Phrasal Verbs Analysis in TOEIC Exam

Abstract

Significant studies shown ‘phrasal verbs’ is a crucial component to an English language study, both in terms of speaking and writing. Additionally, learning phrasal verbs can help an examinee to perform well in TOEIC exams. Without a proper knowledge of phrasal verb, context as well as sentence can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. This is because most of the times, semantic errors occurred were a result of participants’ misperception and misunderstanding of phrasal verbs. This research, therefore, aimed to examine the use of phrasal verbs in the reading section of 30 TOEIC sample tests. TagAnt and AntConc programs were used for conducting frequency count in order to list the most and least frequent phrasal verbs used in the tests. The results showed that a phrasal verb with the highest frequency count was "ask for", which is a type of ‘inseparable verb’. Phrasal verbs analysis can help examinees prioritise their study and properly prepared them for future test.