Using Phrasal Verbs in writing English: challenges and solutions. A survey at Can Tho University

Abstract

English has been a global language and mastering skills to use English in general and writing skill, in particular, is essential for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in today's modern society. A good way to facilitate English writing skills is using phrasal verbs (PVs). This study aimed to investigate students' difficulties and solutions in using PVs in writing English. With the descriptive method, a questionnaire comprising 20 statements on Liker scale was distributed to 145 third-year students from High-Quality Program in English Language (HQPEL), School of Foreign Languages (SFL), Can Tho University (CTU) and three questions were delivered to six of them who volunteered to attend further interview section to collect data. Then, obtained data were analyzed with Statistic Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The results illustrated that the difficulties students encountered were related to methods to learn PVs, nature of PVs, materials and teaching methods of PVs; Besides, some feasible solutions to tackle those problems were recommended, in which watching movies and listening to music with English subtitles is considered the most effective method to absorb PVs. In light of the findings, some implications and recommendations for further studies were also addressed.