Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Péter Antonyi: Phrasal verbs: a study and its implications for teaching methods

PÉTER ANTONYI PHRASAL VERBS: A STUDY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING METHODS Abstract: This paper describes a study conducted on the acquisition of phrasal verbs and by the analysis of the data found it seeks to suggest methodological remedies to the numerous kinds of difficulties identified. After discussing the implications for improved teaching efficiency, it also provides a short review of the most influential teaching/practice materials currently in print and examines their treatment of the area with respect to some of the proposed methodological considerations. 1 The Study Initial purpose: This survey is aimed to examine the tendency of students to use phrasal verbs. I consider using phrasal verbs on the part of EFL students as running a risk in the light of the numerous learning problems they impose on the students. Obviously, the likelihood for the students to choose phrasal verbs was naturally quite low as they could freely use language, in which the class of phrasal verbs is only a limited set. Free language use was merely controlled by the context (it was a gap-filling exercise) and the Hungarian translation of the full English text, the latter being an indirect means of encouraging (rarely discouraging) the use of phrasal verbs by deliberate LI interference imposed on the students. 1.1 Hypothesis The study is to demonstrate that, in spite of the factors guiding toward the choice of phrasal verbs, on the whole, students tend to avoid them due to complex learning problems. No doubt that they feel considerably more comfortable and secure choosing simple, mostly latinate, one-part verbs (the usual synonyms for phrasal verbs in textbooks), whose meaning and usage are more evident to them. The study also meant to point out that avoidance of phrasal verbs is not simply a matter of overall ignorance shown in this field of lexical items. In 67