УДК 372.881.111.

TEACHING PHRASAL VERBS

O.V. Pozdnyakova, N.A. Gunina

Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin,

Tambov State Technical University, Tambov

Represented by Doctor of Philological, Professor M.N. Makeeva

Key words and phrases: communicative competence;

communicative situations; filling in the blanks in the questionnaire; a
multiple choice test; paraphrasing; a cloze test; phrasal verbs; group
division; synonyms; discrete tests; writing answers to a question;
writing informal letters and essays.

Abstract: The paper explores the nature of teaching phrasal

verbs. The conventional approach is described and commented on.
Complementary techniques and assignments to teach phrasal verbs
are provided. The conclusion about the effectiveness of the
suggested methodology is drawn.

Unfortunately, the number of students able to use phrasal verbs fluently is

tiny. The reason could be the way phrasal verbs are taught – there is
overemphasis on rote-learning, memorizing long lists “verb + particle”, “phrasal
verbs and their definitions”. It should be realized that the current approach to
teaching phrasal verbs with almost no focus on communication is no longer
appropriate. Some recommendations for making the communicative approach
achievable have been derived from the present research.
To begin with, phrasal verbs can be grouped according to topics, which
might facilitate their acquisition [1, p. 13–25]. Some possible group division
might look like this: food: boil over, chop up, cut down on, cut sthg out, dig in,
dish food out, dish food up, eat in, eat out, get through food, serve up, tuck
in/into; health: ask after sbdy, black/pass out, break out in spots, come down
with an illness, come round, come out in spots, drop off, ease off, get over, go
down with an illness, let up, pass away, throw up, wear off, go for a check-up,
be/feel run down; travelling: break down, drive off/away, drive on, fill a petrol
tank up, go through traffic lights, knock sbdy down, pull in/over, pull out, pull
up, slow down, speed up; job: bog down, hire oneself out, knuckle down, look
up to, make up for, take on, turn down, set up, tie up, work out.

Позднякова Ольга Валентиновна – старший преподаватель кафедры теории и

практики преподавания английского языка, ФГБОУ ВПО «Тамбовский государственный
университет им. Г.Р. Державина»; Гунина Наталия Александровна – кандидат филологи-
ческих наук, доцент кафедры «Международная профессиональная и научная коммуника-
ция», e-mail: [email protected], ТамбГТУ, г. Тамбов

УНИВЕРСИТЕТ им. В.И. ВЕРНАДСКОГО. №3(34). 2011.  357

 Then the following tasks could be applied for explaining the meanings of
phrasal verbs and their effective learning.
Phrasal verbs could be taught through their synonyms – well-known verbs
(break out = begin suddenly; bring out = to publish; call off = cancel; carry
on = continue; come up with = find an answer, solution; be cut out for = be
suited for a profession; do away with = abolish; fall for = fall in love with;
fill in = complete; get away with = escape punishment; give away = reveal;
go with = match; hold up = rob) [2, p.12, 30, 45, 52, 57, 63, 67, 74, 96, 112].
The following task develops grammar and sociolinguistic competences.
Students are given a multiple choice test, read the options and use them in
appropriate situations, afterwards students are asked to personalize the
sentences by replacing the subject or the object of the sentence by the names of
their friends, schoolmates, family members or famous people. This might make
the sentences funny, amazing and unforgettable [3, p.103].
Paraphrasing is effective for developing strategic competence, and could be
an exciting and motivating process through maintaining contact between
students, when students play the so- called verbal ping pong: a student from one
team says the original sentence, for example, The judge gave the thief a warning
and allowed him to go unpunished, then a student from the other team
transforms the sentence, using the appropriate phrasal verb – The judge gave the
thief a warning and let him off.
A cloze test can also be applied in teaching phrasal verbs. Its advantage is
obvious; a cloze test develops thinking, language competence, teaches
contextual, semantic, linguistic prediction. We suggest a teacher start with
providing students with help, for instance, doing cloze tests which focus on one
particular thing, like a certain verb or a particle. This is followed by providing
multiple or alternative options. Finally, hints leading to the correct choice might
be notes for each gap, like called at my house, meet by chance, anticipate with
pleasure, come and collect in a car, be very friendly [4, p. 124–126].
The benefits of the suggested techniques are enormous. Discrete tests
enable students to learn a great number of verbs and particles, to process them
easily and quickly, the use of discrete tests is inevitable at an early stage of
learning and teaching phrasal verbs when the emphasis is on linguistic
competence; discrete tests promote understanding, acquiring, remembering
language units; discrete tests might encourage teaching monologue/dialogue;
discrete tests form self-control mechanisms as well as anticipation; improve
strategic competence.
At the next stage of teaching and learning process phrasal verbs should be
taught in communicative situations. In the first place, using appropriate phrasal
verbs, students make up a conversation between a manager and a new
employee, act out a conversation between a shop assistant and a customer in a
shoe shop, make up a conversation between a wife and a husband before and
while having dinner, play parts of a patient and a doctor, act out a telephone
conversation.
Here is a sample answer:
D: What seems to be wrong?
P: I feel tired and run down. I’ve also come down in spots.
D: Let me take a look at them. When did they break out?

358 ВОПРОСЫ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ НАУКИ И ПРАКТИКИ.

 P: Almost a week ago. They are still very sore. The pain hasn’t let up.
D: Have you ever felt like blacking out at any time?
P: Yes, I felt like fainting earlier today and I wanted to throw up.
D: I think you’ve come down with an infection. It’s not serious but you’ll
have to stay in and rest. Take these antibiotics and the pain will soon ease off.
Carry on taking the medicine for a week and then see me again.
Some other tasks involve writing answers to a question, using phrasal
verbs, for instance, “there is a plan to build a new supermarket where the old
cinema now stands. What will happen to the cinema before the supermarket can
be built?” – “It will be pulled down”. Also students can be asked to fill in the
blanks in the questionnaire with a suitable particle. Here is an example of the
questionnaire “How friendly are you?” which could be used while studying the
topic “People”:
1. Which of the following do you get (on with) best of all?
A Other people B Animals C Children
2. Do you prefer to go (out)
A with only one close friend B with a lot of friends C by yourself
3. If you ran (into) an old friend, would you
A talk about old times B say hello and walk on C arrange to meet (up) soon
4. Which of the following do you prefer to do in the evening?
A Stay (in) and watch TV B Go (out) with a friend C Ask a friend (out)
5. A friend without a car visits you and will probably stay very late. Would
you
A offer to put your friend (up) for the night? B advise your friend not to
stay (out) too late and go back home early? C wait and call a taxi to take your
friend home?
6. When someone you don’t like too much phones and asks if they can
come (round) to see you, would you
A say you were looking (forward to) seeing them? B ask them to come
(round) some time later? C make excuses and say you were going (out)?
Writing informal letters and essays is an important and beneficial
assignment. Students are asked to make up a story using pictures. Here is a
sample answer “Linda was late for work yesterday” (The pictures show what
happened to her before she arrived): Linda was so sleepy yesterday morning
that she didn’t hear the alarm went off at half past six. In fact, she didn’t get up
until ten past eight. On the way to work, she was held up in heavy traffic, and
then a wheel of her car came off. After she had put it back on, her car broke
down! Later, when she managed to repair it, she had to wait as some workmen
were digging the road up. She then began to drive quickly until a policeman saw
her and made her slow down”.
Another task implies writing an informal letter, for example, “you have a
friend who is becoming overweight. What advice would you give your friend
about eating and doing sport?” In your answer you can use such phrasal verbs
as cut out, cut down on, go in for, take up, wolf down.
The methodology we suggest enables to overcome the existing difficulties
associated with phrasal verbs acquisition, namely their linguistic peculiarities,
their variety and polycemy, their idiomatic meaning. The techniques we suggest
involve students’ participation in situations like in real life through questions

УНИВЕРСИТЕТ им. В.И. ВЕРНАДСКОГО. №3(34). 2011.  359

and answers, role plays, simulation, filling in questionnaires, writing letters.
Thus using various additional exercises, which require more than filling in the
gap with one of the options given, we could develop linguistic competence,
namely increase vocabulary, grammar. Besides, the tasks are aimed at
developing the students’ idea of what authentic language use.
In conclusion, we could say that it is possible to teach phrasal verbs
creating positive effect on teaching English. The activities we suggest are
communicative and humanistic, they promote teaching, learning, achievement,
confidence, pleasure, interest, intrinsic motivation rather than monitoring,
product-obsession, failure, anxiety. The elaboration of teaching and learning
materials is aimed at developing all language skills as well as thinking skills,
communicative competence, broadening the learners’ awareness of what
authentic language use is, forming and maintaining positive attitude to learning
English.

References

1. Heaton, J.B. Practise your phrasal verbs / J.B. Heaton. – Longman

Group Limited, 1995. – 63 p.
2. Prodromou, L. First Certificate Star Practice Book Grammar and
Vocabulary / L. Prodromou. – Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1998. – 139 p.
3. Triggs, T.D. First Certificate Testbuilder / T.D. Triggs. – Macmillan
Publishers Limited, 1996. – 175 p.
4. Naylor, H. Cambridge First Certificate Handbook / H. Naylor and
S. Hagger. – Cambridge University Press, 1999. – 219 p.

О некоторых подходах к обучению фразовым глаголам

О.В. Позднякова, Н.А. Гунина

ФГБОУ ВПО «Тамбовский государственный университет

им. Г.Р. Державина»; ФГБОУ ВПО «Тамбовский
государственный технический университет», г. Тамбов

Ключевые слова и фразы: деление по тематическим

группам; дискретные тесты; заполнение пропусков в анкете;
клоуз-тест; коммуникативная компетенция; коммуникативные
ситуации; личные письма и эссе; ответы на вопросы; перифраз;
синонимы; тест на множественный выбор; фразовые глаголы.

Аннотация: Рассмотрены различные подходы к обучению

фразовым глаголам. Выявлены недостатки традиционного
подхода; предложены дополнительные методы и задания по
обучению фразовым глаголам. Показана эффективность предло-
женной методики.

© О.В. Позднякова, Н.А. Гунина, 2011

360 ВОПРОСЫ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ НАУКИ И ПРАКТИКИ.