NOVICE ENGLISH TEACHERS’ VOICES ON THE USE OF CHUNKING METHOD FOR STUDENT’S SPEAKING FLUENCY

Teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the educational landscape and developing high-quality human resources. In the Indonesian context, however, challenges persist, particularly for novice English teachers who often struggle to find effective methods to improve students’ speaking fluency. This study investigates the perceptions, experiences, and challenges faced by novice English teachers in implementing the chunking method as a strategy to enhance students’ speaking skills. Novice teachers, defined as those with one to five years of teaching experience, frequently encounter difficulties when adapting to school culture and applying appropriate instructional techniques. In speaking instruction, many educators still rely on outdated, teacher-centered approaches, which may hinder students’ fluency development. The chunking method, which focuses on teaching language in meaningful phrases or groups of words, offers a promising alternative for improving fluency.
This research adopts a qualitative design using an interpretive phenomenological approach to deeply explore the lived experiences of novice English teachers. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to 21 novice teachers, along with semi-structured interviews conducted with three teachers closely acquainted with the researcher. Participants were selected using a random sampling technique, with the main criteria being one to three years of English teaching experience post-graduation or certification. The findings aim to answer how novice English teachers perceive and apply the chunking method in their teaching practices, and how it influences students’ speaking fluency. Ultimately, this study seeks to contribute to the improvement of speaking instruction in EFL classrooms by providing insights into the effectiveness of chunking from the perspective of novice teachers.