ESL learners’ usage frequency of phrasal verbs in relation to the time spent residing in an English-speaking country
Linguistically marked structures could negatively affect second language learners’ proficiency. Investigating such issues, therefore, is an ever-evolving field of inquiry since they are related to processes of learning and teaching the English Language. Phrasal Verbs (PVs) are considered linguistically marked. PVs are extensively investigated from different approaches. However, there are two under-investigated variables, time of immersion in an English-speaking country, and time spent in learning English. Therefore, this paper addresses the gap of how the time variable correlated to how fluently learners of English use PVs. To achieve the intended purpose of this investigation, 27 ESL learners were surveyed measuring the role of the time variable in the frequency of PVs usage. The findings substantiate the importance of incorporating PVs in the curriculum as well as the explicit instruction of PVs.