Presentation Of Phrasal Verbs In English Learner’s Dictionaries Online

As an important lexical category in English,phrasal verbs have extensive usage,flexible syntax and rich semantics.They have long been the key and difficult points in the learning process of Chinese EFL learners,and have a direct impact on the fluency and accuracy of their language use.From a cognitive perspective,taking phrasal verbs with OFF as the case,by analyzing their semantic construction mechanism and combined with Chinese EFL learners’ actual needs,this study aims to ameliorate the entries of PVs with OFF in English learner’s dictionaries online,and ultimately to facilitate Chinese EFL learners’ acquisition of phrasal verbs with OFF.Based on British National Corpus,the present study first extracts the top 200 phrasal verbs with OFF according to the frequency value an d mutual information score,and then makes a cognitive semantic analysis of them under the guidance of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Image Schema Theory.It is found tha t the semantic formation and extensions of PVs with OFF involve four image schemas,including contact schema,path schema,blockage schema and container schema.Secondly,this study probes into the difficulties of learners in using PVs with OFF via Chinese Learner English Corpus,and further analyzes the causes of their errors.The research results demonstrate that errors made by Chinese EFL learners can be divided into three categories: syntactic,semantic and collocation errors,among which the semantic and collocation ones occupy the largest share.And errors are mainly ascribed to interlingual interference,complicated properties of PVs and pedagogical demerits.Thirdly,in the era of convergent media,English learner’s dictionaries online have gradually become the preferred tools for learners.Nevertheless,through the survey,it is discovered that the presentation of PVs with OFF in the British Big Five online is not comprehensive and accurate enough to satisfy the demands of Chinese EFL learners.Their defects are primarily reflected in four respects:incomplete schematic semantic structure in definition,weak illustrative examples,inadequate cross-reference information and grammar glosses,and lack of error warnings.Finally,in view of the shortcomings of the current ELDs online,combined with Construction Grammar Theory and Meaning-driven Multidimensional Definition Theory,the current study puts forward four presentation principles of PVs with OFF,containing particle-centered macrostructural arrangement principle,metaphor-based sense ordering principle,meaning-driven multidimensional presentation principle and user-oriented error clarification principle.Then,with reference to the four principles,the multidimensional presentation pattern of PVs with OFF in ELDs online is designed,supplemented with sample entries for explanation.