Language Systems

Assignment 4 - Lexis
Helping lower-level learners understand and use
phrasal verbs

Kateryna Kirichenko
15-Oct-13
LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

Contents
Introduction 220 ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Analysis 973 words .................................................................................................................................. 3
Meaning .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Use ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Form.................................................................................................................................................... 5
Phonology ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Problems and Solutions 953 words .......................................................................................................... 6
Problem 1 Idiomatic meaning .............................................................................................................. 6
Solution 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Problem 2 Multiple meanings .............................................................................................................. 6
Solution 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Problem 3 Separable phrasal verbs – word order ................................................................................. 7
Solution 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Problem 4 Leaving out the particles ..................................................................................................... 7
Solution 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Problem 5 Avoidance ........................................................................................................................... 8
Solution 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................... 8
Word Count............................................................................................................................................. 9
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 9

Introduction 220
Having taught ESL in 4 different countries over the last 8 years, I couldn’t help but notice that all my
students of all levels always ask about phrasal verbs. Most of them believe that phrasal verbs are
difficult to learn and want to know the best way to do it. Some simply avoid using them, which results in
unnatural utterances. Here, in Oman, even people who speak very good English, often use phrasal verbs
inaccurately.

I chose to focus on lower-levels learners because I believe that phrasal verbs need to be introduced
early as a part of English vocabulary, to ensure that students don’t see them as something too difficult
to learn. Often textbooks and teachers themselves avoid teaching phrasal verbs in early stages and later
students are overwhelmed by the quantity of them at once, especially if they are preparing for exams

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(Gairns & Redman, 1986).Having a large store of phrasal verbs helps learners in real-time conversations
and aids fluency (Thornbury, An A-Z of ELT, 2006) which, in my opinion, is crucial for A1-B1 learners
(from my experience, fluency is a big issue for many Asian learners, such as Chinese and Vietnamese).

When I started reading, I realised that it is still a grey area in English language. Different authors use
different terms and classifications and teaching suggestions vary.

Analysis 973 words

Phrasal verbs are a part of the multi-words verbs category (also called polywords (Lewis, 1993), two- or
three-part verbs (Willis, 2003) and lexemes (Crystal, 2003). S. Thornbury also uses term ‘formulaic
language’ to refer to ‘sequences of two or more words that operate as a single unit’ which includes
collocation, phrasal verbs, idioms, sentence frames and discourse markers’ (Thornbury, 2006, p. 85).

On his blog Scott Thornbury points out the ‘fuzziness’ of the definition of phrasal verbs in literature
(Thornbury, 2010). I’ve noticed it too. Most reference books for learners of English such as Hart (2009),
McCarthy & O'Dell (2004) and many others, use term ‘phrasal verbs’ to describe:

 prepositional verbs ( verb + preposition:) She put the book down.

 phrasal verbs (verb + adverb): My car broke down.

 phrasal-prepositional verbs (verb + adverb + preposition): Do I have to put up with it?

While I can see the importance of distinguishing between the three categories for linguists, I believe that
it isn’t as important for learners of English, especially at lower levels and therefore in this paper I will
further refer to all three as phrasal verbs, following the trend in most reference books. Commented [S1]: Is this OK? It seems to be easier this way as
most books/materials do not distinguish between them and I really
don’e want to limit the lesson later to ‘pure’ phrasal verbs.
Meaning
Phrasal verbs have different degrees of the clarity of meaning. S. Thornbury writes that phrasal verbs
can be idiomatic, semi-idiomatic and literal (Thornbury, 2002).

I. Idiomatic

Most phrasal verbs are idiomatic which means that the meaning of both parts together is different than
the meanings of each individual part (Swan, 2005)

Example: hang up

 Verb hang means ‘to fasten or support something at the top leaving the other
parts free to move, or to be held’
 Up means ‘towards a higher position; towards a higher value, number, or level’
(Cambridge Dictionary Online, 2013).

However “hang up” means ‘to end a telephone conversation (by cutting the connection) (Cambridge
Dictionary Online, 2013).

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LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

II. Semi-literal

Having said that, some phrasal verbs can be fairly literal and their meaning can be guessed by looking at
both parts (these are often prepositional verbs):

She looked up to see if he really was crying. – here the phrasal verb retains the literal notion
implied by the action of the verb and the direction of the preposition, although there is only
conceptual movement or direction in the context.

III. Literal

He ran up the stairs. - ran tells us about the action and up shows the actual direction.

Polisemy

Some phrasal verbs can be polysemous, that is they have multiple meanings:

My car broke down (stopped working).

He broke down under the interrogation (disintegrated).

He broke it down (divided).

Use
It is believed that phrasal verbs are mostly used in speaking and/or colloquial context. However, while it
is true that phrasal verbs are used with a higher frequency in spoken English than in written, it is not
appropriate to attribute informality to phrasal verbs as a whole. For example, the more formal, one-
word equivalents, or synonyms, (often of Latin origin), nowadays can be perceived as exaggeratedly
formal (Parrott, 2000) even in writing:

He put out his cigarette and went inside.

*He extinguished his cigarette and went inside.

Other phrasal verbs don’t have one-word equivalents and it can be difficult to express the same
meaning with a long phrase:

He picked me up.

*He came to (wherever I was) and from there we went (somewhere) together (probably in his
car).

I tend to agree with authors (such as M. Parrot, 2000) who say that most phrasal verbs have neutral
meaning (of course with some exceptions such as piss off or throw up) and are nowadays used even in
academic papers.

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LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

Form Commented [S2]: I had comments on my previous LSAs that my

A phrasal verb consists of a base verb (look, run, take, etc.) and one or more particle(s) (up, down, off,
out, etc.) that together act as a single lexical item. Particles are ‘small’ words that are used as adverbs
and/or prepositions (Parrott, 2000). Some books (McCarthy & O'Dell, 2004) explain the phrasal-
prepositional verbs by saying that a preposition follows the phrasal verb. I believe that it is easier to
view them as single units.
form analysis wasn’t in depth... Is this one deep enough? My LSA 1
you didn’t comment on my form in the draft and thought it was ok,
but then tutors changed and I got a ‘strong pass’ because for merit I
would need more depth (the new tutor said it wasn’t analysis as
such...)

The base verbs are alterable and can have the following forms:

infinitive base past simple past present present

participle participle/gerund simple, 3rd
person

regular to switch off switch off switched off switched off switching off switches off

to break break broken breaks

irregular broke breaking down
down down down down

Phrasal verbs can be intransitive and transitive. Intransitive phrasal verbs don’t take direct objects:

I woke up early.

Transitive verbs always have a direct object:

I switched the lights on.

Transitive phrasal verbs can be further divided into

a) Separable or syntactically flexible (the verb and the adverb can be separated by the subject between
them):

I switched off the lights. OR I switched the lights off.

Note: when the subject is a pronoun, the phrasal verbs are always separated (however, there
are exceptions when the pronoun carries new information: John can pick up Anne, but who will
pick up me? (Thornbury, 2010):

I switched them off. NOT *I switched off them.

b) Inseparable (the verb and the particle cannot be separated):

She looks after the children. NOT *She looks the children after.

Note: verbs with two or more particles are inseparable

Who came up with that idea?

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NOT * Who came up that idea with? or Who came the idea up with?

Phonology Commented [S3]: Is this enough? I was thinking about

connected speech but it’s not specific to phrasal verbs. Maybe that
Phrasal verbs follow certain stress patterns: they are often pronounced as one word when nor separated?
Couldn’t find any sources on it.
 Intransitive, inseparable phrasal verbs are usually stressed on the particle
He woke up.
 Transitive, inseparable phrasal verbs are usually stressed on the verb
She looks after the children.
 separable phrasal verbs (which are always transitive) are usually stressed on the particle
She took the shoes off
 In three-part phrasal verbs the stress is always on the second part (middle) whether it is
separable or not.
She came up with that idea.

(Hart, 2009)

Problems and Solutions 953 words Commented [S4]: I haven’t quite finished these, will be
referencing more, etc. But, my question is are they student-
specific? A lot of them are common for most nationalities/levels...
Problem 1 Idiomatic meaning Is there an appropriate range of activities? I have some practical
and some awareness-raising ones, I think? 
Because the meaning of many phrasal verbs is not clear from looking at both parts a lot of students have
difficulties understanding them as they see them in texts or hear them in conversation. Lower-level
students often do not recognise these in texts and try to figure out the meaning of each part individually
which results in confusion. A related problem is that they may not see the particle when it is separated
and is at the end of the sentence.

Solution 1
Aim: to raise students’ awareness of phrasal verbs as single lexical units with different meanings.

Procedure: have the students look at pictures with different actions and choose an appropriate verb for
each. (hang – hang up, burn – burn out, get – get through, etc.). Ask the students to fill in the gaps in
the sentences with a correct verb.

Evaluation: Pelmanism can help learners who have a strong visual/spatial intelligence. It helps
memorisation. Further practice allows the students to make choices by remembering the meaning of
the words.

Problem 2 Multiple meanings

Some phrasal verbs have multiple meanings and therefore present difficulties for the students who
know one of them only and assume that it has that meaning. This can be a challenge for lower – level
students who already know some of the phrasal verbs but do not know that they can be polysemic.

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LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

Solution 2
Aim: to show the students multiple meaning of the same phrasal verb.

Procedure:

 Choose one of the most common phrasal verbs (e.g. break down, look up, etc.).
 Show the students a set of sentences containing it.
 Ask the students what the sentences mean. If appropriate students can translate the sentences
into L1.
 Students make a mind map of the possible meanings of the phrasal verb.
 Students make one more mind map by using a dictionary but supplying their own examples.

Evaluation: This activity is very student-centred. It allows students to use different techniques of dealing
with phrasal verbs. Working out the meaning of a word from context is very useful for all levels and low-
level students need it the most. It also promotes learner autonomy.

Problem 3 Separable phrasal verbs – word order

Many learners avoid separating the verb and the particle and continue to do so even when the object is
a pronoun. This is common to all level students, particularly ones who have been taught by grammar-
translation methods at school (very common in many countries especially in Asia)

Solution 3
Aim: to practise word order of separable phrasal verbs

Procedure:

 cut ups – put in order.

 Write sentences following examples.

Evaluation: This activity appeals to different intelligences and thus helps memorisation. It also allows for
paraphrasing and personalisation which involve cognitive processing and also helps memorisation and
automaticity.

Problem 4 Leaving out the particles

A lot of Arab students use phrasal verbs even the lower-level students. Omani students, in particular,
usually have good range of vocabulary. Unfortunately they only use lexical words that carry meaning.
With phrasal verbs this results in the omittance of the particle, e.g. I will pick you. While it is often
enough for them to convey the meaning when talking to each other it does lead to confusion when they
speak with native speakers.

Solution 4
Aim: to show the students the difference in meaning of verbs when they have/don’t have the particle
(drop vs, drop off, etc.).

Procedure:

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LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

1. the students read a text that contains phrasal verbs and the same verbs but without particles
(look and look up, for example). Any topic is suitable but it is probably better to have phrasal
verbs that are either lexically related (directions, daily routines, etc) or have the same verb (look
up, look out, look at, etc.).
2. they are asked to write down the verbs from the text in one column. Check together and see if
they left out the particles. Explain that the particles play an important role by changing the
meaning of verbs. Elicit (or explain) the term phrasal verb.
3. in pairs students match verbs with simple explanations/synonyms (use your eyes, find the word
in a dictionary). Check the answers as a whole class (display the answers on IWB).
4. Give a copy of the first text with gaps (instead of verbs) and ask them to reconstruct the original
text in pairs/small groups. They can check the answers by looking at the original they have.
5. Ask the students to record the verbs in their vocabulary notebooks. Emphasise that they are all
one unit of meaning and must be remembered as such.

Evaluation: This is a consciousness-raising activity that can be very helpful to exemplify how particles
change the meaning of verbs. S. Thornbury suggests that helping learners notice patterns facilitates
understanding (Thornbury, 2002). Using the text helps learners see the words in context – it’s easier to
figure out the meaning. Stage 3 can be done using dictionaries which will help develop learners’
autonomy and show them how to use them to identify phrasal verbs.

Problem 5 Avoidance
A lot of Asian learners avoid using phrasal verbs. Sometimes it is because they are not sure when it is
appropriate or not. This results in overly-formal, unnatural utterances like: I removed my shoes when I
entered the house. This is often also a result of direct translation using bilingual dictionaries (often e-
dictionary which can be limited, especially if published by local companies).

Solution 5
Aim: to show the students the difference by choosing the more appropriate dialogue

Procedure:

 Pre-teach a (thematic) set of phrasal verbs.

 Students read two dialogues. Which one sounds better? Why?
 Give one more dialogue with more formal equivalents and ask ss to replace them with phrasal
verbs.

Evaluation: In this activity the students see the difference phrasal verbs make in speaking.

Conclusion Commented [S5]: Do I really need one? I didn’t have them in

the first 2 LSAs and never had comments about it. But on LSA 3 Jon
said it was a weakness and that I should have had one. Not entirely
sure what I can say here that I haven’t said before and don’t really
have word count left for repeating things. Advice? Are the points I
Points only at this stage: have enough here?

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LSA 4 - Lexis Kateryna Kirichenko

 phrasal verbs are single lexical units and it’s important to teach them as such.
 it’s important to teach them to lower-level students (starting from A1)
 storing a chunks such as phrasal verbs helps imrove fluency and make speech more natural.

Word Count
Introduction..........................................

Analysis.................................................

Problems and Solutions........................

Conclusion: .........................................

Total word count: ................................2225

Bibliography
Cambridge Dictionary Online. (2013). Retrieved 10 03, 2013, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hang_1?q=hang

Crystal, D. (2003). The Cambridge Enciclopedia of the English Language (2 ed.). CUP.

Gairns, R., & Redman, S. (1986). Working with Words. CUP.

Hart, C. W. (2009). The Ultimate Phrasal Verb Book (2 ed.). Barron's Educational Series.

Lewis, M. (1993). The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publications.

McCarthy, M., & O'Dell, F. (2004). English Phrasal Verbs in Use. CUP.

Parrott, M. (2000). Grammar for English Language Teachers (2 ed.). CUP.

Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage (3 ed.). OUP.

Thornbury, S. (1997). About Language Tasks for teachers of English. CUP.

Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan.

Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Pearson Education Limited.

Thornbury, S. (2010, 08 29). P is for Phrasal Verb. Retrieved 10 03, 2013, from An A-Z of ELT, Scott
Thornbury's blog: http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/p-is-for-phrasal-verb/

Willis, D. (2003). Rules, Patterns and Words. CUP.

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Appendices

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