An Action Research Study on Teaching Phrasal Verbs to Saudi EFL Elementary Level Students

Abstract

Research studies report that phrasal verbs, due to their syntactic complexity and semantic opacity, cause learning challenges for EFL students. One effective and localized way to help students grasp phrasal verbs is encouraging teachers to conduct action research. However, there is a scholarly gap in action research work that targets phrasal verbs as a focus of investigation. The present study planned a class observation in real-time settings to find out the extent to which a planned lesson on phrasal verbs succeeds in achieving the stated learning outcomes. The primary data obtained through the lesson observation report was triangulated with teacher’s report stating the rationale for the lesson, and student participants’ survey. The data was analyzed qualitatively, and the findings revealed that while the lesson was generally coherent, motivating for the students, and successful in achieving most of the learning objectives, there were deficits in regard to transmission of the meaning of phrasal verbs at a few instances, effective management of the feedback systems, and active involvement of the passive students in class tasks. The study is expected to interest those planning to design further action research projects on the topic as well as EFL practitioners who propose to review their teaching of the phrasal verbs.