Phrasal Verbs in ELT Coursebooks Used in Turkey: A Corpus-based Analysis

Year 2018, Volume: 7 Issue: 4, 534 - 550, 31.12.2018

Galip Kartal

https://doi.org/10.30703/cije.466035

Abstract

Phrasal verbs are multi-word constructions which are frequently used by native speakers and necessary for fluency in English. However, they constitute one of the most problematic areas of foreign language learning due to their idiomatization, polysemous nature, and variance in meaning. Although it is difficult to teach and learn phrasal verbs, they should be taught and learned because one of the main aims of foreign language education is to prepare students to understand and use the target language fluently in real life. Utilizing two mega corpora, the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), this study aims to determine the frequencies of phrasal verbs in coursebooks commonly used in Turkey and to point out the most frequent phrasal verbs in these two mega corpora. As a result, this study, a) compared the 100 most frequent phrasal verbs in the BNC and COCA, b) listed every single phrasal verb in the upper-intermediate level of “New Headway”, “New English File”, “Face2Face”, and “English Unlimited”, c) determined the frequency range of these phrasal verbs in the corpora, and d) provided implications for coursebook designers and teachers. As foreign language learners are sensitive to frequency effects in language learning, it can be concluded that the number of the frequent phrasal verbs should be reconsidered in the coursebooks.

Keywords

Phrasal Verbs, Corpus, Coursebook, BNC, COCA

Türkiye’de Kullanılan İngilizce Ders Kitaplarındaki Deyimsel Fiiller: Derleme Dayalı Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Deyimsel fiiller İngilizce’yi ana dili olarak konuşanlar tarafından sıklıkla kullanılan ve  akıcılık için gerekli olan çok sözcüklü yapılardır. Bununla birlikte, bu deyimsel fiiller çok anlamlı doğaları ve anlamdaki değişiklikleri nedeniyle yabancı dil eğitiminin en sorunlu alanlarından birini oluşturmaktadır. Her ne kadar deyimsel fiilleri öğretmek ve öğrenmek zor olsa da bunlar öğretilmelidir; çünkü yabancı dil eğitiminin temel amaçlarından biri öğrencileri hedef dili gerçek hayatta anlamaya ve kullanmaya hazırlamaktır. Ayrıca, bu fiiller anadili İngilizce olanlar tarafından günlük konuşmalarda en yaygın kullanılan çok kelimeli yapılardan biridir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’de yaygın olarak kullanılan İngilizce ders kitaplarındaki deyimsel fiillerin iki büyük derlem olan İngiliz Ulusal Derlemi ve Çağdaş Amerikan İngilizcesi Derlemi’ndeki sıklıklarını belirlemek ve bu iki derlemdeki en sık kullanılan deyimsel fiilleri belirlemektir. Buradan yola çıkarak bu çalışma a) bu iki derlemdeki en sık kullanılan 100 adet deyimsel fiili karşılaştırmış, b) “New Headway”, “New English File”, “Face2Face” ve “English Unlimited” kitaplarındaki tüm deyimsel fiilleri belirlemiş, c) bu sözcüklerin derlemlerdeki sıklık derecesini bulmuş ve d) ders materyal tasarlayanlara ve öğretmenlere önerilerde bulunulmuştur. Yabancı dil öğrenenlerin sıklığa karşı duyarlı oldukları gerçeğinden yola çıkarak ders kitaplarındaki deyimsel fiillerin sayısının yeniden gözden geçirilmesi gerektiği sonucuna ulaşılabilir.

Keywords

Deyimsel fiiller, derlem, ders kitabı, BNC, COCA

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