An investigation into the difficulties encountered by students in learning phrasal verbs in grammar lessons at khanh son high school in khanh hoa province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- NGUYEN THANH HOANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING PHRASA

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

NGUYEN THANH HOANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING PHRASAL VERBS IN GRAMMAR LESSONS

AT KHANH SON HIGH SCHOOL

IN KHANH HOA PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

HUE, 2014

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

NGUYEN THANH HOANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING PHRASAL VERBS IN GRAMMAR LESSONS

AT KHANH SON HIGH SCHOOL

IN KHANH HOA PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60.14.01.11

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN QUANG NGOAN, Ph.D

HUE, 2014

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

-

NGUYỄN THANH HOÀNG

KHẢO SÁT NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN KHI HỌC CỤM ĐỘNG TỪ Ở CÁC BÀI HỌC NGỮ PHÁP CỦA HỌC SINH TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG KHÁNH SƠN, TỈNH KHÁNH HÕA

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC:

TS NGUYỄN QUANG NGOẠN

HUẾ, 2014

ABSTRACT

This study investigates difficulties that students at Khanh Son High School in Khanh Hoa Province are facing in learning phrasal verbs in grammar lessons One more important thing is that from the difficulties, solutions and suggestions are shown with the hope that teachers will have deeper understanding about the reasons leading to students‟ difficulties in learning phrasal verbs and about the ways in which teachers and students will be able to teach and learn phrasal verbs more effectively and communicatively

The research aims to find out the answers to the students‟ perceptions of phrasal verbs, types of phrasal verbs they have difficulties in learning, and causes of the difficulties they encounter at Khanh Son High School

In order to achieve the objectives of the thesis, the researcher made use of not only qualitative but also quantitative approaches to the analysis of the data which were collected from tests on phrasal verbs, questionnaires, and interviews

The results show that most of the students under investigation got bad marks for the following reasons First, there are so many categories of phrasal verbs Second, a phrasal verb has so many meanings depending on different situations and contexts of the sentences Third, the students in the survey at the Khanh Son High School came from poor families in the remote and mountainous areas and there was

a shortage of conditions (both time and money) for them to study

Above all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Quang Ngoan, for his valuable references, insightful ideas, practical advice, serious supervision, and enthusiasm from the start of my work His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for

my M.A study

A very special thank goes out to my lecturers at the M.A course in the Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching in the academic year 2012-

2014 for their devotion to teaching, which inspired all the students in the class to better their teaching profession

I wish to express my gratitude to Assoc Pro Dr Tran Van Phuoc, Assoc Pro Dr Le Pham Hoai Huong, and Dr Truong Bach Le for their useful comments on the research proposal for the necessary adjustments

I am deeply indebted to the teachers and students

at Khanh Son High School, who took part in my study

Without their enthusiastic help, it would be difficult for

me to complete my research

Last but not least, I heartily thank my dear family and friends for their constant encouragement and support

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

LIST OF CHARTS ix

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF APPENDICES xi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Research purposes 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Research scope 3

1.5 Research significance 3

1.6 Structure of the thesis 3

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Review of the previous studies 5

2.2 Theoretical background 6

2.2.1 Definition of phrasal verbs 6

2.2.2 Distinction between phrasal verbs and verb phrases 8

2.2.2.1 Verb phrases 8

2.2.2.2 Phrasal verbs 9

2.2.3 Types of phrasal verbs 9

2.2.3.1 Types of phrasal verbs in literature 9

2.2.3.2 Types of phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks in Vietnam 11

2.2.4 What phrasal verbs should be taught? 18

2.2.5 Methods for teaching phrasal verbs in grammar lessons 18

2.3 Chapter summary 22

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 The research approach 23

3.2 Participants of the study 23

3.3 Research instruments 24

3.3.1 The tests on phrasal verbs 24

3.3.2 Questionnaires 24

3.3.3 Interviews 25

3.4 Data collection procedure 25

3.4.1 Document review 25

3.4.2 Empirical data collection 25

3.4.3 Questionnaires 25

3.4.4 Informal interviews 26

3.4.5 Data analysis 26

3.5 Chapter summary 27

CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 28

4.1 Results of phrasal verb tests and discussion 28

4.1.1 Students‟ poor results in doing tests of phrasal verbs 28

4.1.2 Difficulties in learning phrasal verbs as reported by students at Khanh Son High School 34

4.1.3 Difficulties in learning phrasal verbs by students at Khanh Son High School as commented by their teachers 34

4.2 Findings from the questionnaire data and discussion 35

4.2.1 Teachers and students‟ viewpoints on the necessity of learning phrasal verbs 36 4.2.2 Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about difficulties in learning phrasal verbs 39

4.2.4 Teachers‟ and students‟ suggestions for improvement in learning phrasal verbs 44

4.3 Chapter summary 46

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 47

5.1 Summary of the key findings 47

5.2 Implications 49

5.2.1 For students 49

5.2.2 For teachers 49

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 51

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.1: Do students like learning phrasal verbs? 36Chart 4.2: How difficult/easy are phrasal verbs in the textbooks according to

students? 36Chart 4.3: How important teachers find teaching phrasal verbs 38Chart 4.4: How often do students learn and use phrasal verbs? 42Chart 4.5: How often do students use phrasal verbs they have learnt in speaking

and writing? 44

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Types of intransitive phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks 11

Table 2.2: Types of separable phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks 13 Table 2.3: Types of inseparable phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks 16

Table 2.4: Types of three-word phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks 17

Table 3.1: Questionnaire Participants 24

Table 3.2: The Kinds of Questions 24

Table 3.3: Interview Participants 25

Table 4.1: Inclass-test / Time allotted: 45 mins / class 10 29

Table 4.2: Inclass-test / Time allotted: 45 mins / class 11 30

Table 4.3: Inclass-test / Time allotted: 45 mins / class 12 32

Table 4.4: The total marks of the inclass-tests 10, 11, and 12 33

Table 4.5: Reasons why students learn phrasal verbs 37

Table 4.6: Purposes of teaching phrasal verbs 38

Table 4.7: Reasons why teachers find learning phrasal verbs difficult 39

Table 4.8: Reasons why students find learning phrasal verbs difficult 40

Table 4.9: Teachers‟ perception of students‟ difficulties in learning phrasal verbs40 Table 4.10: Students‟ difficulties in learning phrasal verbs 41

Table 4.11: Types of phrasal verbs students choose to learn 43

Table 4.12: Sources from which students often learn phrasal verbs 43

Table 4.13: What should the teachers do to help the students to overcome the difficulties in learning phrasal verbs? 44

Table 4.14: What are suggested by students for effectiveness of learning phrasal

verbs? 45

LIST OF APPENDICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the rationale for the study with a perspective on difficulties faced by students in learning phrasal verbs in grammar lessons Deep down, research purposes, research questions, research scope, research significance, and structure of the thesis are also given by the researcher

1.1 Rationale

The more our society is developing, the more globalised the world is becoming The form of communication of a language is very important, commonly realized four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing English is the most important language which has been spreading in many countries all over the world these days

As we‟ve known, English has not only been an essential means of communication but also been regarded as an international language – “a dominant language”, from the developed and developing countries to other areas Therefore, English has become an essential requirement for people to communicate with others and get a good job whenever and wherever they live and work Nowadays, the economical, political, military and commercial relations among the countries in the world have greatly increased and become more important In order to carry out the relations, the subject of learning and teaching foreign languages has gained great importance English is a key to technology That is why they get more interest in learning English and their children are taken to College of Foreign Languages to study English at an early age

Learning English is a long and difficult process Learners have to be successful in the four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing One basic thing helping them succeed in learning English is vocabulary Another which

is more important and difficult than vocabulary is “phrasal verb” Phrasal verbs (PVs) are widely used by native speakers and pose Vietnamese students plenty of

problems during their process of learning English, especially for students at Upper Secondary School

In other words, there are so many students complaining about the difficulties that they must face upon using PVs The issue concerning the ways of learning PVs

is still quite controversial At present, there are no ways to help students to learn all the PVs, as well as nouns, adjectives, and idioms since PVs have figurative meanings that can make them confused when they translate texts or carry out phrasal verb tests It‟s difficult for learners to use them properly Therefore, they need encouragement to learn them well

As a teacher of English with six years‟s experience of teaching, I see that students at Khanh Son High School have difficulties in learning and practicing PVs They fall into confusion in using PVs to translate due to their lack of professional knowledge and the appropriate learning methods It is for those reasons that I have

decided to carry out a study project entitled“An Investigation into the Difficulties

Encountered by Students in Learning Phrasal Verbs in Grammar Lessons at Khanh Son High School in Khanh Hoa Province” I hope that the study will result in the

most effective methods and findings to those who faced difficulties in learning PVs

1.2 Research purposes

The study aims to figure out a basic knowledge on PVs and other matters related to the area In detail, my graduation paper aims at:

- Reflecting on the problems involved in learning PVs

- Suggesting some more effective and appropriate methods for learning PVs

1.3 Research questions

Major question: What are the difficulties faced by students at Khanh Son

High School in Khanh Hoa Province in learning phrasal verbs?

Sub-questions:

Question 1: What are the students‟ perceptions of phrasal verbs at Khanh Son

High School?

Question 2: What types of Phrasal Verbs do the students at Khanh Son High

School in Khanh Hoa Province have difficulties in learning?

Question 3: What are the possible causes of the difficulties?

1.4 Research scope

PVs are believed to be one of the difficult items for learners of English, which would require a great amount of time and effort to do the research Furthermore, there is also abundant material resource on PVs However, because of the narrow scope, this study mainly focuses on learning conditions and effective methods in limiting existing difficulties in learning PVs Thus, the subjects of study we mainly aim at are students at Khanh Son High School in Khanh Hoa Province where there are 5 English teachers and 450 students

1.5 Research significance

The study investigates problems encountered by students at Khanh Son High School in Khanh Hoa Province in using PVs It is hoped that the study will give insights to teachers and students in the use of PVs It is also hoped that the findings

of the study will have a bearing on curriculum design and development Besides, the importance of this study lies in the fact that it sheds light on the neglected area of PVs It, hence, may encourage researchers to conduct further research on different aspects of PVs to provide learners and teachers of English with useful hints and recommendations Deep down, the significance of this study stems from the fact that, to the best knowledge of the researcher, no similar study on PVs has been conducted on similar target subjects in Khanh Hoa Province

1.6 Structure of the thesis

Besides the abstract, references, and appendices, the thesis is organized into the following parts

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter presents the rationale of research, the aims of research, research questions, scope of research, significance of research, and the structure of the thesis

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This chapter focuses on a review of the previous studies and offers a fundamental overview of theoretical concepts which are related to the research The major theoretical background of the chapter includes the definitions of phrasal verbs, types of phrasal verbs, phrasal verbs that should be taught, and methods for teaching phrasal verbs

Chapter 3: Research Methods

This chapter presents the procedure of the study which consists of the research approach, participants of the study, research instruments as well as data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion

This chapter presents and discusses the study results based on the data which are collected from the phrasal verb tests, questionnaires, and interviews so as to answer the three questions that are mentioned in chapter one

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications

The last chapter summarizes the research findings It also poses some suggestions for teachers and students to overcome the difficulties in learning phrasal verbs It discusses limitations of the investigation, and makes suggestions for classroom practice and future research

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter focuses on the theoretical background of the study To begin with, it deals with the previous studies related to the research Furthermore, a number of important theoretical terms related to PVs learning are also mentioned

2.1 Review of the previous studies

As the researcher can get access to, there have been a few relevant studies to the present research

For example, Hoang Thi My Hanh (2007) conducted a research, entitled “An Investigation into Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Idioms in English-Major Classes at Le Quy Don Gifted School in Quang Tri” The participants included questionnaire participants (20 teachers and 91 students), observation participants (5 teachers and 91 students), and interview participants (6 teachers and 8 students) The data for the study were collected from documents (relevant to the teaching and learning of English idioms), from empirical data (in-class tests on idioms, classes

10, 11, and 12, academic year 2006-2007), from questionnaires with closed-ended and open-ended questions, from class observations, and from informal interviews The results showed that most of the teachers and students agreed that teaching and learning idioms are very necessary, especially in communication

Besides, Hoang Thi Uyen Thy (2012) conducted another research with the topic “The Application of Some Educational Software Programs in Supporting Grammar Teaching and Listening to Students at Some High Schools in Thua Thien Hue Province” This study is related to mine to the extent of grammar lessons The methods used in the study included qualitative and quantitative ones The participants of the study were 15 teachers and 100 grade-eleventh students in the academic year 2011-2012 Data collection instruments were questionnaires and interviews The questionnaires included 15 closed and open-ended questions The first five sentences were about teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of using some

educational software programs in supporting grammar teaching and learning The next nine questions focused on investigating the realities of using educational software programs in supporting grammar teaching and learning, and the last one aimed at finding out the possible solutions to improve them The interviews were mainly based on interviewees‟ opinions and thought The results of the study showed that the nearer information technology is coming, the higher its effectiveness is The wide application of educational software programs in language teaching and learning might be having a great contribution in enhancing and improving our instructional methodology The researcher wanted to emphasize that people cannot work quickly without machines Therefore, each teacher and each student should have a high awareness towards using software programs in teaching and learning grammar

2.2 Theoretical background

2.2.1 Definition of phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is made up of a verb and one or two or three particles which together function as a single verb The particle may be an adverb, a preposition, or a word that can act as either an adverb or a preposition (Stephens, 2002)

Mortimer (1972) states: "The English language has hundreds of two-part

verbs such as bring up, carry on and put up These are easy enough to understand

when the meaning of the whole two-part verb is equal to the meaning of the sum of its two parts" However, he concedes: "But in many cases, knowing the meaning of the parts does not help us to know the meaning of the whole" Thus, to add the

meaning of bring to the meaning of up will not help us to understand the meaning

of bring up in the expression “He brought up a point” Nor will it help us to understand bring up in the expression “She brought up a family” (p iii)

There can be no doubt that PVs have received a considerable amount of attention in recent years Cornell (1985) points out that PVs have been

"discovered" as an important component in EFL curricula The interest in PVs is clearly reflected in modern dictionaries, especially those which list PVs separately

in their own right and give them separate entries For example, they give put up a

separate entry rather than list it under put Besides, special dictionaries have been

designed exclusively for PVs

The importance of PVs is often expressed in quantitative terms Cornell (1985) points out that there are at least 700 PVs in ordinary, everyday use in English, 3000 established PVs, and hundreds of two-part verbs Nevertheless, large numbers of PVs are non-idiomatic in nature, in the sense that their meanings are easily deduced from the verb element A high proficiency in using phrasal verbs indicates a good foreign learner In this respect, Cornell (1985) states:

"The plain fact that what distinguishes the writing and, above all, the speech

of a good foreign student from those of an Englishman is that what an Englishman writes or says is full of these expressions (phrasal verbs), whereas most foreigners are frightened of them, carefully avoid them, and what sounds stilted should be the phrasal verbs, not foreigners in consequence Foreign students who enjoy being flattered on their English can best achieve this by correctly using masses of these component verbs" (p 270)

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL), students usually encounter major semantic, structural, collocational and phonological problems in using phrasal verbs Most foreign learners avoid using them because of these idiomaticalness Cornell (1985) focuses on the semantic and collocational problems that arise with PVs but he overlooks the problem of structure

Some grammarians, such as Kolln et Funk (1998) take the view that PVs comprise only those combinations that form an idiom, i.e., a phrase whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meaning of its parts Nevertheless, Hall (2002) notes that PVs are used in three ways:

1 To describe an action literally, for example:

He went out of the room

A majority of phrasal verbs are used in this way

2 To intensify or emphasize an action, for example:

It's been pouring down all day

3 As verbs with a special meaning, for example:

Her daughter was run over while playing in the street

On the other hand, like normal verbs, PVs may be:

1 transitive, as in: She looked after the baby

2 intransitive, as in: When they went away, she got up

Whether used literally or figuratively, PVs are acquired early by native speakers, but usually late by foreign learners because their grammar is difficult and their meaning cannot in many cases be deduced from the meanings of the separate words Their use is idiomatic or figurative (Kaminska, 2001) Furthermore, some PVs have a multitude of different meanings depending on the context For instance, the American Heritage Dictionary cites seventeen different meanings of the phrasal

verb pick up

2.2.2 Distinction between phrasal verbs and verb phrases

2.2.2.1 Verb phrases

A verb phrase consists of a verb and all the words and word groups that

belong to the verb and cluster around it The lexical verb is called the headword or

head, and other words and word groups are the auxiliaries, modifiers and

complements of the verbs (Nguyen Thuy Nga, 2004)

arrive late

soon arrive at the station

may have been stolen by the cashier

Complements include direct object, indirect object, object complement, and

subject complement

Verb phrases can come in a variety of shapes

V+AP+PP: Ann seems friendly to us

2.2.2.2 Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are verbs that consist of a verb and a particle (Felicity O‟Dell, 2004)

words in your dictionary

You can find the meaning of

dictionary

couldn‟t get through

I tried to phone her but I couldn‟t get a connection

all

I just can‟t understand Jim‟s behavior

Particles are small words which you already know as prepositions or adverbs

Here are some of the most phrasal verbs: about, (a)round, at, away,back, down, for,

in, into, off, on, out, over, through, to, and up

For example:

Walked to the shops is a verb phrase in I walked to the shops, which consists

of a verb (walked) and its prepositional complement (to the shops)

However,

Look up is a phrasal verb in I looked up the word in the dictionary

2.2.3 Types of phrasal verbs

2.2.3.1 Types of phrasal verbs in literature

Longman (1990) states that we often combine verbs with prepositions and

adverb particles to form phrasal verbs These verbs can have non-idiomatic or

idiomatic meanings and we use them a lot So, for example, if someone knocks

at the door, we would probably say „Come in!‟ rather than „Enter‟ Another example is we would say „Take off your jacket” rather than “Remove it”, and so

on We can define four types of phrasal verbs according to form As you learn

new verbs, get used to recognizing them as one of these four types so that you learn how to use them

Type 1: verb + preposition (transitive): e.g Listen to this record Listen to it Type 2: verb + particle (transitive): e.g Take off your hat Take your hat off

Take it of

Type 3: verb + particle (intransitive): e.g Hurry up! Sit down!

Type 4: verb + particle + preposition (transitive): e.g We‟ve run out of

matches

From the four types of PVs above, they are divided into the 5 following groups:

a Transitive phrasal verbs (Phrasal verbs that take an object)

Some PVs have to have an object:

 Verb (V) + Preposition (P) + Object (O)

For example: put on a sweater

(V) + (P) + (O)

b Intransitive phrasal verbs (Phrasal Verbs that don't take an Object)

Some PVs do not have to have an object They can exist on their own:

 Verb (V) + Preposition (P)

For example: slow down

(V) + (P)

c Separable phrasal verbs

Some transitive PVs can be separated by the object:

 Verb (V) + Object (O) + Preposition (P)

For example: take out the garbage = take the garbage out

(V) + (P) + (O) = (V) + (O) + (P)

d Non-separable phrasal verbs

Some transitive PVs cannot be separated by the object

For example:

look after my dog (Correct) versus look my dog after (Incorrect)

e Phrasal verbs with more than one particle (Three-word PVs)

Some PVs are made up of more than one preposition One example of this

kind is made up of

It should be remembered that these PVs are always non-separable

2.2.3.2 Types of phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks in Vietnam

Four of the five types of PVs mentioned above usually appear in the current high school textbooks in Vietnam, as illustrated in Tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 Table 2.1 shows that intransitive PVs are PVs that don‟t take an object They all appear in the current high school textbooks From examples given in the table, it

is emphasized that when a verb with a fixed or specific meaning is combined with a preposition, it will make a phrasal verb having a quite different meaning Some PVs give their clear meanings when being combined such as “come in” means “enter”,

“eat out” means “eat at a restaurant”, and “go out” means “leave home to go on a social event” However, there are still some PVs which detain the meaning of the verb: “break down”, and “grow up” In some sentences, some PVs even sometimes

have the same meaning; for instances, “I will never come back to this place.” and

“I‟ll never go back to that place” Furthermore, kinds of exercises in the textbooks

are limited, only for the Gap-filling and Replacing For example, we can see the illustrations in the English textbook 12:

+ I usually get up at six o‟clock in the morning (Exercise 2, sentence 1, page 160) + The bomb went off with a loud bang which could be heard all over the town

(exploded) – (Exercise 3, sentence 7, page 161)

Table 2.1: Types of intransitive phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks Intransitive PVs Meanings Examples

Break down Stop functioning

(vehicle, machine)

The car has broken down

Break out Begin suddenly The war broke out when he talked failed

Come back Return I will never come back to this place

Come in Enter They came in through the back door

Dress up Wear nice clothing We should dress up to go to the theater

Eat out Eat at a restaurant Do you feel like eating out tonight?

Get on Advance How are you getting on in your new job?

Get up Rise He got up early to go the airport

Go back Return to a place I‟ll never go back to that place

Go on Continue/happen -I thought he would stop, but he just went on

- What‟s going on here?

Go up Rise of prices The price of gas went up by 5%

Go out Leave home to go on

a social event We‟re going out for dinner tonight

Grow up Become an

adult/mature This is the town where I grew up

Hold on Wait a short time Please hold on while I transfer you to the

Sales Department

Keep on Continue They kept on looking after the dog

Set off Start a journey We set off very early

Show up Appear He didn‟t show up last night

Speak up Speak aloud Can you speak up a little? I can‟t hear you

Take off Start to fly The plane takes off in five minutes

Turn up Appear She invited a lot of people to her party, but

only a few turned up

Table 2.2 shows that separable PVs are PVs that can be separated by the object (but only for some transitive PVs) They all appear in the current high school textbooks From examples given in the table, it is emphasized that when a verb and

a preposition are combined into one – a phrasal verb, most of the nouns stand after prepositions, and pronouns like “me, us, you, them, him, her, and it” stand before them Like PVs in table 2.1, Some PVs give their clear meanings on not having been combined such as “give away”, “give back”, “put away”, “put on”, and “throw away” However, there are still some PVs that detain the meaning of the verb:

“blow up”, “clear up”, “cut down”, “fill in”, and “find out” Deep down, some PVs

sometimes have the same meaning; for examples, “throw away” means “dispose of” And kinds of exercises in the textbooks are limited, only for the Gap-filling and Replacing For instances:

+ Don‟t throw away that box / that box away (English workbook 12, exercise

5, sentence 1, page 98)

+ Because of the accident, my train was held up for several hours (delayed) –

(English textbook 12, Exercise 3, sentence 5, page 161)

Table 2.2: Types of separable phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks

Blow up Explode They blew up the bridge

Bring up Raise My brother brought me up after my parents

died

Call off Cancel They called off the meeting

Carry on Continue He carried on the task while others had left

Cheer up Make S.O happy Mary‟s unhappy – we should do something

to cheer her up

Clear up Solve/clean She cleared up the spare room

Cut down Reduce He cut down the number of employees in

his company

Do over Clean/ redecorate /repeat a

job

- My parents will need to do over their

living-room soon The paintwork needs refreshing

Draw up Make a written

plan/agreement

The residents of the building drew up a plan

to catch the thief

Fill in

Complete spaces on a form /Write information in blanks

(Br.E)

Please fill in the form with your name,

address, and phone number

Fill out Complete a form / Write

information in blanks (N.Amer.)

The form must be filled out in capital

letters

Fill up Fill to the top I always fill the water jug up when it is

empty

Find out Discover She found out the truth

Figure out Understand Can you figure out how to do it?

Give away Distribute He gave away his clothes to the poor

Give back Return a borrowed item He hasn‟t given back my book yet

Give up Stop trying My father gave up cigarettes

Hand in Give an assignment or project

to a teacher I have to hand in my essay by Friday

Hand out Distribute to a group of

people

We will hand out the invitations at the

door

Hold up Delay I was held up in the traffic for nearly 2 hours

Leave out Omit He left out all the prepositions

Let down Fail to support or help,

Look up Search and find information in

a reference book or database

We can look her phone number up on the

Internet

Make up Invent, lie about something Josie made up a story about why we were

late

Pick out Choose/select She picked out some very nice clothes

Pick up Collect; give someone a lift James is coming to pick me up at 8 o'clock

Point out Identify She pointed out the mistakes

Put away Put in the proper place They put away the books

Put off Delay/postpone He asked me to put off the meeting until

tomorrow

Put on Wear Don‟t forget to put on your new earrings for

the party

Put out Extinguish The firemen arrived in time to put out the fire.

Set up Establish They set up a new office in Vietnam

Take off Remove St (usually clothing) Take off your socks and shoes and come in

the lake

Take over Get control of CBS Records was taken over by Sony

Throw away Dispose of/discard Don‟t throw the book away

Try on Sample clothing She tried on five blouses in the shop

Try out Test I tried out the car before I bought it

Turn down

Decrease the volume or strength (heat, light etc)/refuse

- Could you turn down the radio, please?

- I turned the job down because I don‟t

want to move

Turn off Stop a machine/ switch off We turned off the television

Turn on Start a machine/ switch on Would you mind turning on the cassette

player?

Use up Finish a product (so that

there's none left) The kids have used up all the toothpaste

Table 2.3 shows that inseparable PVs are PVs that can‟t be separated by the object They all appear in the current high school textbooks Like PVs in the table 2.1, when a verb with a fixed or specific meaning is combined with a preposition, it will make a phrasal verb having a quite different meaning Unlike PVs in the table 2.2, when a verb and a preposition are combined into one – a phrasal verb, most of the nouns and pronouns like “me, us, you, them, him, her, and it” have to stand after prepositions Like the table 2.1 and table 2.2, kinds of exercises in the textbooks are only for the Gap-filling and Replacing Examples can be taken from the English textbook 12:

+ Who looks after your grandmother when she is ill? (English workbook 12,

exercise 3, sentence 5, page 93)

+ My father still hasn‟t really got over the death of my mother (recovered

from) – (English textbook 12, exercise 3, sentence 4, page 161)

Table 2.3: Types of inseparable phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks

Break in(to) Enter forcibly

/interrupt

- TV station broke in to report the news of the

president‟s death

- Someone broke into my apartment last night

and stole all my money

Call on Visit He called on his friend

Call for Demand This plan called for a lot of effort

Care for Look after He cared for his sick father for 3 years

Count on Rely or depend on I'm counting on the taxi driver to find the

theatre

Get over Overcome It took me two weeks to get over the flu

Go over Review The students went over the material before the

exam

Look after Take care of Who is looking after your dog?

Look for Seek/ try to find He‟s looking for his keys

Look into Investigate The police are looking into the murder

Run across Find by chance I ran across my old roommate at the college

reunion

Run into

Meet by accident or unexpectedly

(also : bump into)

Sophie ran into Maria at the shopping centre

Stand for Represent VIP stands for “very important person”

Take after Resemble He takes after his mother

Table 2.4 also shows that three-word PVs are PVs that can‟t be separated by the object (and it is called an inseparable phrasal verb) They all appear in the current high school textbooks

Table 2.4: Types of three-word phrasal verbs in the current high school textbooks

Break in on Interrupt (a

conversation)

I was talking to Mom on the phone when the

operator broke in on our call

Catch up with Keep abreast She left an hour ago I‟ll never catch up with

her now

Check up on Examine, investigate The boys promised to check up on the condition

of the summer house from time to time

Cut down on Curtail (expenses) We tried to cut down on the money we were

spending on entertainment

Fed up with Be completely bored We are fed up with this wet weather

Get on/ along

with

Have a good relationship with

I found it very hard to get along with my

brother when we were young

Get away with Escape blame Janis cheated on the exam and then tried to get

away with it

Get rid of Eliminate The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt

mayor in the recent election

Get through with Finish When will you ever get through with that

program?

Keep up with Maintain pace with It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you

lose your job!

Look forward to Anticipate with

pleasure

I always look forward to the beginning of a

new semester

Look down on Despise

It's typical of a jingoistic country that the

citizens look down on their geographical

neighbors

Look out for be careful, anticipate Good instructors will look out for early signs

of failure in their students Look up to Respect First-graders really look up to their teachers

Make sure of Verify Make sure of the student's identity before you

let him into the classroom

Put up with Tolerate The teacher had to put up with a great deal of

nonsense from the new students

Run out of Exhaust supply The runners ran out of energy before the end

of the race

Take care of Be responsible for My oldest sister took care of us after Mom died

Unlike PVs in the table 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3, a verb combined with 2 particles will make a phrasal verb having a quite different meaning The kinds of exercises on PVs in the textbooks are limited, only for the Gap-filling Examples of those can be found in the English workbook 12:

+ Are you looking forward to the party next week? (English workbook 12,

exercise 3, sentence 6, page 9)

2.2.4 What phrasal verbs should be taught?

From the classification of the tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and after a long time at University, not only I but other students also got bad marks in phrasal verb tests It proves that learning PVs is not an easy task; however to teach them effectively is even more difficult According to Tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4, all the PVs are classified in detail They are common PVs and are extremely crucial They all appear in the tests like the Fifteen Minute Test, the Forty-five Minute Test, the Mid-term Test and the Semester Test Therefore, selecting the most appropriate types of PVs to teach is of great significance As seen in tables 2.2 and 2.4, it is obvious that Separable and three-word PVs are the most difficult PVs to learn There are so many transitive PVs that can be separated by the object and there are also many PVs with more than one particle Hence, teachers should teach all the PVs in tables 2.2 and 2.4 more carefully than the PVs in tables 2.1 and 2.3

2.2.5 Methods for teaching phrasal verbs in grammar lessons

Approaches to teaching PVs can be tentatively divided into two categories: those that concentrate on the formal (syntactic) aspects of usage, and those in which the semantic contents of verbs are stressed Many authors of ELT publications frequently use both in an attempt to introduce variety in exercise types

a Emphasis on syntactic elements

These approaches take the verb or the particle itself as the starting point For instance, Allsop (1990) offers exercises which concentrate on such common verbs

as come (followed by about, into, out, round, etc.), take (after, down, over, up, etc.),

get ( across, over, round, down, etc.), go (into, over, through, by, etc.), be (into, around, through, up, etc.), The prepositions which are the focus of attention for

Allsop include away (as in break away, tow away), down (as in settle down, wear

down), in (as in bring in, stay in), off (as in cut off, put off), and out (as in drop out, rub out) A similar approach is quite common in course books designed to prepare

candidates for Cambridge Examination in English (First Certificate, Advanced, and Proficiency) For instance, Acklam and Burgess (1996: 40), offer an exercise the

verb to take which tells the learner to match sentences containing PVs (referring to various contexts, e.g You need to take few days off work, I am thinking of taking up

golf to get some exercise) with their semantically equivalent definitions or

synonyms, albeit related to one another merely by the verb take and several

particles following it

An approach which centers on the verb is also offered by Seidl, who explains the syntactic intricacies of PVs by distinguishing between six patterns She divides all the multi-word into transitive and intransitive ones (1990: 8):

i intransitive + particle, e.g slow down;

ii intransitive + preposition, e.g count on someone/something;

iii intransitive + particle + preposition, e.g put up with someone/something;

iv transitive + particle, e.g take someone off;

v transitive + preposition, e.g talk someone into something;

vi transitive + particle + preposition, e.g put something down to something

a Emphasis on semantic elements

This approach seems to provide an even greater variety of exercise types For instance, Acklam (1992) organizes common PVs around themes such as

“relationship problems” (the chapter entitled Getting On), “illness” (the chapter

Pulling Through) or “family relationship” (Taking After), and the learners are

supposed to do a number of exercises which first present the verbs and then practice them in either controlled or free ways in a variety of related contexts In another book, by Acklam and Burgess (1996), the context of “family” involves a number of

PVs such as grow up, bring up, get on, etc., which are brought together in one

sentence-based exercise

Apart from individual sentences that illustrate the meanings of verbs, there are

a variety of texts followed by exercises in meaning recognition and the contextual use of verbs A semantically organized, contextualized input is offered by Seidl (1990), who presents all the verbs through short and long texts of various sorts (from letters and newspaper articles to horoscopes and puzzles), preceded by lists of PVs and their meanings Dainty (1991) advocates a similar context-based approach

in presenting all the PVs in a storyline format throughout the book, which is divided into chapters like a novel

b Emphasis on both syntactic and semantic elements

This combination is offered by Flower (1993) and Heaton (1995) Flower not only provides a number of exercises which are classified by particle, by verb and by topic, but also starts with a section on the semantic analysis of the most common

particles For instance, up refers to:

- an upward movement – e.g The sun is coming up,

- an increase or improvement – e.g Sales have gone up in the past year,

- completing or ending – e.g We used up all the eggs,

- approaching – e.g A taxi drew up (Flower, 1993: 10)

This analysis is clearly made on a rather ad hoc basis Similarly, Heaton, who

also classifies his tasks by particle in the two sections on up (1995: 28-9, 41) its

meanings are explained as follows (note the lack of coherence between the meanings given):

- not in bed – e.g get up,

- into smaller pieces – e.g tear up,

- towards, as far as – e.g run up to someone,

- firmly, securely – e.g fasten up,

- generally connected with imagining and inventing – e.g make up

In his largely speculative but sensible guide for teachers, Grinder (1991) distinguishes between four ways of visual processing characteristics of all learners

in various types of school

- i the most common style is shown by the student who attends lectures, takes notes and learners from the notes by forming pictures in his mind (hears a lecture-auditory channel, A; takes notes – kinesthetic channel, K; learns through pictures in his mind – visual channel, V)

- ii The second most widespread style is shown by the student who reads the book (V), takes notes (K), and learns from them (V)

- iii The third type of visual processing is shown by the student who prefers external visual input (reading) without kinesthetic assistance (writing) to learn from (i.e to form pictures in his mind)

- iv Lastly, the fourth type of student can store input visually without seeing information externally They learn by hearing (A) without reading or writing (V or

K) and they are sometimes considered to be “talented” or “gifted”

2.3 Chapter summary

In brief, in this chapter, the researcher has presented some basic theories of learning PVs, including definition of PVs, types of PVs in literature and in high school textbooks, types of PVs that should be taught, and methods for teaching PVs

In the next chapter, chapter three, more detailed methodology and instruments for data collection are discussed

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the procedure of the study that includes the research approach, participants of the study, research instruments, and data collection procedure The last part deals with how to analyze the collected data

3.1 The research approach

The methodology of the research was both qualitative and quantitative In the quantitative approach, based on objective data from research instruments of the tests on PVs and the questionnaires, the researcher could present and discuss the percentage of relevant issues under investigation in the study clearly In the qualitative approach, the study also focused on the interviews for better interpretation and explanation of the collected data According to the qualitative approach, the researcher could make the study explore some findings further

3.2 Participants of the study

The participants of the research consisted of those were involved in the tests

on phrasal verbs, questionnaires, and interviews No participants, however, were identified by name

Right at the beginning of the school year 2013-2014, the researcher met 5 teachers of English from Khanh Son High School to ask for their willingness to be the participants of the study In order to respond, all the teachers were willing to fill

in the questionnaires They were asked for their volunteering to take part in the interviews and they all agreed

For students, the researcher went to the 15 classes, explaining the study and asking for their participation In the end, all of them showed their willingness to complete the questionnaire Deep down, 15 students (5 from each class under investigation) agreed to participate in the interviews Everything went through with the help of the head teacher

3.3 Research instruments

In this research, the tests on phrasal verbs, questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect data to seek the answers for the research questions

3.3.1 The tests on phrasal verbs

All kinds of exercises of phrasal verbs were suitably designed with the contents and knowledge in the current English textbooks 10, 11, and 12 in Vietnam with a variety of exercise types: Matching, Multiple Choice, Gap-filling, Synonym, and Sentence Transformation

3.3.2 Questionnaires

The questionnaires were designed with 10 closed-ended and 5 open-ended questions and divided into two types The former was designed for 5 teachers (2 males and 3 females) teaching English at Khanh Son High School, aged from 25 to

36 years Their teaching experience ranged from 2 to 15 years The latter was completed by 150 students (aged from 16 – 18) from three classes 10, 11, and 12 from Khanh Son High School, in the current academic years 2013-2014 Tables 3.1 and 3.2 are to summarize the information relevant to the questionnaire participants and the kinds of questions

Table 3.1: Questionnaire Participants

3.3.3 Interviews

The interviews were conducted with 5 teachers (2 males and 3 females) and 15 students (3 males and 12 females) chosen at random from the 150 students having completed the questionnaire One of the five teachers was the head of English-teacher group at Khanh Son High School Table 3.3 provides some information about the interview participants

Table 3.3: Interview Participants

3.4 Data collection procedure

Data for the study were collected from the tests, questionnaires, and informal interviews with teachers and students

3.4.2 Empirical data collection

A collection of in-class tests on phrasal verbs taken by Khanh Son students (in classes 10, 11, and 12, in the current academic years 2013-2014) were used to provide the empirical data for the study

Questionnaires A consisted of 15 questions written in English for teachers (See Appendix 1) Questionnaires B having 15 questions were designed for students (See Appendix 2) The questions in questionnaires A and B were written in such a way to make sure the teachers and students could fully understand the items mentioned before they answered

A pilot study of the first versions of the questionnaires was conducted with several teachers and students for necessary adjustments to be comprehensible and approachable Then the final, adjusted versions were used to collect data

3.4.4 Informal interviews

Informal interviews with the teachers and the students were carried out so as

to collect more data for the research by letting the teachers and students talk freely and openly around the questions The questions for interviews were majorly the same as those in these questionnaires

The interviewees included 5 teachers and 15 students from Khanh Son High School to ensure the focus of the study The interviews with the teachers took place either at Khanh son High School during the break-time or at their houses with previous appointments The interviews with the students were carried out at the break-time

3.4.5 Data analysis

Data analysis was approached with both the qualitative and quantitative approaches In other words, the data collected from the tests on PVs of the students, and the questionnaires and the interviews of the teachers and students was processed qualitatively or quantitatively The data from the tests on PVs and questionnaires were first analyzed according to the descriptive, contrastive statistics

on the percentages of the items investigated They were presented in tables and charts which were all drawn in Microsoft Excel Finally, they were further discussed and explained with reference to the results of the interviews