MULTI-WORD VERBS IN

LEARNER AND NATIVE NOVICE

WRITING: A MULTI-CORPORA-

BASED STUDY

CHEN MEILIN

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

November 2013

CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

香港城市大學

Multi-Word Verbs in Learner and Native Novice Writing: A Multi-corpora-based Study 動詞短語在中國學生和英語本族語者作文中

的使用：一項基於多个語料庫的研究

Submitted to Department of English

英文系 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 哲學博士學位

by

Chen Meilin 陳美林

November 2013 二零一三年十一月

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Abstract

Multi-word verbs are perceived as notoriously difficult for learners of English as a

second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) because they are semantically non-

compositional, very often polysemous, and syntactically more flexible than other

types of phraseological patterns (e.g. variation of particle positions and pronoun or

noun insertions are possible in multi-word verbs.) Previous empirical studies have

repeatedly found that, regardless of their L1 background, learners tend to avoid

using multi-word verbs when a single-word verb alternative is available (Dagut &

Laufer 1985; Hulstijn & Marchena 1989; Laufer & Eliasson 1993; Liao & Fukuya

2004; Schmitt & Redwood 2011). However, learner corpus studies show a more

complex picture of learners’ use of multi-word verbs, with some learner populations

using multi-word verbs very frequently in writing while others tending to use fewer

in comparison with their native counterparts (e.g. Waibel 2007; Gilquin 2011).

This study explored Chinese university students’ use of two types of multi-

word verbs, namely, phrasal verbs (e.g. take up, turn out) and prepositional verbs

(e.g. begin with, come across), in comparison with their American and British

counterparts. Multi-word verbs in a learner corpus of English compiled by the

author were compared with those in four native corpora of two English varieties and

two genres (argumentative and academic writing). In addition to the comparison

between the learner and native novice writing, intra-individual comparisons were

also made to track the learners’ multi-word verb development at different stages of

their undergraduate studies. In order to do so, the learner corpus was divided into

three sub-corpora each representing a level of their first three years of studies (i.e.

year 1, year 2 and year 3).

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Data analyses were carried out from both quantitative and qualitative

perspectives. The quantitative analysis aimed to ascertain: 1) whether the Chinese

students avoid using multi-word verbs as previous empirical studies suggested; 2)

whether there is a difference between the American and British novice writers

regarding multi-word verb use in terms of numbers; and 3) whether the Chinese

students use more multi-word verbs as their language proficiency improves. The

qualitative analysis focused on the correctness and appropriateness of multi-word

verbs in the learner and native novice writing by examining their stylistic, semantic

and collocational behaviour.

Results from the quantitative analysis first show that it is difficult to state

whether the Chinese EFL learners overuse or underuse multi-word verbs in writing

because a more striking difference emerges between the British and American

students. The American novice writers tend to use many more multi-word verbs in

both genres than their British counterparts and they also show a greater variety of

multi-word verbs in their writing. The overall frequencies of multi-word verbs in the

learner corpus do not reveal a fundamental difference between the Chinese EFL

learners and the British novice writers; however, the learner-native writer gap exists

between the Chinese learners and the American students.

Analysis of the distribution of multi-word verbs in the five novice corpora

reveals another difference between the American novice corpora and their Chinese

and British counterparts. Multi-word verbs in the Chinese learner corpus and the

British novice corpora are evenly distributed across individual writers, while this is

not the case in the American novice corpora.

Notwithstanding the considerable differences, certain similarities were found

between the American and British novice writers. After dividing multi-word verbs

into the two sub-categories, i.e. phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs, it was found

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that both the American and British students tend to use fewer phrasal verbs in

academic writing than in argumentative writing. Prepositional verbs, on the other

hand, show the reverse, i.e. fewer prepositional verbs in argumentative writing than

in academic writing. This result is in line with previous research findings that

phrasal verbs are informal in style and are often avoided in formal academic writing,

while prepositional verbs are highly frequent in language use in general and

especially prominent in academic writing (Biber et al., 1999).

Although the learner writing does not reveal a numerical difference from the

British novice writing regarding multi-word-verb use, the learner-native gap is

revealed by qualitative analysis. First, analysis of the stylistic behaviour of multi-

word verbs in the five novice corpora reveals that more informal multi-word verbs

are used in the learner corpus than in most of the native novice corpora. Second, an

obvious difference is also found between the learner writing and the native novice

writing in terms of the semantic behaviour of multi-word verbs. Although a majority

of the multi-word verbs in the learner corpus are used figuratively, the proportion of

multi-word verbs (especially prepositional verbs) used literally in the learner writing

is higher than that in the native novice writing.

As for the collocational behaviour of multi-word verbs, differences exist

within the native novice writers as well as between the learners and their native

counterparts. However, the learner-native difference is more considerable. For some

multi-word verbs, the learners tend to use certain collocations very frequently, while

such tendencies do not show in either the native novice writing or in general English

reference corpora (the BNC and COCA).

A number of deviations in multi-word verb use were found in both learner

and native novice writing, but the proportion of deviant use in the learner writing is

much higher than that in the native novice writing. The three major types of

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deviations in the learner writing are: deviations in particle, syntactic deviations and

non-native like choice of a MWV or its collocations.

Results from the longitudinal analysis show that phrasal verbs are more

problematic for Chinese EFL learners than prepositional verbs. First, little increase

in the use of phrasal verbs was found in their third-year writing. Moreover, an

unexpected drop in phrasal verb use was observed in their second-year writing.

Their use of prepositional verbs, in contrast, grew steadily. Second, the learners did

not show much progress in their stylistic knowledge of phrasal verbs until the third

year. However, their stylistic knowledge of prepositional verbs developed

considerably. In the third year of their study, the proportion of the academic high

frequency prepositional verbs in the learner writing even surpassed that in many

native novice corpora. Yet it is worth noting that non-native-like use of prepositional

verbs still exists in the learner writing. Prepositional verbs are not problem-free for

the learners.

The findings from this study indicate that the acquisition of multi-word verbs

may not be as difficult as previous studies proposed; the learners do not show an

obvious intention to avoid using multi-word verbs in their writing. The number of

multi-word verbs in the learner corpus shows little difference from that in the British

novice corpora. Difficulties do exist, however. Multi-word verbs in the American

novice corpora indeed considerably outnumber those in the learner corpus. More

importantly, the learners might be able to produce a sufficient number of multi-word

verbs, but the semantic complexity is still a big barrier for them. To fully master

multi-word verbs, the learners also need to know more about stylistic and

collocational behaviour of multi-word verbs and learn to use them in an idiomatic

way. The results also show that L2 acquisition is never a simple and linear process, it

often involves great progress at certain times yet stagnation or even recession at

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others. These findings are of great importance for multi-word verb learning and

teaching in and outside China.

Differences and similarities between the American and British novice

corpora reveal an important methodological implication for learner corpus research.

Various factors such as first language variety and genre are of equal importance in

the selection of native reference corpora in learner corpus research. None should be

left out in the analysis. Neglecting these factors when one chooses a native reference

corpus may lead to distorted results.

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Table of Contents

Abstract……. .............................................................................................................. i

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... iv

Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... vi

List of Tables ............................................................................................................ xii

List of Figures ......................................................................................................... xix

List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................... xx

PART I INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background: Phraseology and Learners of English ........................................ 1

1.2 Challenges of Finding Comparable Reference Corpora in Learner Corpus

Studies ............................................................................................................. 3

1.3 Longitudinal Research: A Valuable but Under-Researched Area in L2

Acquisition and Learner Corpus Research ...................................................... 6

1.4 Aims of Study .................................................................................................. 9

1.5 Overview of the Thesis .................................................................................. 10

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter 2 The Multi-word Verb: A Review of the Literature .......................... 12

2.1 Terminological Issues .................................................................................... 12

2.2 Classification of the Multi-word Verb ........................................................... 14

2.2.1 Phrasal verb ....................................................................................... 16

2.2.2 Prepositional verb .............................................................................. 19

2.2.3 Phrasal verb vs. prepositional verb .................................................... 22

2.2.4 Phrasal-prepositional verb ................................................................. 25

2.2.5 Verb governing two prepositions ....................................................... 26

2.2.6 Verb-adjective combination ............................................................... 27

vii

2.2.7 Verb-verb combination ...................................................................... 28

2.2.8 Verbo-nominal combination .............................................................. 29

2.3 The Multi-word verb in English Learning and Teaching .............................. 30

2.4 Corpus Studies on Multi-word Verbs ............................................................ 34

2.5 Types of Multi-word Verbs Investigated in This Study ................................. 40

Chapter 3 Collocation and Second Language Acquisition ................................ 42

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 42

3.2 The Importance of Collocation in Language Use .......................................... 42

3.3 Collocational Performance of Learners of English in Previous Studies ....... 45

3.4 Theoretical Studies on collocation ................................................................ 53

3.4.1 The idiom principle ........................................................................... 57

3.4.2 Lexical priming ................................................................................. 62

3.4.3 Pattern grammar ................................................................................ 63

PART III METHODOLOGY

Chapter 4 Methodology ........................................................................................ 67

4.1 Building up a Longitudinal Learner Corpus .................................................. 67

4.1.1 Design of the corpus .......................................................................... 67

4.1.2 Participants ........................................................................................ 68

4.1.3 Data collection and processing .......................................................... 69

4.2 Finding Comparable Native English Corpora ............................................... 70

4.2.1 LOCNESS ......................................................................................... 70

4.2.2 CEENAS ............................................................................................ 71

4.2.3 The GS-UK corpus ............................................................................ 73

4.2.4 MICUSP ............................................................................................ 75

4.2.5 BAWE ................................................................................................ 78

4.3 Extracting Multi-word Verbs from the Corpus .............................................. 82

4.4 Determining and Categorising Multi-word Verbs ......................................... 86

4.5 Adverbial-prepositional particles: Research Questions ................................. 90

4.6 Data Analysis Methods .................................................................................. 91

viii

PART IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A QUANTITATIVE

APPROACH

Chapter 5 Multi-word verbs in the Native and Learner Novice Writing ........ 93

5.1 Preliminaries .................................................................................................. 93

5.1.1 Framework of the analysis ................................................................. 93

5.1.2 Variables considered in the discussion .............................................. 94

5.1.3 Terminological issues ........................................................................ 96

5.2 Use of Multi-word Verbs: An Overview........................................................ 98

5.2.1 Use of Multi-word verbs in the native novice corpora ...................... 98

5.2.2 Use of Multi-word verbs in the learner corpus ................................ 101

5.3 Frequency and Productivity of Particles ...................................................... 103

5.3.1 Productivity of particles in the native novice corpora ..................... 103

5.3.2 Productivity of particles in the learner corpus .................................. 119

5.4 Frequency and Productivity of Lexical Verbs ............................................. 127

5.4.1 Frequency and productivity of lexical verbs in the native novice

corpora ............................................................................................. 127

5.4.2 Frequency and productivity of lexical verbs in the learner corpus . 134

5.5 Discussion of the Findings .......................................................................... 139

Chapter 6 Phrasal Verbs in the Native and Learner Novice Writing ............ 145

6.1 Use of Phrasal Verbs: An Overview ............................................................ 146

6.1.1 Overall results of phrasal verbs in the native novice corpora ......... 146

6.1.2 Overall results of phrasal verbs in the learner corpus ..................... 150

6.1.3 Dispersion of phrasal verbs in the native and the learner novice

corpora ............................................................................................. 154

6.2 High-frequency Phrasal Verbs in the Native and the Learner Corpora ....... 160

6.2.1 High-frequency phrasal verbs in the native novice corpora ............ 160

6.2.2 High-frequency Phrasal verbs in the learner corpus ........................ 171

6.3 Discussion of the Findings .......................................................................... 185

Chapter 7 Prepositional Verbs in the Native and Learner Novice Writing...189

7.1 Use of Prepositional Verbs: An Overview ................................................... 190

7.1.1 Overall results of prepositional verbs in the native novice corpora 190

7.1.2 Overall results of prepositional verbs in the learner corpus ............ 195

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7.1.3 Dispersion of prepositional verbs in the native and the learner novice

corpora ............................................................................................. 199

7.2 High-frequency Prepositional Verbs in the Native and Learner Novice

Corpora ........................................................................................................ 201

7.2.1 High-frequency prepositional verbs in the native novice corpora ... 201

7.2.2 High-frequency prepositional verbs in the learner corpus .............. 209

7.3 Discussion of the Findings .......................................................................... 218

Chapter 8 Multi-word Verbs in the Learner Writing: A Longitudinal

Investigation ...................................................................................... 220

8.1 Multi-word Verbs in the Three Learner Sub-corpora: An Overview ........... 220

8.2 Phrasal Verbs in the Three Learner Sub-corpora ......................................... 224

8.2.1 Overall results .................................................................................. 224

8.2.2 High-frequency PHVs in the learner sub-corpora ........................... 226

8.3 Prepositional Verbs in the Three Learner Sub-corpora................................ 230

8.3.1 Overall results .................................................................................. 230

8.3.2 High frequency prepositional verbs in the learner sub-corpora ...... 232

8.4 Discussion of the Findings .......................................................................... 235

PART V RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A QUALITATIVE

APPROACH

Chapter 9 Stylistic Features of the MWVs in the Learner and the Native

Corpora ............................................................................................. 238

9.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 238

9.2 Stylistic Features of Phrasal Verbs .............................................................. 240

9.2.1 Stylistic features of the PHVs in the learner and the native corpora 240

9.2.2 Stylistic features of the PHVs in the three learner sub-corpora ...... 251

9.3 Stylistic Features of Prepositional Verbs ..................................................... 255

9.3.1 Stylistic features of the PPVs in the learner and the native corpora 255

9.3.2 Stylistic features of the PPVs in the three learner sub-corpora ....... 264

9.4 Discussion of the Findings .......................................................................... 269

Chapter 10 Semantic and Collocational Behaviour of the MWVs in the

Learner and the Native Corpora ..................................................... 275

10.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 275

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10.2 Semantic and Collocational Behaviour of Phrasal Verbs ............................ 276

10.2.1 Semantic behaviour of phrasal verbs ............................................... 276

10.2.2 Collocational behaviour of phrasal verbs ........................................ 281

10.3 Semantic and Collocational Behaviour of Prepositional Verbs ................... 301

10.3.1 Semantic behaviour of prepositional verbs ..................................... 301

10.3.2 Collocational behaviour of prepositional verbs ............................... 304

10.4 Discussion of findings ................................................................................. 323

Chapter 11 Non-native-like Use of Multi-word Verbs in the Learner and

Native Novice Writing ...................................................................... 325

11.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 325

11.2 An Overview ............................................................................................... 326

11.3 Deviations Involving the Verb ..................................................................... 331

11.4 Using a MWV where a Single-word Verb Is More Appropriate ................. 333

11.5 Deviations Involving the Particle ................................................................ 335

11.6 Syntactic Deviations .................................................................................... 339

11.7 Non-native-like Choice of the MWV or its Collocations ............................ 342

11.8 Learner Error or Creative Use? ................................................................... 348

11.9 Discussion of Findings ................................................................................ 350

PART VI CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Chapter 12 Conclusions and Implications ....................................................... 353

12.1 Major Findings and Conclusions ................................................................. 353

12.1.1 Do the Chinese students underuse multi-word verbs? .................... 354

12.1.2 Are individual differences important in learner corpus analysis? ... 356

12.1.3 Does the frequency factor matter in multi-word verb acquisition and

production? ...................................................................................... 357

12.1.4 Do the Chinese EFL learners show any progress in multi-word verb

acquisition in the three years of their study? ................................... 358

12.1.5 What are the stylistic, semantic and collocational behaviour of multi-

word verbs in the learner and native novice writing? ...................... 358

12.1.6 Is the L1 variety factor an important parameter in the selection of

native comparison corpora in learner corpus studies? ..................... 359

12.2 Methodological Implications ....................................................................... 361

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12.3 Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................. 364

12.4 Limitations of the Study .............................................................................. 368

References ……………………………………………………………………….370

Appendices ……………………………………………………………………….391

Appendix 1 Topics of the Essays in BAWE Chosen for This Study .................. 391

Appendix 2 The 150 most Frequent PHVs in the COCA and BNC ................... 395

Appendix 3 The 100 Most Frequent PHVs in the BNC ..................................... 401

Appendix 4 The 20 Most Frequent PHVs in the Learner and the Native Novice

Corpora ........................................................................................................ 404

Appendix 5 The 30 Most Frequent PPVs in the Learner and the Native Novice

Corpora ........................................................................................................ 405

Appendix 6 High-frequency PPVs and Their Frequencies across Registers in the

LSWE corpus ............................................................................................... 407

Appendix 7 The 15 Most Frequent PHVs in the Three Learner Sub-corpora .... 409

Appendix 8 The 20 Most Frequent PPVs in the Three Learner Sub-corpora ..... 410

Appendix 9 Informal PHVs in the Five Novice Corpora .................................... 411

Appendix 10 Stylistic Profiles of the 20 Most Frequent PHVs in the Learner and

the Native Novice Corpora .......................................................................... 413

Appendix 11 Stylistic Profiles of the 30 Most Frequent PPVs in the Learner and

the Native Novice corpora ........................................................................... 422

Appendix 12 Stylistic Profiles of the 15 Most Frequent PHVs in the Three

Learner Sub-corpora .................................................................................... 432

Appendix 13 Stylistic Profiles of the 20 Most Frequent PPVs in the Three

Learner Sub-corpora .................................................................................... 436