A Conceptual Metaphor Approach To The Representation Of Phrasal Verbs With Out In EFL Learners’ Dictionaries

The acquisition of phrasal verbs is a most perplexing aspect in the acquisition ofEnglish as a second language, and they are deemed as a stumbling block which dogsthe footsteps of EFL learners due to their syntactic and semantic complexity. In thisstudy, we launched a corpus-based investigation and administered a natural semanticclassification test to pin down Chinese EFL learners’ difficulties and problems in theacquisition of phrasal verbs. Then we conducted a fine-grained analysis on thesemantics of phrasal verbs with particle out, through which we aspire to reveal thecognitive motivation of phrasal verbs.It is revealed that the biggest problem for Chinese EFL learners lies in thesemantic aspect of phrasal verbs. They commit a large number of semantic errors andevince significantly low semantic richness in the use of phrasal verbs as opposed tonative speakers. Our analysis further invites the conclusion that these features ofnon-nativeness may be resulted from L1transfer, semantic complexity of phrasalverbs, and the problematic teaching method. EFL learners’ dictionaries fail to accountfor the cognitive motivation of phrasal verbs.EFL learners’ dictionaries are important reference tools in second languageacquisition. The compilation of Chinese EFL learners’ dictionaries should adopt acountry-specific approach which takes into account Chinese EFL learners’ difficultiesand problems in second language acquisition. Conceptual metaphor theory buttressesthe meaning extension of polysemy with theoretical basis and reveals the cognitivemotivation for polysemy. Therefore, in this study we propose that the presentation ofphrasal verbs in Chinese EFL learners’ dictionaries should adopt a particle-centeredarrangement based upon Conceptual Metaphor Theory, through which learners maygrasp an overall picture of the meanings of phrasal verbs.