English Abstract
Abstract:
This research investigates the EFL learners' awareness of English
polysemous phrasal verbs and the effect of a number of factors (hours spent
reading, listening to music, watching TV and social networking in English)
on students' knowledge of phrasal verbs (PVs). Three tools used to collect
data: (1) students' writings, (2) a phrasal verbs test containing 24
polysemous PVs, and (3) a questionnaire. 78 EFL students from two
different CEFR levels (A2-B1 and C1) were recruited for the PVs test and
the questionnaire. The data obtained is analyzed qualitatively and
quantitatively. The results show that learners of the two levels do not use
PVs sufficiently in their writing. The results of the test show that the A2-
B1 level students have an average score of 31.97% while the C1 level
students have a result of 54.21%, indicating that language proficiency level
is indeed a factor in determining knowledge of PVs. Corpus frequency was
not found a predictor of PV knowledge as learners were not
overwhelmingly able to identify the most frequent sense of the PV in the
test. Analysis of data from the questionnaire showed a moderate to low
positive correlation between hours spent reading and watching TV and
their knowledge of polysemous PVs, however no such correlation was
found between hours social networking and listening to music and the
students' knowledge of polysemous PVs. There was no clear pattern with
regards to whether students are more aware of literal vs literal/idiomatic
senses of PVs. The study reveals that phrasal verbs are indeed challenging
for learners because of their polysemous nature, thus requiring additional
attention by both teachers and learners.
