Phrasal verb acquisition and perceptions among Emirati EFL learners

This study explored the Emirati EFL learners’ knowledge of phrasal verbs. To this end, the study assessed the proficiency of 40 Emirati EFL learners in using phrasal verbs and examined the perspectives of 102 eighth-grade students on learning them. The data was collected using a test based on Liu’s (2011) list of phrasal verbs in spoken contexts and a questionnaire to gauge learners’ perspectives. The findings showed that students had a strong grasp of highly frequent phrasal verbs (Mean = 9.9), a moderate understanding of the less common (Mean = 7.88) and struggled with the least frequently used phrasal verbs (Mean = 6.10). The findings highlight the difficulties encountered by Emirati learners in mastering phrasal verbs, which are argued to present a challenge to EFL learners because of their complex and seemingly unrelated structure.