The role of phrasal verbs for successful intercultural communicationand unconventional ways of their teaching

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The role of phrasal verbs for successful intercultural communicationand unconventional ways of their teaching

Miasoiedova S.V., PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of foreign language department Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University

Summary

The article intends to explore the correlation between students' ability to use English phrasal verbs efficiently and their level of intercultural communicational competence, as well as to offer some novel ways of phrasal verbs teaching. The experiment conducted has demonstrated the effectiveness of applying of some unconventional extra-class activities, specifically Instagram educational pages Phrasal Cards and Fantastic Phrasals, as an additional tool for teaching phrasal verbs. The research opens the perspectives for further study of novel, unconventional methods of English language instruction that can make learners regard education as an exciting, inspiring and productive process of cognition.

Key words: phrasal verbs, multi-word verbs, intercultural communication, language competence, unconventional teaching methods, process of cognition.

Анотація

Стаття присвячена дослідженню кореляції між умінням студентів ефективно вживати фразові дієслова в англійському мовленні та рівнем міжкультурної комунікативної компетенції цих студентів, а також описові деяких новітніх методів викладання фразових дієслів. Проведений експериментальний аналіз продемонстрував ефективність упровадження певних позааудиторних видів діяльності, а саме застосування таких сторінок інстаграму, як «Phrasal Cards» і «Fantastic Phrasals» як додаткового засобу навчання. Дослідження відкриває перспективи для подальшого вивчення новітніх нестандартних засобів викладання англійської мови, що змушують студентів ставитися до навчання як до цікавого, надихаючого й продуктивного процесу пізнання.

Ключові слова: фразові дієслова, міжкультурна комунікація, мовна компетенція, нестандартні засоби навчання, процес пізнання.

Аннотация

Статья посвящена исследованию корреляции между умением студентов эффективно использовать фразовые глаголы в английской речи и уровнем межкультурной коммуникативной компетенции данных учащихся, а также описанию некоторых инновационных методов изучения фразовых глаголов. Проведенный экспериментальный анализ показал эффективность внедрения определенных внеаудиторных видов деятельности, а именно использование таких страниц Инстаграма, как «Phrasal Cards» и «Fantastic Phrasals» в качестве вспомогательного способа обучения. Исследование открывает перспективы для дальнейшего изучения инновационных нестандартных методов преподавания английского языка, заставляющих учащихся относиться к обучению как к интересному, вдохновляющему и продуктивному процессу познания.

Ключевые слова: фразовые глаголы, межкультурная коммуникация, языковая компетенция, нестандартные методы обучения, процесс познания.

The processes of Eurointegration have created the new opportunities for young people's intercultural communication, e.g. participation in various international student educational programmes, employment or study prospects, which in most cases require a reliable proof of foreign language proficiency. One common way to confirm an English-level qualification is to obtain a certificate in an international examination, e.g. TOEFUL, IELTS or Cambridge ESOL exams, the last ones recognized by many European educators and employers, thus preferable for those who aims at studying or working in the countries of Europe. These international exams are intended to test comprehensively all language skills as well as intercultural competences, so the preparation for them usually involves the development of certain practical language skills which reflect a person's ability to use the foreign language as a tool to adapt to the English language environment and solve the range of tasks involving the use of a foreign language. This can be quite demanding and challenging both for students who often lack necessary language experience to get fast advance required for achieving the desired result, and for a teacher who has to deal with many problems, specifically the variety of important tasks intended to be completed within the certain limits of in-class time. One such task concerning the language aspect often underestimated, however significant for achieving proficiency necessary for successful intercultural communication in general and performance in an international exam in particular, is English phrasal verbs also termed multi-word verbs, verb-particle collocations, verb-particle combinations etc.

Analysis of recent research and publications. Being an expressive, versatile and vivid phenomenon of the modern English language, multi-word verbs have always been a focus of attention of scholars: apart from the comprehensive analysis of their structure, semantics and frequency in language (B.J. White [1], A. Esquivel [2], Gardner D. & Davies [3], B. Hampe [4], B. Rudzka-Ostyn [5]) researches also concerned various aspects of their cognition and teaching (Nassaji H. & Tian J. [6], Oe Y & Alam Y [7], R. Chevez Herrera [8], P. Moore Hanna [9]). Many scientists mention the complexity of phrasal verbs acquisition for L2 learners: thus, educationalists claim that although the ability to use multi-word verbs “can assess the level of English language proficiency' but learners of English “tend to adopt a strategy of avoidance” [10], some even argue that “students are not capable to incorporate phrasal verbs even though they were explicitly presented and studied in class” [8, p. 12]. Regarding multi-word verbs problem as a semantic rather than a syntactic one, Moore Hanna, P. offers to present the learner “with contextualized, meaningful practice of phrasal verbs with a view to developing independent learning skills” [9, p. 205].

So the purpose of the current study is to describe the experience and analyse the results of applying additional, unconventional ways of teaching phrasal verbs with the aim of development competences necessary for successful intercultural communication.

Presentation of the main research material. In the course of communication the speakers tend to choose the most effective language structures to influence the interlocutor in order to provide successful interaction. The choice of the language instruments may be determined by differend extralinguistic factors such as the level of the speaker's lingual competence, his speaking habits, the manner of expressing ideas and feelings and other peculiarities of the speaker's idiolect. However, all the evidence suggests that the use of the phrasal verbs is a signature feature of authentic English speech; native speakers use them frequently and in different contexts as these structures can convey the diversity of meanings in an expressive, emotional and evaluative way. Although people for whom English is not a mother tongue often can see no stylistic difference between, e.g. a verb to disappoint and a phrasal to let down, or a verb to tolerate and a phrasal to put up with, native speakers, on the contrary would rather prefer to communicate their ideas with multi-word verbs, which can enhance the emotionality of an utterance making the speech more eloquent.

Notwithstanding the evidence of their positive impact on communication, multi-word verbs can be quite confusing for L2 learners as their meaning created by a particular combination of a verb and a preposition(s) is often idiomatic and impossible to infer from the components of a phrasal. For instance, the combination of the verb to fall and the preposition out makes a semantic association fall out (to have an argument). In addition to that, most phrasal verbs are polysemous, e.g. make for can mean to head towards a place, however in other contexts the same phrase is used like: tend to facilitate something, and its passive form be made for is supposed to describe a situation when something perfectly suits to a particular function or person. Moreover, different phrasal verbs can denote the same thing, e.g. accidentally meet someone can be expressed with such multi-word verbs as: come across, run across, bump into, meet up with, run into, stumble on or happen on. Besides, taking into account their number (approximately 6,000 presented in the Cambridge Dictionary), the challenge of acquiring multi-word verbs by L2 learners becomes obvious, and the questions of searching efficient, no matter if unconventional, ways of teaching phrasals extremely actual and requires careful consideration and detailed research.

Apart from traditional methods and techniques of teaching phrasal verbs, such as practicing them in exercises, texts, listening extracts, some new, unconventional ways of instruction were approbated during the experiment held in Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. The experiment intended to confirm or reject the idea of the reasonableness of implementing additional extra-class techniques for faster progress in development of intercultural competence in the area of phrasal verbs implementing.

The control group included 15 students of year three and four of the Law University who in addition to their compulsory academic course of legal English were attending an optional FCE preparation course that lasted for one academic year 2017/18 at Cambridge English Preparation Centre of Law University. Besides, the following features of uniformity of the group can be pointed out:

the students were about the same age (from 20 to 22 years old), but different gender (nine boys and six girls);

they belonged to the similar occupational environment (Prosecutor Training Institute of the Law University);

all of them successfully completed the compulsory university course of legal English;

- th ey were highly motivated and dedicated (in view of the fact that their purpose was receiving a certificate that could enable them to be enrolled for various international student programmes);

- their academic performance in other subjects demonstrated their critical legal thinking and high learning potential.

The main objective of the course was achieving the linguistic and intercultural competence at level B2 on CEFR (Common Eu ropean Frameworks of Reference) which, according to the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), means that by the end of the course students have to obtain the following real-life language competencies sufficient for successful intercultural assimilation in an English-language environment.

The series of the placement tests taken in the beginning of the course showed that the weak link that impeded efficient performance and fluent communication of the majority of the students was inability to use phrasal verbs appropriately. Then additional fifty-question tasks aimed at checking students' awareness and mastery of multi-word verbs was developed. The phrasal verbs tested were the ones most frequently used on the upper-intermediate level.

According to the obtained results, on average only 46 per cent of the task (23.3 questions) were covered. In order to solve this particular problem and enhance the students' advance in learning phrasal verbs, some extra-class activities were offered. As it seemed reasonable to use the popularity of social networking sites, the students were recommended to use such Instagram educational pages as Phrasal Cards and Fantastic Phrasals.

The main advantage of presenting information on Phrasal Cards is that it gives a visual and sound support of phrasal verbs introduced. They usually provide three posts in a row: the first one explaining the meaning of a multi-word verb as well as a sentence example, the next one (usually uploaded the following day) containing an expressive, often humorous picture illustrating the same phrasal, or an example from a song; and finally as a revision a short extract from a real movie is posted with the text script given in comments:

An obligatory part of work with each phrasal unit presented on Phrasal Cards site was further classroom discussion: students offered their own interpretation of a phrasal verb and its use in a context; they also shared their impressions about the picture, the song lyrics and the movie, which significantly facilitated to the creation of cognitive 'Image-Sound-Meaning-Use' connections on every phrasal verb discussed.

Fig. 1

Fig, 2

Designed in a flamboyant manner and also appealing to the universal preferences of today's youth, this Instagram page has helped to significantly increase students' interest in this topic, enhance their English-language involvement and break the limits preventing them from total absorption into intercultural communication.

Another useful feature of Phrasal Cards is the post with humorous quotations in which phrasal verbs serve as a key to understanding a joke:

Undoubtedly, this method works as a powerful tool to provoke emotions, which have a strong impact on attention, motivation, understanding and, hence, remembering.

Another Instagram page intended for English-language learners that was recommended for students to help them in phrasal verbs acquisition was Fantastic Phrasals. It contains posts with test questions (a question for one post) practicing the application of multi-word verbs. Among its benefits are the regularity of uploading information; diversity of the phrasal verbs included; quick access to the correct answer; the explanation provided:

Besides, the tasks are presented in different formats, like multiple choice, key word transformation, sentence completion etc., many of them correlating with the register of Cambridge ESOL exams: Interestingly, the majority of the students of the control group treated this type of activity with certain degree of responsibility, making no difference between obligatory home assignment envisaged by the curriculum and this - to some extend - entertaining task, however contributing to the general aim of developing intercultural competence required.

In order to provide the credibility of the results, the students were given a mid-term test and final end-of-the-course mock exam which allowed us to define their achievement in the English language competence according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) scale.

The resulting data showed significant progress in students' performance in both a linguistic and intercultural competence, and specifically in mastering phrasal verbs:

The resulting data prove that students significantly improved their performance in phrasal verbs mastery on average in 46.4% during the first term, and in 27.1% in the second semester, overall progress being 86%. Correspondingly, their final assessment in all English language practical skills, including the competence in intercultural communication, confirmed considerable advance of the all language competences of students in the control group.

Fig. 3

Moreover, as it seemed reasonable to survey the students' attitude to such unusual learning tool as Instagram, a questionnaire was conducted after the final testing. The questionnaire included two questions: Q1: Do you find it useful to use Instagram pages for boosting your English? and Q2: Will you continue to use Instagram educational pages as an additional learning activity? The students participating in the survey responded to the items on a five-point Likert scale: (a) strongly agree, (b) agree, (c) neutral, (d) disagree, or (e) strongly disagree. Table 2 presents the responses to Q1 in which over 73% (8 for strongly agree and 3 for agree) of the respondents answered that they consider Instagram to be helpful for their learning process, and 26% (4 students) found the question confusing to answer.

Table 1 The Results of Students' Progressat the Different Stages of the Course

Table 2 Responses of 15 students of the control group to Question 1:Do you find it useful to use Instagram pagesfor boosting your English?

Table 3 Responses of 15 students of the control group to Question 2:Will you continue to use Instagram educational pagesas an additional learning activity?

However while answering Q2, the majority of students confirmed their desire to use Instagram educational pages as an additional learning instrument. The students responses are presented in table 3.

Thus, the survey results indicate the positive attitude of the students of the control group to supporting their learning with Insta- gram educational pages as an optional self-study activity and their wish to use this method on their own in future.

Conclusion. On balance, the synthesis of the research results allows us to draw the conclusion about the effectiveness of applying of some unconventional extra-class activities, specifically Instagram pages Phrasal Cards and Fantastic Phrasals, as an additional tool for teaching phrasal verbs. Using the visualisation techniques, influencing students' emotions and feelings, the abovementioned site for all intends and purposes facilitates efficient acquisition and better memorizing of multi-word verbs along with the ability to use them in the appropriate context, which in the long run will help successful intercultural communication in an authentic English language environment.

Judging by the comments made by the students of the control group and the results of the questionnaires filled in by these students, they would find such methods of teaching supported by using social networking sites like Instagram educational pages extremely encouraging and stimulating. That opens the perspectives for further researches of novel, unconventional methods of English language instruction that can make learners regard education as an exciting, inspiring and productive process of cognition.

phrasal verb communication instagram

References

1. White B.J. A conceptual approach to the instruction of phrasal verbs. Modern Language Journal, 2012. № 96 (3). P. 419-438.

2. Esquivel A. Use and comprehension of English phrasal verbs among native Spanish speakers / Published doctoral dissertation. University of Kansas: Kansas, 2000.

3. Gardner D., Davies M. Pointing out frequent phrasal verbs: A corpus- based analysis. TESOL Quarterly. 2007. № 41 (2). P. 339-359.

4. Hampe B. Transitive phrasal verbs in acquisition and use: A view from construction grammar. Language Value. 2012. № 4:1. P 1-32.

5. Rudzka-Ostyn B. Word Power: Phrasal Verbs and Compounds. A Cognitive Approach. Berlin. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003. 206 p.

6. Nassaji H. & Tian J. Collaborative and individual output tasks and their effects on learning English phrasal verbs. Language Teaching Research. 2010. № 14 (4). P 397-419.

7. Oe Y., Alam Y. Picture-Based e-learning of English phrasal verbs: A comparative study of the use of pictures and L1 glosses. International Journal of Humanities & Arts Computing, 2013. P 222-233.

8. Chevez Herrera R. Escuela de Lenguas Modernas Universidad de Costa Rica. Revista de Lenguas ModeRnas. 2013. № 19. P 487-509.

9. Moore Hanna P. Learning phrasal verbs autonomously. Studies in SelfAccess Learning Journal. 2012. № 3 (2). P 204-211.

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