What’s up? Conceptual metaphors and the teaching of phrasal verbs
By Elaine Hodgson
Some aspects of a language are considered a real challenge for both teachers and learners. In the case of English, phrasal verbs are certainly amongst the most unpopular topics in the classroom. They are seen as important and, at the same time, almost impossible to be learnt. This probably happens because their meanings are often thought to be arbitrary and sometimes illogical. Being considered arbitrary, it is believed that these verbs cannot exactly be taught, but that they should, most of the time, be learnt by heart. Only the very gifted student or someone who has had the chance of living abroad for some time would be able to use them confidently. For the regular EFL student, understandably, this can be extremely off-putting, as one cannot be expected to memorize thousands and thousands of different verbs, especially if we consider that new phrasal verbs are created every day! Would it be possible to facilitate the path to the learning of phrasal verbs, which are an important aspect of the English language? The answer, I believe, is yes, even though it may seem very unusual at first: conceptual metaphors. The teaching of a few conceptual metaphors would probably help students (and teachers) deal with phrasal verbs in a more efficient manner.
(New Routes)
When you learn something by heart,