Underuse of English verb–particle constructions in an L2 learner corpus: Focus on structural patterns and one-word preference

Min-Chang Sung

doi:10.1515/cllt-2017-0002

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Underuse of English verb–particle constructions in an L2 learner corpus: Focus on structural patterns and one-word preference

Min-Chang Sung

Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 14. März 2017

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Aus der Zeitschrift Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory Band 16 Heft 1

Abstract

This study analyzes English verb–particle constructions (VPC) in a learner and a native corpus of argumentative essays, focusing on two important factors: structural patterns of VPCs and preference for one-word verbs (e. g., delay vs. put off). The results showed that while every structural type of VPC was significantly underused by L2 learners, greater underuse was observed with discontinuous transitive VPCs (e. g., bring it back). In addition, the frequency of the most underused VPCs in the learner corpus was significantly lower than that of their one-word synonyms, indicating the learners’ strong preference for one-word verbs. Identifying these specific areas of difficulty when learning VPCs, the author explores how contrastive linguistic analyses and corpus-based quantitative approaches can collaboratively contribute to the investigation of complex interlanguage systems.

Keywords: English verb–particle constructions; underuse; learner corpus; structural patterns; one-word synonyms

Acknowledgment

The author would like to express his gratitude to two anonymous reviewers and Professor Stefanie Wulff for extensive comments on earlier versions of this article. The author is also indebted to Professor Hyun-Kwon Yang and Professor Sun-Young Oh at Seoul National University for many linguistic insights.

Appendix: 150 most frequent VPCs in COCA (Liu 2011)

Rank	Verb	Particle	Rank	Verb	Particle	Rank	Verb	Particle
1	go	on	51	put	out	101	set	off
2	pick	up	52	look	around	102	keep	on
3	come	back	53	catch	up	103	run	out
4	come	up	54	go	in	104	make	out
5	go	back	55	break	down	105	shut	up
6	find	out	56	get	off	106	turn	off
7	come	out	57	keep	up	107	bring	about
8	go	out	58	put	down	108	step	back
9	point	out	59	reach	out	109	lay	down
10	grow	up	60	go	off	110	bring	down
11	set	up	61	cut	off	111	stand	out
12	turn	out	62	turn	back	112	come	along
13	get	out	63	pull	up	113	play	out
14	come	in	64	set	out	114	break	out
15	take	on	65	clean	up	115	go	around
16	give	up	66	shut	down	116	walk	out
17	make	up	67	turn	over	117	get	through
18	end	up	68	slow	down	118	hold	back
19	get	back	69	wind	up	119	write	down
20	look	up	70	turn	up	120	move	back
21	figure	out	71	line	up	121	fill	out
22	sit	down	72	take	back	122	sit	back
23	get	up	73	lay	out	123	rule	out
24	take	out	74	go	over	124	move	up
25	come	on	75	hang	up	125	pick	out
26	go	down	76	go	through	126	take	down
27	show	up	77	hold	on	127	get	on
28	take	off	78	pay	off	128	give	back
29	work	out	79	hold	out	129	hand	over
30	stand	up	80	break	up	130	sum	up
31	come	down	81	bring	out	131	move	out
32	go	ahead	82	pull	back	132	come	off
33	go	up	83	hang	on	133	pass	on
34	look	back	84	build	up	134	take	in
35	wake	up	85	throw	out	135	set	down
36	carry	out	86	hang	out	136	sort	out
37	take	over	87	put	on	137	follow	up
38	hold	up	88	get	down	138	come	through
39	pull	out	89	come	over	139	settle	down
40	turn	around	90	move	in	140	come	around
41	take	up	91	start	out	141	fill	in
42	look	down	92	call	out	142	give	out
43	put	up	93	sit	up	143	give	in
44	bring	back	94	turn	down	144	go	along
45	bring	up	95	back	up	145	break	off
46	look	out	96	put	back	146	put	off
47	bring	in	97	send	out	147	come	about
48	open	up	98	get	in	148	close	down
49	check	out	99	blow	up	149	put	in
50	move	on	100	carry	on	150	set	about

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Published Online: 2017-03-14

Published in Print: 2020-05-27

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English verb–particle constructions; underuse; learner corpus; structural patterns; one-word synonyms