Phrasal verbs are not easy to learn, and they deserve to be once again highlighted. For this very reason, I’ve decided to bring out this article, which is a follow-up to the one earlier published, Phrasal Verbs.
Categorization is one infallible way to make such verbs learner-friendly. They can be classified into various ways, be it by a shared preposition or common verb. Today, we will classify them into topic-related groups. Its effectiveness is unquestionable, and my students’ great results are the proof.
As a teacher, I strongly believe that introducing a list of phrasal verbs in a topic-related context is essential. In this way, given the syllabus of the study book, the topics of its units and no matter the lesson language skills to cover and its stages, be it a post-reading or a post-listening discussion, etc, learners will once again be invited to use these tricky language creatures. So, a mere turn of the page is not valid. We must tame them for good!
Besides, the Cambridge exams candidates must show knowledge of TOPIC-related vocabulary in papers like Speaking and Writing. By learning phrasal verbs using this approach, the English learners will get a guaranteed high score in one of the four Cambridge assessment criteria, the Language Resource.
N.B. All the phrasal verbs from the groups below belong to the B1 Preliminary must-know list. The English Profile is a great tool that I strongly recommend to both learners and teachers. It provides us with lexis from all the Cambridge levels, from A1 to C2, and more than twenty topic-related vocabulary. Check it out, this website is a must on our online bookshelf.
I would like to share with you my phrasal verbs teaching ABC. If you are a fellow teacher, this could give you some food for thought and provide you with some insights into the phrasal verbs know-how.
A
PRESENTATION. Explain the meaning of the phrasal verbs to be taught.
B
PEER HELP. Pair conversation using expressions to ask for clarification and clarify:
“When you say …, what do you mean?” “Are you saying that … ?”, “Could you explain that a little more?”
“What I mean is … .” “No, I am referring to … .” “That´s right.”
C
ASK QUESTIONS USING THE DEFINITIONS. Guess the secret phrasal verb. One student thinks of a phrasal verb. The other one should come up with definitions, which are called LIVES, to try and guess the secret verb. They are given a concrete number of lives. Each student should guess it before running out of lives.
D
IDENTIFY IT! BINGO game. Listen to the definition and cross the phrasal verb from your bingo card. Even if it is not in your BINGO, but you do know the phrasal verb, rise your hand and say it out! There are two winners: the one who was fast in saying the phrasal verb and the other who crossed all the phrasal verbs.
E
FUN! BANANA/BEEP game: “What’s the preposition?” e.g, “Hang BANANA a minute!” “I grew BEEP in China”.
F
REINFORCEMENT. FUN! JEOPARDY game. In pairs or groups, students uncover a phrasal verb and unveil an amount of points. If they can build a sentence with the given verb, they win this score. What kind of sentence, affirmative, interrogative or interrogative, the dice will show.
G
REINFORCEMENT. SHIP BATTLE game. My favourite so far, since it is 100% students’ communication and 5% teacher’s involvement. It is true that we must create the card beforehand.
H
MOVE AROUND, ASK & FIND OUT! Each student is given a card with questions. e.g. “Can you name a famous person who broke …. with his/her partner?” Before starting to ask, students fill in the gaps with the missing preposition or verb, then move around to interview their classmates.
I
PRODUCTION. Write a short funny anecdote or story using the phrasal verbs. When reading out the story, the rest should clap their hands each time they hear a phrasal verb.
J
TESTING. e.g. Match the verbs with their preposition. Read the sentences and write the missing phrasal verbs in the correct form. Paraphrase the sentence using a phrasal verb.
K
PLAY HARD! Quiz time with online interactive tools, such as Kahoot, Quizizz, Quizlet, etc
My dearest, I’ve written this article thinking about you, our English learners and the English teaching community alike. I hope each one has found interesting and useful material and ideas to take on board.
Stay tuned for more words of advice and handy material!
