Phrasal verbs in fiction texts

The study addresses the need to assist language learners who have a desire to read fiction texts on their own or with classroom assistance. The study focuses on analyzing the frequency and functional classification of the most common phrasal verbs in three texts: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, and Pet Sematary by Stephen King. By examining the top 50 most frequently used head words in each text and analyzing the KWIC lines within the texts, the study identifies and categorizes the phrasal verbs. The findings indicate that the frequency of phrasal verbs in these texts aligns with prior studies, with the majority of the verbs being best classified as literal spatial phrasal verbs. Basic phrasal verbs are constructed to build the space and environment within fiction texts. These basic phrasal verbs should be introduced to early learners, and they should practice replacing either the head word or pair word to gain an intuition for how these words interact and affect the action of the verb. In practical usage, phrasal verbs contribute to creating a contextual environment within speech, and it is beneficial to introduce their basic structure to students at an early stage. Since polysemous verbs occur less frequently, explicit teaching of their multiple meanings can be delayed until later stages of language learning.