبلا اذه ةيموكلحا ةيملاسلإا ةطسوتلما ةسردلمبا نماثلا لصفلا ذيملات ىدل ٥
مهميلعت دعب رابمك
مادختسبا ةيجيتاترسا
بيعكتلا .ةبرتج هبش وه ثحبلا اذه عونو .اهمادختسا نودبو
تماق ،تناايبلا عملجو .يطبضلا لصفلاو بييرجتلا لصفلا ؛ينلصفلا مادختسا تم ،كلذل .يفصولا صنلا ةباتك في ذيملاتلا ةراهم ةفرعلم نيريرحتلا يدعبلاو يلبقلا رابتخلابا ةثحابلا ةطسوتلما ةسردلمبا نماثلا لصفلا ذيملات هعمتمجو ةيموكلحا ةيملاسلإا
٥ .رابمك
مادختسا يرثتأ هعوضومو ةيجيتاترسا
بيعكتلا ىدل يفصولا صنلا ةباتك ةراهم ىلع
رايتخا تمو .ذيملاتلا ٥٥
نم اذيملت ٨٥١
،تناايبلا ليلحتلو .ثحبلا تانيعك اذيملت
رابتخا ةغيص ةثحابلا تمدختسا -
ولعلل ةيئاصحلإا ةمزلحا جمناربو ةلقتسلما تانيعلل ت م
رادصلإ ةيعامتجلاا ٦٢
رابتخا ةغيص مادختسا للاخ نم تناايبلا ليلتح ىلع ءانبو . -
.جيس ةميق نبأ فرع ،ةلقتسلما تانيعلل ت ٦
ليذ ٥.٥٥ نم لقأ يهو
٥.٥٥ .
كانه ،ىرخأ ةرابعبو .ةدودرم ةليدبلا ةيضرفلاو ةلوبقم ةليدبلا ةيضرفلا نبأ جتنتسا ،كلذل نلا ةباتك ةراهم ىلع ماه يرثتأ مادختسا مادختسا دعب يفصولا ص
ةيجيتاترسا بيعكتلا
ةيموكلحا ةيملاسلإا ةطسوتلما ةسردلمبا نماثلا لصفلا ذيملات ىدل ٥
.رابمك
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LIST OF CONTENT
SUPERVISOR APPROVAL ... i
EXAMINERS APPROVAL ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT... iii
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
صخلم ... ix
LIST OF CONTENT ... x
LIST OF TABLES ... xii
LIST OF APPENDICES... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Problem ... 1
B. Identification of the Problem ... 6
C. Limitation of the Problem ... 6
D. Formulation of the Problem ... 6
E. The Objective and Significant of the Research ... 7
1. Objective of the Research ... 7
2. Significant of the Research ... 8
F. The Definition of Term ... 9
1. Writing ... 9
2. Descriptive Text ... 9
3. Cubing Strategy ... 9
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 10
A. Theoritical Framework ... 10
1. Concept of Writing Ability ... 10
2. Descriptive Text ... 16
3. Cubing Strategy ... 19
B. Relevant Research ... 23
C. Operational Concept ... 26
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D. Assumption and Hypothesis ... 26
1. The Assumption ... 26
2. The Hypothesis... 26
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ... 27
A. Research Design ... 27
B. Time and Location of The Research ... 28
C. Subject and Object of the Research ... 28
D. Population and Sample ... 28
1. Population ... 28
2. Sample ... 29
E. Technique of Collecting Data ... 31
F. Scoring Procedure ... 30
G. Technique of Analyzing Data ... 32
CHAPTER IVRESULT AND DISCUSSION ... 35
A. Result ... 35
B. Discussion ... 50
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 55
A. Conclusion ... 55
B. Suggestion ... 56 REFFERENCES
APPENDICES
CURRICULUM VITAE
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE III.1 Pre-test and Post-test Design ... 27
TABLE III.2 The Population of the Research ... 28
TABLE III The Sample of the Research ... 29
Table III.4 Scoring Rubric for Writing Skills ... 31
Table III.5 The Classification of Students’ Score ... 32
Table IV. 1 The Score of Students’ Writing Ability without Using Cubing Strategy ... 36
Table IV. 2 The Distribution Frequency of the Students’ Pre-Test Score of Control Class ... 37
Table IV. 3 The Distribution Frequency of the Students’ Post-Test Scores of Control Class ... 38
Table IV.4 Descriptive Statistic of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Control Class ... 39
Table IV. 5 The Score of Students’ Writing Ability in Descriptive Text by Using Cubing Strategy ... 40
Table IV. 6 The Distribution Frequency of Students Pre-Test in Experimental Class ... 41
Table IV. 7 The Distribution of Frequency of Students Post-Test Score in Experimental Class ... 42
Table IV. 8 Descriptive Statistic of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Experimental Class ... 43
Table IV. 9 Descriptive Statistic of Post-Test Experimental and Post-Test of Control Class ... 44
Table IV.10 The Classification of Students’ Score ... 45
Table IV.11 The Classification of Students’ Score ... 45
Table IV. 12 Test of Normality ... 46
Table IV. 13 Test of Homogeneity of Variances ... 48
Table IV. 14 Independent Sample T-Test of Post-Test in Experiment and Control Class... 49
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Syllabus
Appendix 2 Lesson Plan (RPP)
Appendix 3 Instrument of the Research Appendix 4 Students’ of Writing Test Appendix 5 Score Students’ on Writing Test Appendix 6 Documentations
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem
Writing is one way of expressing ideas in order to communicate with others. Leo (2007) in Dwihandini (2013) stated that writing as a process for expressing ideas or thoughts in the world should be done at our leisure.
Writing ability must be honed and learned via practice. Furthermore, when practiced in conjunction with other writing skills, writing is a very effective tool. Not only that, writing skills are important for students learning English because writing allows them to remember and memorize vocabulary as well as organize it into good paragraphs. Writing is media for expressing thoughts and feelings to communicate with others, and a writer can express his/her thoughts and ideas on the paper.
In the English teaching and learning process, some skills should be mastered by language learners, which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It means there are four English skills that must be mastered by students, one of which is writing skills. Writing is an important aspect of language learning because it provides an excellent way to enhance vocabulary, spelling, and sentence patterns. According to Rass (2018) in Fitriani (2019), writing is a difficult skill for native or non-native speakers because, writers must be able to write on multiple issues, like a content, organization, purpose, audience, vocabulary, and mechanics as well as punctuation, spelling, and capitalization.
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MTs Negeri 5 Kampar is one of the State Islamic Junior High Schools of Kampar is located in Lipat Kain. In the teaching and learning process, this school used the 2013 Curriculum. 2013 Curriculum is a curriculum that implements student center. Students must be active and more creative.
English subject is also provided in this school. English subject is taught by the teacher twice a week for 90 minutes. Based on the syllabus for studying English, the students must able to express meaning and rhetorical steps in simple short essays using various written languages accurately and fluently.
But the fact is that students often complain and say it is difficult when the teacher gives assignments to students to write. In fact, students often say they can't even though they haven't started. Students do not look confident when given writing assignments. They are also afraid of not being able to complete the writing task, because they do not know what to write, how to start and end it.
Following the mandate of the 2013 curriculum, English learning uses a variety of texts, namely long functional texts in the form of narrative, descriptive, and recount conversations as well as texts with various themes.
Descriptive text is one of the writing genres. Descriptive text is a text who describes a person, thing, place, animal, or something special that has been specifically based on what they see, hear, test, smell, or touch. Writing descriptive text is one of the materials that taught since the seventh grade of state junior high school. The basic competence in writing descriptive text is that the students can compose descriptive text orally and write about people,
animals, and things by paying attention to the aim, generic structure, and language features of descriptive text.
However, based on the researcher observations at Islamic Junior High School 5 Kampar, some of students said that writing is a difficult and boring activity because they encounter difficulties while writing. These issues are as follows: First, students do not have a broad vocabulary, it makes them do not know what to write. Second, students have the misconception that writing is extremely difficult, it makes the students afraid to do it.
Furthermore, the students lack linguistic knowledge, such as being unable to correctly spell words and being weak in sentence construction.
The researcher did the initial observation and interview, and the researcher observed that the teacher used the speech method to explain the material and that the teacher focused on giving examples after explaining the material. The teacher also gave the students exercises after teaching the descriptive text. So, the researcher concluded that the teacher used speech and exercise as the teaching methods. If the teacher only uses traditional teaching methods, the students' abilities will not improve, particularly their vocabulary, which is the fundamental skill required to improve their English skills, particularly in writing.
Based on the statement above, it is important to find a way to convince students that writing is not difficult to do. One way is to find interesting techniques for students to motivate them to write, as a way for students to
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explore more ideas and improve their writing skills. One technique that can make this happen is Cubing strategy. Cubing is a simple writing strategy it consists of six steps in thinking. According to Perez (2013) in Rahayu, Yayu Sri, Dewi Gita Lismania (2018), cubing is a strategy designed to help students think about a topic or ideas, from many different angles. It shows that cubing strategy help students understand the topic by using six different perspectives that are appropriate to the topic. (Forget, 2004), stated the six sides are describing, associating, compering, analyzing, applying, and arguing. This strategy is organically intended to be a writing strategy to explore topics or subjects from a variety of dimensions. Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions, just as a cube is six- sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six side approach to the topic.
In this regard, previous researches by Jhoni Iskandar (2016), In his study stated that there was a significant improvement on the seventh grade students’ descriptive writing who were taught by using Cubing strategy. Irda Kurnia Siregar (2016), In Her study stated that cubing strategy can improve students writing skills in descriptive text. Alviana Azka (2019), Her stated that there is the significant influence of using Cubing Technique toward students’ writing ability in descriptive text at the seventh grade at SMP Negeri 4 Sekampung in academic year of 2018/2019. Therefore, this research aims to further investigate The Influence of Using Cubing strategy toward Students’ Writing Ability in Descriptive Text. Then, the sample of
this research is the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar, and located on Soebrantas Raya Street No. 139 Lipatkain, Kec. Kampar Kiri.
Based on the researcher’s preliminary observation by interviewing the English teachers of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar, the researcher found several phenomena faced by students as follows:
1. The students feel difficult to express their ideas in writing descriptive text because lack of vocabulary.
2. The students feel bored and lack motivation in writing descriptive texts because they are not interested in learning English.
3. The students are still confused about the generic structure of the text because lack of understanding toward the subject.
4. The students are not able yet to mastery grammar within writing descriptive text.
Based on the problems mentioned above, the researcher will use cubing strategy to improve students' descriptive text writing ability. As a result, the researcher is interested to investigate the research under the titled "The Influence of Using Cubing Strategy toward Students' Writing Ability on Descriptive Text in the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar."
B. The Identification of the Problem
Based on the background of the problem, the researcher identifies the problem of the research as follows:
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a. Why do the students get difficulties in expressing their idea in writing the descriptive text?
b. Why are the students not interested in writing the descriptive text?
c. Why are the students confused about the generic structure of the text in writing descriptive text?
d. Why are the students not able to mastery grammar in writing descriptive text?
C. The Limitation of the Problem
Based on the identification of the problem above, the researcher only focuses on the use of cubing strategy toward students’ writing ability on descriptive text in the eighth grade students of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
D. The Formulation of the Problem
The problems of this research can be formulated in these following questions:
a. How is students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught without using cubing strategy at the eighth grade MTs Negeri 5 Kampar?
b. How is students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught by using cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar?
c. Is there any significant difference between students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught by using cubing strategy and without using cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar?
E. The Objective and Significance of the Research 1. Objective of the Research
a. To examine students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught without using cubing strategy at the eighth grade MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
b. To examine students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught by using cubing strategy at the eighth grade MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
c. To examine whether there are significant difference between students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught by using cubing strategy and without using cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
2. Significance of the Research
The result of this research is expected to give advantages theoretically and practically.
a. Theoretical advantages
This study aims to support previous theories about the cubing strategy to improve writing ability, especially in descriptive text writing ability.
b. Practical advantages
1) For the researcher, this research will give new understanding and knowledge whether how to conduct the research or how to teach the descriptive text effectively.
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2) For the English teacher of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar, this research is expected to provide solutions and increase their experience in teaching English, especially in teaching writing ability.
3) For the students of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar, this research is also expected to give the students crucial information about learning English that can improve their skills in teaching and learning English.
F. The Definition of the Term 1. Writing
According to (Wyrick, 2011), writing is a productive skill that can be used to help people to express their thought and feelings. It means writing is a way to share information, thoughts, ideas, and feelings with others in the form of writing that is easily understood by the readers.
Furthermore, (Nunan, 2003, as cited in Yolanda et al, 2014) argue that writing is the mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader. Writing is also carried out by students to express their thoughts and feelings in school.
2. Descriptive Text
According to (Wardiman, 2008, as cited in Zetira, R. G, 2014), descriptive text is a text that describes the features of someone, something, or a current place. Writing descriptive text is one of the materials that taught in junior high school. In this research, descriptive
text is a type of text that describes an object, place animal, and person both in its form of nature. It is expected that the students are able to write everything around them correctly either by thinking it first or by looking directly the subject.
3. Cubing strategy
Cubing is useful for quickly exploring a writing topic, and probing it from six different perspectives (Carroll, Joyce Armstrong and Edward E. Wilson, 1993). It means that cubing is a strategy that can be used to develop students writing skills especially in writing descriptive text based on the perspectives in the cubing strategy. In addition (Forget, 2004), stated the six sides are describing, associating, analyzing, applying, and arguing.
10 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Theoretical Framework
1. The Concept of Writing Ability a. The Definition of Writing
Writing is media for expressing thoughts and feelings. It means that the writing is a manner by someone for communicating with around environment, especially for students in the school.
According to Murcia (2001) in Victoria (2015), stated that writing is a skill that enables a learner to rethink the communication process. It means the mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about expressing, and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to the reader. Writing is a very important aspect that should be learned by students because it gave students clear information and ideas.
In addition, according to Nunan (2003) in Yolanda, G., & Al- Hafizh, M (2014) writing is the mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express them and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader. A writer must have good ideas, feelings, and opinions, and be creative in her thinking to create the readers to understand and be satisfied. Based on various definitions of writing explained by the experts above, the researcher concludes that writing is the process of pouring ideas
into written form so that the message conveyed by the author can be understood by the reader.
b. The Importance of Writing
According to Margareta in Hariston (1986) in Munawir (2017) there are some reasons why writing is important:
1) Writing is a tool for discovery. We stimulate our thought process by the act of writing and taffy into information and image that we have in our unconscious.
2) Writing generates new ideas by helping us to make connections and relationships.
3) Writing helps us to organize our ideas. We can arrange them in a coherent form.
4) Writing down ideas allows us to distance ourselves from them.
5) Writing helps us to absorb and process information, when we write a topic, we learn it better.
6) Writing enables us to solve the problem, by putting the element into the written form. We can examine and manipulate them.
7) Writing on the subject makes us active learners rather than passive learners of information.
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c. The Process of Writing
The process of writing has four main elements namely planning, drafting, editing, and final version (Harmer J. , 2004).
The elements are is explain as follows:
1) Planning
In the planning process, the writer should think about three main issues. The first is the purpose of their writing, such as the types of the text, the language they use, and the choice of the information to include. The second is the audience they are writing for. The shape of writing (how is the layout, how the paragraphs are structured, etc) and the choice of language such as formal or informal tone should be considered by the writers in this issue. And the last is the content structure of the piece. It is about how to sequence the facts, ideas, or arguments that they have decided to include.
2) Drafting
Drafting is the first version of a piece of writing. A lot of time should be given to the first draft, and the writer should be reminded that at this point writer need to focus on the development and the organization of those ideas more than the development of perfect grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
3) Editing
In this process, the writer read again what they write as a draft. By doing this process, the mistakes can be minimized by writers and it makes writing effective. In editing, the writers find something bad it can be changed to make writing well.
For example, the information is not clear, the grammar is wrong, and the sentence has an ambiguous meaning. If the writer found this condition, the writer should change or correct it.
4) Final Version
After all the process has been done, the writer makes the final version. The final version will be different from the original plan and the first draft because things have changed in the editing process. After running those processes, the writer is already to send the final written text to the intended audience.
d. The forms of writing
The form of writing is divided into five divisions, they are following:
1) Narrative
The narrative text is the form of writing used to relate the story of acts or events. It locations occurrences in time and tells what happens to keep with herbal time sequences. Types of narratives consist of short storie, novels, and news stories.
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2) Descriptive
The descriptive is a piece of text that describes living or non-living objects. Its’ objective is to describe people, things, animals, or places.
3) Recount
The recount is a text which retells events of experience in the past. Its purpose is to retell events. The generic structures of the recount are orientation, events, and re-orientations.
4) Expository
The expository is used in giving information, making explanations, and interpreting meanings. It concludes the essay, informative, and instructional material.
5) Argumentative
The argumentative is used in persuading and convincing.
It is intently associated with exposition and it is miles often discovered blended with it. The aim of the argumentative is to make a case and prove or disprove a statement or proposition.
It might also additionally gift arguments to convince the reader to simply accept a concept or a factor of view.
So, the researcher concluded that there are various forms of writing, namely narrative, descriptive, recount, expository, and argumentative and all of them have different structures and
explanations. Therefore, in writing, we must know the form of writing that we write.
e. The aspect of writing
According to (Nurgiantoro, 2010), the aspect of writing is following:
1) Content: It means the ability to think creatively and develop thoughts).
2) Organization: It is a fluent expression, ideas clearly stated, logically sequenced, and cohesive. It is also the ability to write inappropriate manner).
3) Vocabulary: The ability to use of word or idiom. It means the writer should master the use of correct words, choosing the words, and idioms.
4) Language use: The ability to write appropriate structure. It means the writer should master the grammar knowledge because it is very important. Without grammar or language use, the writer will not be able to write well.
5) Mechanics: The ability to use punctuation, spelling, and layout correctly.
2. Descriptive Text
There are various kinds of text taught at junior high school and one of them is descriptive text. A description is about sensory experience- how something looks, sounds, and tests (Kane, 2000). Descriptions help
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someone to know specific information about something that is described. It helps someone to imagine something that is described in sound, form even test. Descriptive text is a text that describes the features of someone, something, or a current place (Wardiman, 2008, as cited in Zetira, R. G, 2014). Descriptive text is a type of writing that has the purpose to describe a particular person, place, thing, or animal that has been specifically based on what they hear, see, smell, and taste.
Furthermore (Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002) define the descriptive text as a text that describes what something looks like. It means that descriptive text is one type of text that describes something such as a place, person, animal, and something special.
According to Wardiman, et all (2008) as cited in Masruuroh, Mila Siti (2015) the specify the generic structure of descriptive text into two parts, that is identification and description.
a. Identification: the section where you identify or write further acknowledgments. This can be a general statement about the place, person, or thing that you want to describe.
b. Description: a clear detail or place, person, or thing that you want to describe so that the readers can easily imagine or they can feel that they are involved in their experience.
Regarding its linguistics function, Gerot and Wignell (1994), Derewianka (1997), Knapp and Watkins (2005), Emilia and Christie (2003) as cited in (Anggun, Shafira Khairina, 2016) defined that
descriptive textual content employed a view linguistics function as summarized below:
a. Focus on precise contributors as the principal character.
b. Use the present tense.
c. Use linking verbs or relational process frequently (is, are, has, have, belong to) to classify and describe the appearance or qualities and parts of the participants.
d. Use action verb or material and behaviour process in giving additional description regarding action behaviour done by the participants in text.
e. Use the intellectual verb or intellectual manner while describing feelings.
f. Use adjectives and adverbs to add information to nouns (participants) and add information to verbs (actions) to provide a more detailed description of the topic.
g. Use adverbial terms to feature more facts approximately manner, place, or time and every so often found out in embedded clause which features as circumstances.
Based on the explanation of the descriptive text above, the researcher concludes that descriptive text is a text who describes a person, thing, place, animal, or something special that has been specifically based on what they see, hear, test, smell, or touch. Two generic structures that should be contained in descriptive text, they are
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identification and description, and the linguistic future, which uses the simple present tense.
3. Cubing Strategy
a. Definition of Cubing
Cubing strategy is an instructional strategy that asked students to consider a concept from a variety of different perspectives.
Cubing is useful for quickly exploring a writing topic, and probing it from six different perspectives (Axelrod, R. B., Cooper., &
Charles, R.). It means in applying cubing strategy students can develop their ideas about the topic. By using this strategy students also can analyze a topic in depth.
Cubing is a technique as a quick means for identifying a focus for a subject and workable form as well (Cowan & Cowan, 1980, as cited in Qolbi Chalish, Masitowarni, 2014). Cubing is a strategy that helps students to focus more on writing, cubing gives them steps to catch their focus in writing by following six sides of the cube. In order side, Ferris and Hedgcock as cited in (Hidayati, Rina, 2012) also mentioned that cubing is a technique in which similarity provides a tool allowing writers to select an effective and appropriate way of approaching a topic or to combine methods of understanding and developing a topic. It means that cubing is a strategy in which the students are allowed to combine their understanding by using six steps of cubing.
In addition Perez (2013) as cited in Rahayu, Yayu Sri, Dewi Gita Lismania (2018) states that cubing is a strategy designed to help students think about a topic or ideas, from many different angles. It shows that cubing strategy help students understand the topic by using six different perspectives that are appropriate to the topic. (Forget, 2004), stated the six sides are describing, associating, analyzing, applying, and arguing. This strategy is organically intended to be a writing strategy to explore topics or subjects from a variety of dimensions. Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions, just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six side approach to the topic.
In conclusion, cubing is a simple writing strategy it consists of six steps in thinking. Using the cubing strategy in writing, students are provided to do writing based on their knowledge about a certain topic. By following cubing strategy students can build their writing ability. It is an adaptation of classical invention, a simplified method that asks students simply and quickly to; a. Describe, by using one’s sense to look at colour, size, shape, or to feel, smell, touch, and hear, b. Compare, what is it like, c. Associate, it with whatever it brings to mind, similar or dissimilar, d. Analyze, how it is composed, what is part of it, e. Apply, it in whatever way it can be used or done, f. Argue, for it argues against it and gives reasons
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for taking it. Students should write about all six sides of the cube. It makes it students easier to form the text in writing.
b. The Procedure of Cubing Strategy
According to Sejnost (2009) as cited in Iskandar (2016) proposed procedure of cubing strategy is as follows:
1) Introduce the topic and the six perspectives from which it might be considered.
2) Next, allow students five minutes to consider each side of the cube.
3) Finally, ask students to write the topic from six perspectives of a cube.
c. The Procedure for Teaching Writing using Cubing Strategy According to Alviana Azka (2019) the procedure for teaching writing using cubing strategy follows:
1) Explain the six sides of the cube represent six perspectives containing; Describe, Compare, Associate, Analyse, Apply, and Argue. In this research, the writer gives several instructions to all six sides, given time.
2) The students describe the topic, for example, asked students to explain about places, people, or animals.
3) The students compare the object with another similar object, for example, the object about places, people, and animals.
4) The students write the connection or reflection of the object with something else compared to what students have made.
5) Then, the students elaborate and specify the object about places, people, and animals that have been connected with the sentences that have been made.
6) After that, the students write the benefits of an object that has been made.
7) The last, the students combine all the sentences that have been written to make a descriptive text.
d. Advantages of Cubing Strategy
There are some advantages of cubing strategy. They are developing students’ conceptual understanding of a topic, developing student activity, and developing student paragraph writing skills. Alteri (2010) as cited in Azka (2019) state that cubing can be designed to `help students look at a topic from a different perspective. The purpose of the activity is to help with researcher block in which students brainstorm each of the six perspectives and write on of these perspectives (describing, comprising, associating, analyzing, applying, and arguing). Thus strategy can help the students to analyze the topic in depth. In addition, (Bean, 2008, as cited in Iskandar, 2016) states that the benefits of cubing strategy are:
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1) Allows students to explore multiple dimensions of a topic to grasp a deeper understanding.
2) The students can review the information they covered and clarify the main points.
3) It helps students build a structured outline for a writing assignment.
B. Relevant Research
According to Syafi'I (2013) in Zikri (2022) relevant research is required to observe various researches conducted by other researchers in which they are relevant to the research that we are conducting. There are several research related to this research.
The first relevant research is conducted by Alviana Azka (2019). The title of her research is “The Influence of Using Cubing Technique toward Students’ Descriptive Text Writing Ability at the Seventh Grade of SMPN 4 Sekampung Lampung Timur in Academic Year of 2018/2019. This research aimed to know whether there is a significant influence in writing descriptive text of students by using Cubing Technique. She used a quasi-experimental design for the design of the research, and using writing test as the instrument for collecting data. She is taking 61 students to the sample of her research, 30 students for the experimental class and 31 students for the control class. The pre-test is held before given treatment in the experimental class and the post-test is held after given the treatment. As the result, she concluded that there is the significant influence of using Cubing Technique
toward students’ writing ability in descriptive text at the seventh grade at SMP Negeri 4 Sekampung in academic year of 2018/2019.
The second research is by Jhoni Iskandar (2016). The title of the research is “Teaching Descriptive Writing by using Cubing Strategy to the Eighth Grade Students of SMPN 22 Palembang. This study aims to find out whether or not there is a significant improvement of the eight grade students’ descriptive writing achievement who are taught by using Cubing strategy at SMPN 22 Palembang and to find out whether or not there is a significant difference between the eighth grade students’ descriptive writing by using Cubing strategy those who are taught and those who are not at SMPN 22 Palembang. This study used a quasi-experimental design. The instrument he used test in collecting data is a writing test. The test is administered twice, as a pre-test and post-test for both the control and experimental group. The sample of this study is taken by using purposive sampling. There are 62 students taken as a sample. Each class consists of 31 students from class VIII 3 as the control group and class VIII 6 as an experimental group. As the result of the study, he concluded that there is a significant difference of the eighth grade students at SMPN 22 Palembang who are taught by using strategy.
The third research is by Irda Kurnia Siregar (2016). She conducted research entitled “The Effect Applying Cubing Strategy on the Students’
Achievement in writing Descriptive Text at the Eight Grade Students’ of SMP Baitul Aziz Medan. Her study aims to investigate how Cubing strategy
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improves students, writing skills which are focused on writing descriptive text. This study is quantitative and tested by using true experimental design.
She used random sampling and random assignment to determine the control and the experimental group. There are pre-test and post-test for both the groups. Based on the research findings, the researcher concluded that cubing strategy can improve students writing skills in descriptive text.
Based on the relevant research above, the researcher concludes that using Cubing Strategy can help students to improve their writing ability especially in writing descriptive text. It’s also suggested for English teacher to use cubing strategy as a media in teaching and learning process especially in teaching writing. And for the future researchers, in order to gain a good result in using cubing strategy to improve students writing skill in descriptive text, it is better to have enough time to conduct the research.
C. Operational Concept
In analyzing the problem in this research, there are two variables used in this study, they are variable X is the influence of using Cubing strategy as the independent variable and variable Y is students’ writing ability in the descriptive text as the dependent variable.
Introduce to the students the concept of the cube by giving some examples. In this research, the researcher used dice which contained six sides that had to be explained by students.
1. Variable X: The Influence of using Cubing Strategy
According to Caswell and Brenda (2004) the procedure of using the cube strategy in writing which can be applied by the teacher in the classroom the following procedure:
a. The teacher asks the students to prepare equipment and writing tools such as a pencil, pen, ruler, notebook, and paper.
b. The teacher tells the students very briefly about the material and continues the topic. The teacher explains the topic by using cubing with components and using the picture as a sample.
c. The teacher gives a new topic and picture after that picks the topic and takes it to the top as topic sentences.
d. The teacher asks the student to make a description of the topic by using graphics or cubing.
e. The teacher asks the student to give good arguments about the topic and then concludes all the ideas and mentions where the example and end of the topic.
f. The teacher asks the student to write down and develop the draft into a good descriptive text during a certain time.
g. The teacher asks the student to write down the descriptive text on the paper.
h. The teacher asks the student to submit the text that has been made to the teacher.
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2. Variable Y: Students’ Writing Ability in Descriptive Text
According to Hughes (2003) in Pratama (2012), the indicators of Writing Ability as follows:
1. Students are able to express and develop their ideas in writing a descriptive text.
2. Students are able to write a descriptive text by using a good organization.
3. Students are able to write a descriptive text by using appropriate vocabulary.
4. Students are able to write a descriptive text with good grammatical features.
5. Students are able to write a descriptive text with correct mechanics.
D. Assumption and Hypothesis 1. The Assumption
In this research, the researcher assumed that using Cubing strategy in teaching and learning process has a significant difference toward students’ writing ability in descriptive text.
2. The Hypothesis
Ha: There is a significant difference of using cubing strategy toward students’ writing ability on descriptive text at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
Ho: There is no significant difference of using cubing strategy toward students’ writing ability on descriptive text at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD A. Research Design
This research is experimental. According to (Cresswell, 2008, as cited in Zikri, 2022) Experimental research is the general plan to carry out a study with an active independent variable. The design of this research is quasi- experimental research design, the quasi experimental include assignment, but not random assignment of participants to groups. This is due to the researcher's inability to create groups for the experiment artificially. The researcher used two classes of students in this study, one as the experimental class and the other as the control class.
The variety of quasi-experimental designs, which can be divided into two main categories, there are pre-test, post-test, and post-test-only. In this research the researcher applied pre-test and post-test. The researchers’
design can be presented in the table:
Table III.1
Pre-test and Post-test Design
Control group Pre-test No treatment Post-test Experimental group Pre-test Experimental treatment Post-test
In this research, the students are given a pre-test to know their descriptive text writing ability before treatment and a post-test after the treatment by cubing technique. The pre-test and post-test are conducted for the control and experimental class.
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B. The Location and Time of the Research
The research is conducted at MTs Negeri 5 Kampar. It is located on Soebrantas Raya Street No.139 Lipat Kain, Kec. Kampar Kiri. This research was conducted from August-September 2022.
C. Subject and Object of the Research
The subject of the research is the Eighth Grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar in the academic year of 2022/2023. The object of the research is the influence of using Cubing Strategy toward Students’ Writing Ability on Descriptive Text.
D. Population and Sample 1. Population
The population of this research is the eighth grade students of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar which are divided into six classes and the total number of the eight-grade students is 158. Then, the population of this research is presented in the following:
Table III.2
The Population of the Research
No Class Total students
1 VIII 1 25
2 VIII 2 25
3 VIII 3 28
4 VIII 4 28
5 VIII 5 27
6 VIII 6 27
Total 158
2. Sample
Based on the population above, the researcher took two classes as the sample by using cluster random sampling. One class is as
experimental class that was taught by using cubing strategy and other as control class was not taught by using cubing strategy. According to Gay (2012) cluster random sampling is selected based on the group not individually, all the members of the selected group have similar characteristic. It means the students’ subject of this research has the same material, the same level, and also has the same characteristic. So the researcher chose VIII 3 as control class and VIII 6 as experimental class.
Table III.3
The Sample of the Research
No Class Students
1 VIII 1 (control class) 25
2 VIII 2 (experimental class) 25
Total 50
E. Technique of Collecting Data
In this research, the researcher used tests to collect the data. The researcher collect the data using writing tests (a pre-test and a post-test). The test will be conducted twice as pre-test and post-test in the control class and experimental class.
1. Pre-test
The pre-test was given before the treatment. (Cresswel, 2012), stated a pre-test provides a measure on some attribute or characteristic that you assess for participants in an experiment before they receive the treatment. It is done by writing descriptive text based on the topics that are provided. The researcher was given the pre-test to the students in
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the control and experimental class to measure their descriptive text writing ability before treatment. In the pre-test, the students was write the descriptive text, that consisted of 100 words or more and 60 minutes for time allocation based on pictures of the topics by choosing the topics that are provided.
2. Post-test
The post-test was given after the students in the control and experimental classes got the treatment. (Creswell, 2012), stated that a post-test is a measure of some attributes or characteristics that are assessed for participants in an experiment after treatment. The treatment was given to the experimental class by using cubing strategy. In the post-test, the students also write the descriptive text, which consist of 100 or more and 60 minutes for time allocation based on the picture of the topics by choosing the topics that are provided.
F. Scoring Procedure
The score of test was calculated based on the following scoring system purposed by (Jacobs, 1981, as cited in Tania Tita Shanorra et al, 2021) differentiated five aspects, namely content 30 points, organization 20 points, vocabulary 20 points, language use 25 points, and writing mechanics 5 points.
Table III.4
Scoring Rubric for Writing Skills by Jacobs et al
No Aspect
Writing Score Classification Indicators
1 Content
27 – 30 Very Good
Knowledgeable, substantive, thorough development of thesis, relevant to assigned topic
22 - 26 Good
Some knowledge of subject, adequate range, limited development of thesis, mostly relevant to topic, but lacks detail.
17 - 21 Fair Limited knowledge of subject, little substance, inadequate development of topic.
13 - 16 Bad
Does not show knowledge of subject, non- substantive, not pertinent, not enough to evaluate.
2 Organization
18 - 20 Very Good
Fluent expressions, ideas clearly stated/supported, succinct, well organized, logical, sequencing, cohesive.
14 - 17 Good
Somewhat choppy, loosely organized but main ideas stand out, limited support, logical but incomplete sequencing.
10 - 13 Fair Non-fluent, ideas confused or disconnected, lacks logical sequencing and development.
7 – 9 Bad Does not communicate, no organization, OR not enough to evaluate.
3 Vocabulary
18 - 20 Very Good Correct in word choice, and mastery in word form.
14 - 17 Good Sometimes incorrect in the word choice but it does not disturb the meaning.
10 - 13 Fair
Limited in using the word, often make a mistake in vocabulary and it can change the meaning.
7 – 9 Bad Bad in the word choice, less in vocabulary, and invaluable.
4 Language
22 - 25 Very Good Effective and complex construction, with only a few language mistakes.
18 - 21 Good
Simple construction but effective, few mistakes in complex construction, there is a mistake but it does not change the meaning.
11 – 17 Fair There is a mistake in sentence construction and unclear meaning.
5 – 10 Bad
Not mastering syntactical construction, many mistakes, and not being communicative, invaluable.
5 Mechanic
5 Very Good Mastering in writing rule, only a little spelling error.
4 Good Sometimes there is a spelling error but it does not change the meaning.
3 Fair Sometimes there is a spelling error or uncertain meaning.
2 Bad Not mastering writing, many spelling errors, unreadable writing.
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In this research the researcher used inter-rater to score the result of the test. The scoring was done by researcher and lecturer who also scores’ the test. The scores of two raters are summed up then were divided into two.
The final score = Content + Organization + Vocabulary + Language + Mechanics.
After classifying the elements items from Brown using SPSS 26, the researcher will provide a score classification. The researcher was applied the classification of the students’ scores from Arikunto (2009), it can be shown below:
Table III.5
The Classification of Students’ Score
Score Categories
80-100 Very Good
66-79 Good
56-65 Enough
40-55 Less
30-39 Fail
G. Technique of Analyzing Data
In analyzing the data, the researcher used pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control classes. Those scores were analyzed by using statistical analysis. To know the significant difference on students’
writing ability taught and without using cubing strategy. The researcher used an independent sample T-tests and was calculated by using software SPSS 26 versions. Some assumptions are done by the researcher before analysing the data by using a t-test:
1. Fulfilment of the Assumptions
Parametric statistical tests, such as analysis of variance and least squares regression are widely used by the researcher in many disciplines, including statistic parametric tests to produce an accurate result, the assumptions underlying them such as normality and homogeneity it must be satisfied.
a. Normality Test
The normality is used to know whether the data in the control and the experimental group has a normal distribution or not. In this research, the researcher used statistical computation by using SPSS. While the criteria for acceptance or rejection of normality tests, following:
Ho is accepted if sig > a = 0.05 Ha is accepted if sig < a = 0.05
The hypothesis for the normality tests is formulated, as follows:
Ho : the data are normally distributed Ha : the data are not normally distributed b. Homogeneity Test
Homogeneity is used to know whether the data obtained from the sample is homogeneous or not. In this research, the researcher used statistical computation by using SPSS for the homogeneity test. The test employed Levene’s Test. The criteria for acceptance or rejection of the homogeneity test, following:
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Ho is accepted if sig > a = 0.05 Ha is accepted if sig < a = 0.05
The hypothesis for the homogeneity tests is formulated, as follows:
Ho : the data are normally homogeneity Ha : the data are not normally homogeneity c. Hypothetical Test
After the researcher knows that the data is normal and homogeneous, the data will be analyzed by using an independent sample t-test to know the significance of the treatment effect.
Ha : there is a significant difference of using cubing strategy toward students writing ability on descriptive text at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
Ho : there is no significant difference of using cubing strategy toward students writing ability on descriptive text at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
While the criteria of acceptance and rejection of hypotheses test are:
Ha is accepted if sig (Pvalue) < a = 0.05
Ho is accepted if sig (Pvalue) > a = 0.05
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CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusion
After conducting the research and analyzing the data, the researcher draws a conclusion as follows;
1. The average score of students’ writing ability in descriptive text taught without using Cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar was at good category.
2. The average score of students’ writing ability on descriptive text taught by using Cubing strategy at the eighth grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar was at very good category.
3. From the analysis of the independent sample T-test formula, can be seen from Sig. (2-tailed) of the equal variance assumed in the independent sample t-test table where the Sig. (2-tailed) is was 0.00. It is lower than α = 0.05 and its mean alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted and null Hypothesis (Ho) was rejected. It can be proved from the hypothetical that there was a significant influence between students’
writing ability on descriptive text taught by using cubing strategy at the eight-grade of MTs Negeri 5 Kampar.
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B. Suggestion
For the conclusion above, Cubing strategy can give significant influence on students’ writing ability in descriptive text. Thus, the researcher would like to give some suggestions:
1. Cubing strategy can be as an alternative in teaching and learning process. The teacher can give an interesting method on students’
writing ability in order to make the teaching learning process more fun and enjoyable and the students will be paying more attention to the material.
2. For the students, they have to be interested in learning English to improve their writing ability. Using Cubing strategy could be one of an alternative to help students to motivate learning English.
3. For the readers are recommended to use this thesis as one of the references in find out information about using cubing strategy on students’ writing ability.
4. For the next researcher, this study is one of the ways to help students develop their writing ability by using application. There are many other strategies to make teaching and learning process more affective. The researcher is expected to find new strategies, method, techniques, and approaches that can be used to help students develop their English especially their writing ability.
