engleski

Phrasal Verb Competence in Croatian Learners of Swedish

Most Swedish phrasal verbs (partikelverb) are idiomatic constructions whose meanings are not compositional, i.e. they cannot be derived from the literal meanings of the phrase elements. Another important characteristic of phrasal verbs is that they have multiple meanings. They are therefore complicated linguistic units and one of the most difficult sets for L2 (FL) learners of Swedish. Mastering these verbs is especially challenging for speakers of languages, such as Croatian, whose verbal system does not include phrasal verbs. Those learners face a multiple task: they must learn how to distinguish between phrasal and prepositional verbs ; they must adopt the characteristic phrasal verb pronunciation and master the verbs' syntax ; they have to cope with their, sometimes very complex semantics, and keep the various individual meanings of polysemous verbs apart. The latter often proves to be the most difficult aspect. Generally speaking, students seem to avoid phrasal verbs whenever possible so that the number of different items in students' free production is very small. They often stick to the most common ones, usually learned at the beginner level. In this paper the authors present the results of research aimed at determining whether there is a pattern in the usage of Swedish phrasal verbs in learners with Croatian as L1. Three types of written data sources are analyzed: essays, translations from Croatian into Swedish, and fill-in and gap tests. The subjects are second and third year students of Swedish at the University of Zagreb. Several hypotheses are tested: a) in essays, learners will use a relatively small number of phrasal verbs, predominantly the most common ones (ex. hälsa på tycka om etc.) ; usage errors in written production will, therefore, be rare ; b) in translations, students will use relatively few phrasal verbs, choosing their nonphrasal equivalents or paraphrases where possible ; c) in lexical (fill-in and gap) tests, learners will achieve better results with common and with semantically transparent verbs. The analysis will also test whether abstract and metaphorical meanings are necessarily difficult to adopt, or if other characteristics can prove influential in the learning process. In the paper reasons for improper usage and for the avoidance strategy (some of which have been mentioned above, namely the complex nature, multiple meanings, different verbal system in L1 and L2, etc.) are also discussed.

phrasal verbs; Swedish; second language; foreign language

Series: Studies in Languages, University of Joensuu, Vol 41. Joensuu: Joensuu University Press 2007.