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Learning Phrasal Verbs Through Image Schemas: A New Approach
Learning Phrasal Verbs Through Image Schemas: A New Approach
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2 / ABREU & VIEIRA
SOURCE-PATH-GOAL
CONTAINER
LINK
FORCE-DYNAMICS
BALANCE
PART-WHOLE
CENTER-PERIPHERY
Several linguists have added new image schemas to the initial list
proposed by its forerunners. Nonetheless, a recent paper caught our atten-
tion due to its interrelation description account: the work of Peña (2008),
which establishes a kind of general topological net of image schemas, build-
ing a hierarchy among them. The primary schema as stated by her is called
BOUNDED REGION. If this region has only one dimension, we have the
SOURCE-PATH-GOAL schema. If it has two dimensions, we have the
SURFACE schema. Finally, if it has three dimensions, we have the CON-
TAINER schema. This new topological framework is innovative, because
it solves situations in which the CONTAINER schema is insufficient. A
room, for instance, would be the prototypical example of a CONTAINER,
but a table would be also a CONTAINER. However, how could we estab-
lish the difference between those two containers? According to Peña’s
PHRASAL VERBS / 3
BOUNDED REGION
PART-WHOLE FULL/EMPTY
FRONT-BACK EXCESS
NEAR-FAR
CENTER-PERIPHERY
CONTACT
LINK
FORCE DYNAMICS
4 / ABREU & VIEIRA
The frames that we use are not only cognitive in nature but also
cultural constructs; hence the term cultural model for the same idea. Cul-
tural models can differ cross-culturally, from group to group, and even
from individual to individual.
An organ, for instance, has hard core traces as: keyboard, tubes,
air, stops. As traces linked to imagination and culture, we can add:
churches, people praying, sounding loud, sounding soft, abilities’ skills of
an organist etc.
PHRASAL VERBS / 7
Gary Marcus (2008) wrote a very interesting book arguing that the
human brain is a kind of contraption, and proposes that frames are only a
resource for retrieving pieces of information:
We can say of a sailor exposed to the elements as sea that the sun tortured
him ant that he was beaten mercilessly by savage winds. The story on an
actor who tortures someone by burning him is projected onto the story of
the sailor’s becoming sunburned. The story of a savage actor’s merci-
lessly beating a victim is projected parabolically onto the story of forcible
gusts of wind impinging on the sailor.
8 / ABREU & VIEIRA
GO
Go after
She looked so upset. Do you think I should go after her? (to follow
or chase sbdy in order to talk, attack or catch them)
Go against
Einstein’s theory went against all the accepted views about how the
universe worked. (to be opposite to)
I should warn you that if the case goes against you, you may find
yourself in prison. (to be not in favor of)
Go around / go round
You can’t go around accusing people of things like that! (to say or
do sthg frequently, esp. when it is annoying or unpleasant for other
people)
There are a lot of colds going round just now. (to spread news, dis-
eases, etc)
How long have those two going around together? (to be seen in
public together)
Go back
Don’t go back to your old eating habits or you’ll gain all that
weight again. (to return to sthg)
The clocks go back next week, so it will seem dark sooner. (to be
set to an earlier time)
Go by
Having no map to go by, we soon lost our way. (to be guided by)
The title of the famous song from the film Casablanca, As time
goes by, there is a focus on PATH, as a time course, and a projection of an
inanimate entity (the time) as an actor.
FILL
Fill in
Some people find it difficult to fill in a form. (to write what is nec-
essary on)
How am I going to fill in this afternoon now that he’s not coming?
(to pass time)
Fill out
“Have this prescription filled out at the drugstore.” (to follow the
doctor’s instructions)
John finished growing taller last year, and now he’s filling out. (to
grow fatter)
Fill up
They stopped to fill up at the next gas station. (to put petrol in a car
so that the tank is full)
It doesn’t take much rice to fill me up. (to feel that you have eaten
enough)
BREAK
Break away
The criminal broke away from the policeman who was holding
him. (to escape from sbdy)
Part of the country broke away (from the state) to form a new na-
tion. (to end one’s connection with or loyalty to a group)
After the series ended, Glaser found it difficult to break away from
his TV cop image. (to do different from what you usually do)
Break down
The police tried to break down the prisoner’s opposition. (to cause
to be defeated)
The washing machine seems to have broken down again. (to fail to
work)
Peace talks have broken down in the Middle East. (to fail)
Break up
Break into
The thieves waited until it was dark enough to break into the
house. (to enter a building by force)
The children broke into the conversation with demands for atten-
tion. (to interrupt sthg)
Break out
I should like to break out of this meaningless way of life (to change
usual behavior)
Break through
We had to break through the solid wall to reach the prisoners. (to
break a way through sthg solid)
It was difficult at first to break through her quiet manner. (to con-
quer)
LOOK
Look ahead
Look around
We’ve been looking around the country for a good place to camp.
(search in a place)
Look back
Looking back on the old days, I’m sure we were much happier
then. (to remember, think about the past)
Once your first book is printed, you’ll never look back. (to con-
tinue to advance)
Look up
If I’m ever here on business again, I’ll look you up. (to find and
visit when in a place)
Look up to
We can perfectly say that we can distinguish one car’s brand from
another but, doing this, we are acting in a conceptual field. If we say that
we can tell them apart, we create a small story of telling our experience to
an addressee. If we say that Mozart was influenced to be a musician by his
father, we are again in a conceptual (and static) field, but if we say that
Mozart was pushed towards music by his father, we create a small story of a
PHRASAL VERBS / 17
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See Vieira (2008).
18 / ABREU & VIEIRA
embodied language and image schemas, and highlighted basic image sche-
mas as SOURCE-PATH-GOAL and CONTAINER. After that, we have
discussed some phrasal verbs included in these schemas, leading the stu-
dents to pay attention to frames and to metaphorical projections of inani-
mate entities as actors. In the following classes, we have added more im-
age schemas and more phrasal verbs for discussion. The classes took place
twice a week lasting one hour and a half during eight months (March – June
and August – November). Every month, mock examinations were adminis-
tered and the students kept written notes of their scores. By the end of the
year, the scores were compared to previous students’ scores who had taken
the preparatory courses in the former years. We realized that not only each
student score had improved over the year, but also that the scores of the
students taught by the image schemas approach had increased by an average
of forty percent compared to the scores of students taught by traditional
approaches.
References
TURNER, M. 1996. The literary mind: the origins of thought and language,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.