A Review on Phrasal Verbs

Abstract：This paper aims to give a comprehensive picture of studies on phrasal verbs in recent 30 years to present the major findings of research. Previous researches have focused on different perspectives for the study of this topic，and it appears that theyve got the same result that conceptual metaphor has a positive effect on studentsacquisition of phrasal verbs.

Key words：phrasal verbs；cognitive linguistics；conceptual；metaphor

1 Phrasal verbs and EFL learners

Some studies on phrasal verbs have been concentrated on ESL learners at different levels to see how learners avoid using them （Dagut&Laufer;，1985；Guo，2013）.They studied the avoidance of phrasal verbs by Hebrew students of English and found that Hebrew students avoid using phrasal verbs because the structural differences between their native language and English.Zhang（2007）studied the avoidance of PVs by Chinese learners with regard to their proficiency levels（advanced，intermediate）and PVs types（figurative，literal）.The result indicated that intermediate learners avoided using English PVs.The analysis and the interview showed that semantic features of PVs，leanersproficiency level，learning environment and strategy all caused the avoidance of PVs.However，contrary to the findings of Dagut and Zhang，Guo（2013）did not find the avoidance of phrasal verbs of Chinese learners.Working with 64 non-English majors，he found that the participants did not avoid using phrasal verbs.

2 Cognitive Linguistics and Acquisition of Phrasal Verbs

In recent years，cognitive linguistics has been used to study second language acquisition（SLA）especially the acquisition of idiomatic expressions（Yasuda，2010；Lee，2012）.Lee utilized cognitive linguistic instruction of English phrasal verbs with particles up，out and over produced by 32 intermediate graduate students enrolled for the course of international teaching assistances at the Pennsylvania State University.He developed the Schemas for the Orienting Basis of Action（SCOBAs）to accompany the metaphorical aspects of phrasal verbs.The findings showed that concept-based instruction enhanced studentssystematic understanding of phrasal verbs and their explanations were improved and became semantically rich.All the studies above have proved the significance of cognitive linguistic approach in teaching and learning PVs，especially metaphors.

3 Conceptual Metaphor and Acquisition of Phrasal Verbs

Conceptual metaphor was defined as“understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another”（Lakoff and Johnson，1980）.Based on conceptual metaphor，researchers have studied English prepositions and polysemy（Csabi，2004）.In relation to conceptual metaphor，the orientational metaphor embedded in PVs was mostly studied（Yasuda，2010）.Yasuda compared the traditional teaching of phrasal verbs with orientational metaphors to the acquisition of phrasal verbs.His study showed that the experimental group scored much more than the traditional group，which indicated the positive effect of orientational metaphors.Previous studies on conceptual metaphor have contributed a lot to both theoretical significance and practical guidance.

References

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作者簡介

王穎超（1995.12—），女，漢族，山西運城人，現就讀陜西師范大學，外國語學院學科教學（英語）專業。