Avoidance of Phrasal Verbs in Learner English: A Study of Iranian Students

Abstract

This study investigated the avoidance of English phrasal verbs by Iranian learners. It also investigated the role of phrasal verb types, types of measurement and level of English proficiency in any possible avoidance of phrasal verbs performed by Iranian learners of English. Two groups of Iranian learners (intermediate and advanced, a total of 85) took part in this study. The advanced learners were 35 MA students and Intermediate learners were 50 BA students of English at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Both advanced and intermediate learners were randomly divided into three groups and three types of tests (multiple-choice, translation and recall) were taken to them which included phrasal verbs in two types (figurative and literal). Findings showed that test type and phrasal verb type had an effect on learners’ avoidance of phrasal verbs, but proficiency level did not affect learners’ performance. Therefore, it was concluded that the difference between L1 and L2 structure and semantic complexity of phrasal verbs might cause the learners’ avoidance.