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Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs

The document discusses some of the difficulties that TESL students face with English vocabulary, including phrasal verbs which can have multiple meanings and forms between American and British English, the large size of the English lexicon derived from Old English and Latin, and collocations where words regularly occur together but can be incorrectly used. It also notes that slang, colloquialisms, and idioms present challenges as classroom English differs from everyday speech, and these terms vary regionally and can change quickly.

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Liezel Evangelista Baquiran
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48 views1 page

Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs

The document discusses some of the difficulties that TESL students face with English vocabulary, including phrasal verbs which can have multiple meanings and forms between American and British English, the large size of the English lexicon derived from Old English and Latin, and collocations where words regularly occur together but can be incorrectly used. It also notes that slang, colloquialisms, and idioms present challenges as classroom English differs from everyday speech, and these terms vary regionally and can change quickly.

Uploaded by

Liezel Evangelista Baquiran
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VOCABULARY

Phrasal verbs - Phrasal verbs in English can cause difficulties for many learners because they have several meanings and different syntactic patterns. There are also a number of phrasal verb differences between American and British English.

Word derivation - Word derivation in English requires a lot of rote learning. For example, an adjective can be negated by using the prefix un- (e.g. unable), in- (e.g. inappropriate), dis- (e.g. dishonest), or a- (e.g. amoral), or through the use of one of a myriad related but rarer prefixes, all modified versions of the first four.

Size of lexicon - The history of English has resulted in a very large vocabulary, essentially one stream from Old English and one from the Norman infusion of Latinderived terms. (Schmitt & Marsden claim that English has one of the largest vocabularies of any known language.) This inevitably requires more work for a learner to master the language.
Difficulties in VOCABULARY of TESL Students

Collocations - Collocations in English refer to the tendency for words to occur regularly with others. For example, nouns and verbs that go together (ride a bike/ drive a car). Native speakers tend to use chunks of collocations and the ESL learners make mistakes with collocations in their writing/speaking which sometimes results in awkwardness.

Slang and Colloquialisms In most native English speaking countries, large numbers of slang and colloquial terms are used in everyday speech. Many learners may find that classroom based English is significantly different from how English is spoken in normal situations. This can often be difficult and confusing for learners with little experience of using English in Anglophone countries. Also, slang terms differ greatly between different regions and can change quickly in response to popular culture. Some phrases can become unintentionally rude if misused.

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