Multi-word verbs to YL

Introducing multi-word verbs to younger teenage elementary learners

(CEFR Levels A1-A2)

Valentina Morgana, Language Systems 2: Introducing multi-word verbs to younger teenage elementary learners (CEFR Levels A1-A2)

Contents

A. Introduction p.3

B. Analysis and Issues p.3 a) Multi-word verbs! ! ! ! ! ! ! p.3b) Syntax p.3c) Meaning p.5d) Register p.6 e) Phonology p.6

C. Suggestions for teaching p.7

Bibliography p.9

Appendix 1 p.10

Appendix 2 p.12

Valentina Morgana, Introducing multi-word verbs to younger teenage elementary learners (CEFR Levels A1-A2) 2

A. Introduction

“Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Wilkins cited in Thornbury, 2002:13)

Six years ago I started teaching English to elementary young learners and one year later also to intermediate young learners preparing for the FCE. Although they are very close in terms of age, their approach to learning vocabulary, especially multi-word verbs (MWVs), is completely different. Younger teenage elementary learners are more curious and enthusiastic towards them, while intermediate students are almost scared. I have recently asked to both groups why they simply like or don’t like them and the results showed that the elementary group likes MWVs just because they study them very rarely and when it happens they have the feeling they are using “real” English, while the intermediate group hate MWVs because there are just too many of them. I have therefore decided to focus on MWVs for elementary learners. First to meet the needs of my students, and secondly because I think it would be challenging and, in a sense, innovating as teacher.

B. Analysis and Issues

a. Multi-word Verbs

According to Thornbury (1997) and Gairns & Redman (1986), multi-word verbs (MWVs) are verbs which consist of two or more parts (i.e. verb + particle). The combination of a lexical verb and a particle behaves as a single unit of meaning (Carter and McCarthy, 2006). The particle that follows the lexical verb can be an adverb or a preposition. Based on this distinction we have two different categories of MWVs:- Phrasal verbs (verb + adverb) i.e. give away, drink up- Prepositional verbs (verbs + preposition) i.e. look for, look afterThornbury (1997) also considers a third category of verbs with more than a particle: Phrasal-prepositional verbs. They are verbs followed by two particles (an adverb and a preposition) e.g. get on with.Like other verbs, MWVs can be:- Transitive (followed by a noun or pronoun which is the object of the verb)- Intransitive (with no object)- both transitive and intransitive (Potter, 2005).

b. Syntax

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs can be transitive, intransitive or both. Transitive phrasal verbs are separable - i.e. the object can come between the verb and the adverb.


e.g. Put on your jacket - the object comes after the adverb or put your jacket on - the object comes between the verb and the adverb.If the object is a pronoun, it must come between the verb and the adverb.e.g. *Put on them Put them on

Potter (2005) states that the choice between the two structures (verb-adverb-object or verb-object-adverb) is not completely random. If the object contains information already known by the reader, it is more likely to come between the verb and the particle. This is because new information is usually given more emphasis than information already known , so it comes after the particle (Potter, 2005). For example:

Ann slipped the jacket on to see what it looked like (the jacket - known information)She slipped on some flat sandals and made her way downstairs. (some flat sandals - new information)

Intransitive phrasal verbs do not have an object and they are always inseparable, so the verb and the particle always stay together:

e.g. ! Why don’t you sit down?!Some phrasal verbs can be both transitive and intransitive e.g. turn over!! You may turn over your exam paper now ! The baby turned over and went back to sleep

When these verbs are intransitive they behave like all other intransitive phrasal verbs, when they are transitive they behave in one of the ways described above.

Very often learners have difficulties understanding separability and this could lead to communication breakdown (Issue 1). International learners who do not have multi-word verbs in their language (usually Romance languages) tend to focus on the verb part only and they do not recognise the particle (Bryndal, 2006). Consequently, they frequently :

- avoid using the particle - e.g. Italian learners often say I listen radio as in Italian you “listen something/someone”

- avoid splitting the verb from its particle in separable MWVs when the object is a pronoun - e.g. *I look up it in the dictionary

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (De Cock 2005, Bryndal 2006)

Moreover, when it comes to elementary young learners understanding transitivity could also be an issue due to the lack of knowledge of the same topic in L1 - e.g. the L1 teacher has not cover the topic yet.

Prepositional verbs

As mentioned before, MWVs followed by a preposition (for, after etc.) are called prepositional verbs.!They are always transitive and inseparable, so the preposition must precede its object (e.g. depend on, listen to, look at)


! e.g. Please listen to the cd ! *Please listen the cd to!!

Phrasal-prepositional verbs!Phrasal-prepositional verbs can be divided into two groups depending if they take one or two objects. In fact, a small group of such verbs also take a direct object after the verb as well as an object of the preposition (Carter and McCarthy, 2006).

! e.g. Look out for drunk drivers on Saturday night! I’ve decided to take you up on that job offer (Potter, 2005)

c. Meaning

As mentioned above MWVs behave as a single unit of meaning, in many of them the inherent meaning of the components (lexical verb and particle) contributes to the understanding of the meaning. However, there are also a large number of MWVs whose meaning is more semantically opaque (Moon, 2005). We can group MWVs as:

1. MWVs with transparent meaning. The meaning is easy to understand from its particle > e.g. look at, sit down

2. MWVs with opaque meaning, the meaning of the particle and the verb doesn’t help understanding the meaning of the MWV > e.g. take in

! We sat there taking in the sea (take in = look at)

3. MWVs with different meanings both transparent and opaque > e.g. get on ! I got on the first bus (transparent)! She will do anything in order to get on (opaque - get on = be successful)!4. MWVs with a literal meaning that can also be used metaphorically > e.g. pick up - I

picked up some Spanish on my last holiday.

5. MWVs with particles with recurrent meaning > e.g. up often expresses the idea of “increase” as in grow up, heat up etc. but this can not be applied to split up

! They split up after six months = They broke up

In my experience the most common mistakes made by learners when using phrasal verbs are related to meaning. Understanding polysemy is one of the first issues learners have to deal with (Issue 2). Many MWVs, in fact, have various meanings e.g. get on, depending on their level (upper-intermediate vs elementary) learners may know only one meaning and have difficulties on understanding the others.! I got on the bus = I boarded the bus! I need to get on and cook the pasta= I need to carry on cooking!Many learners, especially young learners, do not understand verbs with non-literal meaning (Issue 3) e.g. Pick up some SpanishValentina Morgana, Introducing multi-word verbs to younger teenage elementary learners (CEFR Levels A1-A2) 5

Multi-word verbs also present problems in terms of the words with which they collocate (Issue 4).e.g. to call off. Often learners understand the meaning in context e.g. the match was called off due to the rain, but they are unable to apply it to other nouns properly (Steele, 2005).

d. Register

There is a widespread belief among teachers and learners that MWVs are only used in informal contexts and that they should not be used in formal writing. This is only partly true. As Marks (2005) pointed out “the reality is more complicated” (2005): only some MWVs are markedly formal or informal e.g. chill out (informal) - cast down (formal), the rest of the MWVs are mostly neutral and they are widespread in written language as well as spoken language. This means that the use of MWVs should not be seen as lack of competence or lack of education.

These beliefs could often bring to an unnatural use of the language and to the difficulty of choosing the appropriate verb (Issue 5). The influence of learner’s mother tongue plays a key role here. In multi-lingual classes many French or Spanish speakers often avoid the use of MWVs in writing, choosing their Latinate equivalent (e.g. discover vs find out). On the other hand, German learners tend to do the opposite, overusing MWVs in writing. ! e.g. The problem that I am interested in and I want to speak about (discuss) is the death penalty (De Cock, 2005)

e. Phonology

There are two main types of stress patterns for MWVs:- MWVs with one stress - the main stress is on the verb e.g. make for, look at! They’re looking at all the options (Underhill, 2005)

- MWVs with two stresses - the main stress is on the particle and the secondary stress in on the verb e.g. ,turn ‘on. These verbs are separable (see paragraph 2 above) and this will influence the position of the stress.

◦ if the object is a pronoun, the particle is stressed, e.g.: ,Put it ‘on.◦ if the object is a noun, the stress will be on the noun rather than on the particle,

e.g.: ,Put the ‘jacket on.◦ if the object is emphasised by the speaker and placed after the particle, the stress

on the particle might be lost, e.g.: ,Put on the ‘jacket.

(Underhill 2005, Bryndal 2006)

MWVs do not usually present problems of pronunciation except for stress patterns (Issue 6). Learners may have problem recognising and use the correct stress patterns and they would also need to understand the importance of conveying meaning in using stress patterns.


C. Suggestions for teaching

MWVs are very frequent in the English language and often learners at intermediate level have to deal with a long list of MWVs without having met them before. I would therefore recommend introducing MWVs early in an elementary course, presenting students MWVs as chunks strictly related to a topic or context. This should help learners to develop an appropriate habit to learn MWVs and help them to perceive MWVs as a natural language device.

Many recent coursebooks do not focus on teaching MWVs at elementary level and even if they are used in many texts they are never presented explicitly to students. This is, for example, the approach taken in Barker and Mitchell (2008). In my opinion it would be useful to have some “noticing” activities on the most frequent MWVs to make learners aware of their meaning and use.

Some coursebooks do not deal with MWVs directly through texts but they only list them in the grammar section of the book. This is mainly the approach taken in Cattunar (2011) and Murphy (2005). I appreciate the idea of introducing MWVs but I believe young elementary learners should be motivated through a “noticing” approach.

Lewis (1997, 2000) believes that native speakers carry millions of lexical chunks in their heads ready to produce fluent, accurate and meaningful language. The term lexical chunk here refers to “any pair or group of words which are commonly found together, or in close proximity” (Islam, 2003).

I would recommend approaching MWVs using a lexical approach. At the basis of the lexical approach lies the idea that lexis is crucial to create meaning and that grammar provides the structure to produce it. As Islam (2003) points out, the logical implication is that we should spend more time teaching lexical chunks than grammatical structures. After all, it is our ability to use lexical phrases that helps us to be fluent.” (Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992, in Islam 2003).

Islam (2003) identifies noticing and language awareness activities as those that help learners to uncover knowledge gaps and ensure that “input becomes intake” (Lewis, 1993). The standard process of an awareness-raising activity would be to present a text to learners, they will then understand the general meaning and “notice” the language used to convey that meaning.

Taking a text based approach could help solve many issues because learners need to be exposed to lexical chunks in order to understand them:

Issue 1 - In coursebooks there are two ways of helping learners with grammar problems related to MWVs. One is focusing on rules and then on the use (sentence level). This is basically the approach taken in Cattunar (2011): a box with a list of verbs is provided to students, the teacher explains the rule (e.g. where to put the object etc.), and after that students work on controlled exercises (e.g. put the right particle)(Appendix 1). A similar approach is taken by Murphy (2005) (Appendix 2).


The other is a noticing approach: learners read/listen to a text (e.g. about school) and then focus on the verbs requested (e.g. stand up, cover up, listen to). They then fill up a rule and practise them in a semi-controlled way (text level) (e.g. re-write some sentences using the verbs on the board). These activities help learners solve issues related to the use of particles with transitive and intransitive verbs and to understand separability. I have noticed elementary young learners appreciate the noticing approach and show motivation and commitment.

Issue 2 - Polysemy: as stated above many MWVs carry more than one meaning and learners have problems interpreting the meaning they do not know. I would recommend teaching lexical sets and introducing them in a text so that learners deal only with the meaning/s relevant with the text. (Steele, 2005) e.g. A text on transportation (get on = board)

Issue 3 - The same text based approach could be useful to solve the issues related to understanding metaphorical/opaque meaning of MWVs. The teacher can present a non-literal meaning through a text (reading or listening) so students can infer meaning from context.

Issue 4 - To help students with collocation I would use a simple awareness-raising activity. For example, the teacher could ask the learners to underline the nouns which follow certain verbs and then later filling in a collocation grid, matching multi-word verbs to their common collocations (Steele, 2005) e.g. turn on = a mobile, TV etc.

Issue 6 - Many learners could have problems identifying and using stress patterns of MWVs in English. In order to address this issue I would suggest the use of graphics (small squares or triangles) that indicates the stress (e.g. put the stress in the right position). Repetition work could also be useful. This is what Thornbury (2006) defines as appropriation activities. Learners will use some controlled practice activities in order to gain control of the stress patterns.

Issue 5 - Learners of Romance origins have difficulties with the choice of appropriate verbs. I would recommend the use of matching activities - e.g match the MWVs with their synonyms ( find out > discover). This is a controlled activity where students can concentrate on the form and use, and make it familiar. For my experience Italian learners need this kind of activity to understand the use of MWVs equivalent of Latin words. This will help them sound more natural when they use English.


Bibliography

• Barker, C. and Mitchell, L. (2008). Dynamic 2. 1st ed. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

• Carter, R. and McCarthy, M. (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English. 1st ed. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

• Cattunar, J. (2010). New Team Up in English 1. 1st ed. Eli

• De Cock, S. (2005) ‘Learners and phrasal verbs’. MED Magazine, Issue 35, February 2006. Retrieved 20th October 2011 from:http://macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/February2006/35-Phrasal-Verbs-Learners.htm

• Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (1986). Working with Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Lewis, M. (1993) The lexical approach. The State of ELT and the way forward. Language Teaching Publications.

• Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2007). 2nd ed. Oxford: Macmillan

Publishers Ltd.

• Marks, J. (2005) ‘The truth revealed: phrasal verbs in writing and speech.’ MED Magazine, Issue 34, October 2005. Retrieved 20th October 2011 from: http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/October2005/34-Feature-PV-Spoken-Written.htm

• Murphy, R. (2007). Essential Grammar in Use. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Potter, E. (2005) ‘The syntactic behaviour of phrasal verbs.’ MED Magazine, Issue 32, July 2005. Retrieved 20th October 2011 from: http://macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/July2005/32-Phrasal-Verbs-Syntactic.htm

• Thornbury, S. (1997) About Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Longman.

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

• Steele, V. (2005) MWV: Methods and approaches. Retrieved 20th April 2011 from: www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/vocabulary/mwverb2.shtml June 2005.

• Underhill, D. (2005) ‘Pronunciation and phrasal verbs.’ MED Magazine, Issue 43, October 2005. Retrieved 20th October 2011 from: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/med-magazine/October2005/34-Phrasal-Verbs-Pron.htm


http://macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/February2006/35-Phrasal-Verbs-Learners.htm




http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/October2005/34-Feature-PV-Spoken-Written.htm






http://macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/July2005/32-Phrasal-Verbs-Syntactic.htm




http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/vocabulary/mwverb2.shtml

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/vocabulary/mwverb2.shtml

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/med-magazine/October2005/34-Phrasal-Verbs-Pron.htm




Appendix 1Extract from Cattunar, J. (2010). New Team Up in English 1. Grammar Toolkit. 1st ed. Eli

pp.99 -100


Appendix 2Extract from Murphy, R. (2007). Essential Grammar in Use. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


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