Understanding phrasal verbs in academic lectures: some semantic and pragmatic insights from a corpus-driven analysis

The aim of this research was to shed light on the linguistic forms of phrasal verbs (PVs) used during academic lectures, with particular attention to those that may be challenging for L2 listeners. In particular, the following research questions were addressed: 1) To what extent are PVs used by the lecturers?, 2) Which categories of PVs can be identified?, and 3) Which patterns of usage can be identified?. It is well known that PVs can create comprehension difficulties for L2 learners due to their wide-ranging degree of semantic transparency/opaqueness and idiomaticity, and a high level of polysemy. In addition, although PVs are highly frequent in English, most languages do not possess such verb + particle combinations, which can further exacerbate difficulties when the native language of L2 learners lacks such constructions. Another complicating feature of PVs for L2 learners is that they are very dynamic, such that new forms and meanings are coined with extreme frequency and ease. In light of these issues, it is important to acquire a better understanding of how PVs are actually used in lecture discourse in order to promote more successful L2 comprehension of this key feature that characterizes the speech of native and proficient speakers of English users.