Incidental Phrasal Verb Acquisition through Second Language Reading Amanda Hare A Thesis In The Department Of Education Applied Linguistics Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Applied Linguistics) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 2010 © Amanda Hare, 2010 ! CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Amanda Hare Entitled: Incidental Phrasal Verb Acquisition through Second Language Reading and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Applied Linguistics) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: ____________________________________ Chair Walcir Cardoso ____________________________________ Examiner Joanna White ____________________________________ Examiner Pavel Trofimovich ____________________________________ Supervisor Marlise Horst Approved by _________________________________________________ Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director _____________ 20____ _________________________________________________ Dean of Faculty ! ! ! ! ! ABSTRACT Incidental Phrasal Verb Acquisition through Second Language Reading Amanda Hare Phrasal verbs are given focused attention by students, teachers and textbooks alike as being difficult to acquire but important for language learners to have some mastery over. This study examined the effectiveness of incidentally acquiring phrasal verbs and one-word verbs through second language reading with post-reading discussion activities. To my knowledge, except Bishop (2004), no other study has compared the acquisition of formulaic sequences with one-word items. The treatment involved reading eight one-page mystery stories with the targets built in for eight incidental written encounters; each story was followed by a discussion period to solve the mystery. During discussion students were able to ask for word meanings or generatively use the targets (both labeled as !negotiation"). All discussions were recorded and later analyzed. Measures administered after treatment found eight unique textual exposures plus discussion lead to gains that were significant for phrasal verbs and one-word verbs alike. Differences in mean learning gains for the two types of verb were not statistically significant. Negotiation was able to predict both accurate and inaccurate learning; the inaccurate learning may have represented false confidence gained through negotiation; hence teachers need to be sure the correct meaning of target words are acquired through discussion. Recommendations for future research and pedagogical implications are also included. Overall, phrasal verbs may not be as difficult to learn as previously thought; in this study, they were learned as effectively as one-word verbs through eight or more incidental exposures through reading with negotiation. """! ! ! ! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my thesis supervisor, Prof. Marlise Horst, whose time, input and guidance was invaluable in the successful completion of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge my thesis committee consisting of Prof. Joanna White and Prof. Pavel Trofimovich for their valuable suggestions and feedback. I would like to thank Concordia University for giving me the opportunity to #$r&$e()*+&(Ma&)er"&(de/ree(and(+n()$rn(1e(a12e()3(43n)r+1ute to the body of Second Language Acquisition research. "#! ! ! ! ! Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Review of Literature ..........................................................................................4 Theory 1: The Default Position ........................................................................................4 T*e3r6(78(9ra&*en"&(:n#$)(;6#3)*e&+&( ............................................................................6 Theory 3: The Output Hypothesis ....................................................................................8 Theory 4: The Interaction Hypothesis ..............................................................................9 Vocabulary Learning Through Reading: Definition of Terms .......................................10 FonF vs. FonFS ..............................................................................................................13 Vocabulary Acquisition Through Oral Negotiation .......................................................15 Vocabulary Acquisition Through Reading: How Effective Is it? ..................................18 Summary of Incidental and Reading Literature .............................................................29 The Importance of Formulaic Sequences .......................................................................31 Defining Formulaic Sequences...................................................................................31 L2 Fluency and Formulaic Sequences ........................................................................33 Studies of the Acquisition of Formulaic Sequences ...................................................34 The Difficult Nature of Phrasal Verbs ...........................................................................37 Incidental Acquisition of Phrasal Verbs through Reading .............................................41 Chapter 2: Method .............................................................................................................44 Purpose ...........................................................................................................................44 Pilot Study ......................................................................................................................44 Thesis Study Methodology .............................................................................................50 Setting ....................................................................................................................50 Participants .............................................................................................................50 Materials ................................................................................................................51 Procedures ..............................................................................................................59 Analysis..................................................................................................................62 #! ! ! ! ! Chapter 3: Results ..............................................................................................................65 Chapter 4: Discussion ........................................................................................................76 Discussion ......................................................................................................................76 Limitations .....................................................................................................................82 Chapter 5: Implications for Research and Teaching ..........................................................91 Implications for Research ...............................................................................................91 Implications for Instruction ............................................................................................96 Chapter 6: Conclusion......................................................................................................100 References ........................................................................................................................102 Appendices .......................................................................................................................110! !   #"! ! ! ! ! ! ! List of Figures Page Figure 1: Self-rated pre-test example<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<..57 Figure 2: Means of YES answers on self-rated test over time<<<<<<<<<66 #""! ! ! ! ! ! List of Tables Page Table 1: Experimental schedule of classes<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.59 Table 2: Instructional class plan<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.60 Table 3: Order of post-tests for immediate and delayed post-tests<<<<<<<<61 Table 4: Means of YES answers on self-rated test over time<<<<<<<<<<65 Table 5: Sentence use of previously unknown words by word type in %.....................69 Table 6: Multiple choice answers of previously unknown words by word type in %...69 Table 7: Negotiation by word type in raw counts<<<<<<<<<<<<<<..71 Table 8: Phrasal verb negotiations in raw counts<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...71 Table 9: One-word verb negotiations in raw counts<<<<<<<<<<<<<..71 Table 10: Negotiated and non-negotiated items and sentence writing test accuracy in raw counts<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...74 Table 11: Negotiated and non-negotiated items and multiple choice test accuracy in raw counts<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...74 #"""! ! ! ! ! Incidental Phrasal Verb Acquisition through Second Language Reading Introduction Two personal experiences are the motivating forces behind this study on learning phrasal verbs through reading. Why phrasal verbs? First, phrasal verbs receive special attention by students and teachers alike. It is likely that any language teacher can attest to a ubiquitous interest in phrasal verbs among students, regardless of nationality and level of English ability. In addition, textbooks, dictionaries, websites and teacher training courses have all devoted particular attention to this kind of lexical item. Several instances have highlighted the importance of phrasal verbs during my English as a Second Language (ESL) career. Since I began tutoring during my undergraduate degree until the present as a trained professional, students have consistently expressed a burning interest in learning and mastering phrasal verbs in order to sound more natural when they speak English. During my Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) teacher training, phrasal verbs were given special attention during the pedagogical grammar course, attention which has been reflected in almost every grammar and classroom )e=)133k(:"?e(&+n4e(43n&$2)ed@(The pattern of interest became undeniably apparent when my phrasal verb course, at a school for international students in Toronto, was repeatedly filled to capacity. Upon moving to Japan to teach English, the same phenomenon appeared: students were equally interested in learning and mastering phrasal verbs to make their spoken and written English appear more native- like. $! ! ! ! ! ! The ubiquitous attention to the unassuming phrasal verb sparked my interest in doing this thesis to explore the nature of phrasal verbs and how students can better learn and master their use. Why reading? Reading in another language has been extensively explored in second language acquisition (SLA) research, including the amount of lexis needed to understand a written text. The misunderstanding that can arise for a learner when crucial lexical items are unknown was highlighted to me in a grade ten French class. A single lexical item caused me to misunderstand a few lines of text in a short reading exercise resulting in an inability to answer the corresponding question. While it did not have a large impact on my grade, the frustration of this event has stayed with me and, in some way, has motivated my studies in vocabulary acquisition, particularly with phrasal verbs. When students encounter a new two- or three-part phrasal verb occurring adjacently, are they able to identify the verb and particle(s) as one unit? If the phrasal verb has been split by a long clause, is the student able to connect the separated verb and particle? How do students make this connection? Since phrasal verbs are always such an interest for students, what are the best ways to teach them? These are questions motivating the following thesis. Having a strong belief in the role reading plays in increasing input of the target language and helping students to strengthen their vocabulary, I felt a natural inclination to explore whether or not reading can help learners acquire phrasal verbs and to what extent. The following review of relevant literature will explore the role of reading, with particular focus on the acquisition of vocabulary, in SLA. First, several theories will be outlined. Then I will look at the effectiveness of incidental and intentional learning %! !