Teaching Phrasal Verbs Effectively: A Comparison of Conceptual Metaphors and Retrievals

Abstract Phrasal verbs require explicit teaching methods to make learners aware of their polysemy and features that at first can seem arbitrary. To address this, cognitive linguists have shown that conceptual metaphors can be used to explain the underlying meanings behind particles in phrasal verbs. However, many studies in the literature have used inherently ineffective tasks, such as rote‐memorization and trial‐and‐error tasks, for control groups, which has undermined the validity of their results. To provide a more robust analysis of the role of conceptual metaphors in acquiring phrasal verbs, the current study compared conceptual metaphors with a more effective teaching method in retrievals, which has also shown some evidence of being beneficial when learning phrasal verbs. The results revealed that both methods were effective at enabling Japanese EFL learners to recall phrasal verbs on a posttest and delayed posttest. However, the retrieval method was more consistent across intermediate and preintermediate classes. Furthermore, it is recommended that retrievals are used initially at the beginning of the learning process to facilitate that phrasal verbs are acquired as multiword units, with conceptual metaphors introduced later to offer more explicit knowledge and deep cognitive processing.