35Innovative Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages and Learner Assessment in Online Education
Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute of Tashkent region
SOME METHODS IN TEACHING PHRASAL VERBS
Aziza Ulmas kizi Mukhammadiyeva
Toshkent viloyati Chirchiq davlat Pedagogika Instituti talabasi
Toshkent, O'zbekiston azizamuxammadiyeva23 @gmail .com
ABSTRACT
Teaching phrasal verbs is a difficult area. Many a study has proved that contextualization has an important positive effect on the ability of the students to decipher the correct meaning of a phrasal verb. In this article you will read some useful approaches to the presentation of phrasal verbs through context to improve the students' level of understanding. This article also suggests some other useful tips for teaching phrasal verbs.
Keywords: Phrasal verbs, Context, Song, teaching, preposition, particle
INTRODUCTION
A Phrasal Verb is a phrase which consists of a verb in combination with a preposition or adverb or both, the meaning of which is different from the meaning of its separate parts: „look after', „work out' and „make up for' are all phrasal verb s (6, p 124). According to Trask (1993: 208) a phrasal verb is lexical verb "which consists of a simple verb combined with one or more particles" and whose meaning is typically unpredictable. And Phrasal verbs are two-or three-word idiomatic expressions, consisting of a verb and a particle or a combination of a particle and a preposition (4, p 69).
Phrasal verbs have been the source of frustration for learners of English. Many students talk about the difficulties they have using the phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are widely used by native speakers of English but they have been found to be difficult for second language learners to master. The subject of how best to teach phrasal verbs is still quite controversial. Although teaching of phrasal verbs has been daunting and difficult for teachers, and therefore tedious for learners, it is necessary to develop our students' skills in understanding and using them. Since phrasal verbs are frequently used by native speakers both in written and spoken English, students need to be encouraged to learn them. "There is no specified way or a programmed manner in which a student can learn all the phrasal verbs, nouns, adjectives, and idioms. The
Innovative Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages and Learner Assessment in Online Education Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute of Tashkent region
authors observe that the only way to acquire such knowledge is by extensive reading and listening" (Al-Sibai, 2003).
Avoid teaching phrasal verbs in alphabetical lists. "One big advantage of this method is that it is thorough and comprehensive. But, the problem with a long list is that it is one thing to memorize a phrasal verb and its meaning, but quite another to bring the phrasal verb into your active, everyday speaking and listening" (3, p 35).
METHODOLOGY
Through this method "many students know the phrasal verb from a list, but then fail to use it or recognize it in their conversations with native speakers. Lists can be useful, but it may be difficult to transfer this knowledge from the written page to your active knowledge" (3, p 35). And also avoid teaching phrasal verbs solely on the basis of the verb in them. For example, it would not be advisable to teach every phrasal verb that incorporates the word "get" in one lesson. The phrasal verbs taught this way have nothing else in common other than the verb in them, and it is very difficult to understand and retain the context of whole phrasal verbs in this way (Norman, 2010). How then are we supposed to teach phrasal verbs?
Andrzej Cirocki, a proponent of the „text/ context method', has a useful approach to teach phrasal verbs. He states that if we aim at teaching a few Phrasal Verbs to our students, we should present them in many different real contexts so as to enable them to deduce their exact meaning and to see whether they are transitive or intransitive, separable or inseparable. All these items can be noticed by the students if Phrasal Verbs are presented in authentic contexts (2, 2003). In his article „Teaching Phrasal Verbs my Means of Constructing Texts' Cirocki explains his appro ach in the following way; asking students to read a text entitled 'Hotel Blaze Escape Drama' in which a few Phrasal Verbs can be spotted.
HOTEL BLAZE ESCAPE DRAMA At present it is not known how the fire started. It seems the fire, broke out in the early hours of the morning. The fire alarm went off at around 2.00 a.m. It is thought it was set off by smoke coming from one of the bedrooms on the first floor. The fire spread quickly from the first floor to the second floor. The fire brigade were called in immediately and fire fighters were on the scene within 15 minutes, but by this time the hotel was already in flames. They fought the blaze and managed to get it under control, though it took them to hours to put the fire out.
While reading 'Hotel Blaze Escape Drama' students get to know new Phrasal Verbs whose meaning and function are explained in the context. Thus, they can be
Innovative Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages and Learner Assessment in Online Education Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute of Tashkent region
learnt in a natural way. The text constitutes a kind of a background for the new Phrasal Verbs and has been formed to serve as a context, through which new Phrasal Verbs can be presented and explained. However, this is not a genuinely authentic context. Having read such a text, the meaning of these Phrasal Verbs should be clear. If it is not, we should provide students with other contexts so that they could guess the meaning, which makes students remember new Phrasal Verbs much better. Not until then, could they make use of Phrasal Verbs in their own texts (2, 2003).
Cirocki maintains that to assure oneself that students understand the meaning of new Phrasal Verbs, teachers can move to the next stage that is, fixing stage where the establishing of knowledge on Phrasal Verbs takes place.
Having deduced meanings of Phrasal Verbs from authentic contexts, it is time to apply such types of exercises so that they could enable students to memorise them much better and also present them in new contexts. These exercises have nothing to do with creativity they are very useful, though. Before students begin constructing their own texts, they first have to work on simple exercises in order to fix new material. Afterwards, they may make use of it in their own texts. For instance, in this exercise students are asked to complete sentences with the appropriate Phrasal Verbs in their correct form (2, 2003). catch sb out; fill sth in; cut sth out; take up sth
1. If you want to lose weight,_potatoes, bread, and sweet things for a week.
2. The oral exam was difficult. The examiner tried to_(me) by asking some tricky
questions.
3. My brother has_karate. He trains three times a week.
4. Here are the visa application forms. You have to_(them) and return them to the
consulate.
In this step establishing the knowledge of phrasal verbs takes place. Teachers are advised to construct fill-in-the-blanks exercises which can enable students to memorize such verbs faster and more accurately. These exercises help to memorize the meanings and utility of newly-acquired phrasal verbs (Al-Sibai, 2003).
DISCUSSION
In his criticism of the traditional approached to teaching phrasal verbs, Thornbury suggests that "phrasal verbs are best learned on item-by-item basis, and preferably in short contexts that demonstrate their syntactic behaviour" (7, 125).
According to Thornbury, phrasal verbs should be acquired like the rest of the lexis by providing meaningful context, exposure, and recycling. And Thornbury
Innovative Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages and Learner Assessment in Online Education Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute of Tashkent region
encourages teachers to provide texts that have high frequency of phrasal verbs in them. Kailani stresses that it is only through genuine practice that accuracy and effectiveness could be increased, regardless of the method or technique being adapted (6, 1995).
According to R. Wyss, if phrasal verbs are presented to students in lists that are void of real or relevant context, students will not be stimulated enough to learn them. He observes that learners need a meaningful contextual background in order to reinforce memory and sustain interest. He suggests that a practical solution for learners would be to deduce the meanings of phrasal verbs as they appear in reading passages (8, 2002).
In order to make our students write fully authentic texts, the role of the teacher is confined to proposing an interesting topic. Nevertheless, teachers may also ask their students to make use of as many Phrasal Verbs as possible in their compositions. The main asset of such exercises is the fact that students write about things they are fond of and are really interested in. This enables students to apply long term memory, due to which they will be able to remember certain things for ever and make use of them in various speeches or essays (2, 2003).
CONCLUSION
Phrasal verbs, one of the most important parts of communication, are frequently avoided by learners of English. One language skill is trying to infer the meaning of a new phrasal verb from the context. "It is safe to say that phrasal verbs, especially those commonly used ones, are very important components in effectively spoken communication, no matter in what kind of language community text it lays. From the angle of language learning for the sake of effective communication phrasal verbs should by no means be avoided" (1, 2007). How then are we supposed to emphasize phrasal verbs in English language teaching and learning? "Research has shown that texts and contexts can have a powerful influence on the students' vocabulary growth. Learning words through such technique is along-term process in which meanings are slowly but steadily accumulated. The key here is to focus instructional attention on words that students have encountered in rich texts usually through reading, rather than from word lists that are void of context" (Al-Sibai, 2003). And in this article how to teach phrasal verbs effectively through context is studied.
Innovative Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages and Learner Assessment in Online Education
Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute of Tashkent region
REFERENCES
1. Chen, Junyu. (2007). On How to Solve the Problem of the Avoidance of Phrasal Verbs in the Chinese Context. International Education Journal, 8(2), 348-353.
2. Cirocki, A. (2003). Teaching Phrasal Verbs my Means of Constructing Texts. ELT Newsletter. Retrieved 2nd February 2011 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com/column/shtml
3. Dainty, Peter. (1992). Phrasal Verbs in Context. Macmillan Education.
4. Darwin, C. M., & Gray, L. S. (1999). Going after the phrasal verbs: An alternative approach to classification. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 65-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3588191
5. Dina. M. Al-Sibai. (2003). Using the Balanced Activity Approach in Teaching Phrasal Verbs to Saudi College Students: A Review of the Literature.
6. Kailani, T. Z. (1995). A Synthesized Pedagogical Methodology for English Classroom Interactions. International
7. Thornbury, Scott. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Longman.
8. Wyss, R. (2002). Teaching English Multi-Word Verbs Is Not a Lost Cause Afterall. ELT Newsletter. Retrieved 5 January from 2011 http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/March2002/art902002.html
