Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Teaching phrasal verbs through English songs at buon ma thuot upper secondary school

ut, wash away, dream about are mentioned respectively. Let me show their 
order in the lyrics. 
 Don’t lose your way, with each passing day 
 You’ve come so far, don’t throw it away 
 Live believing, dreams are for weaving 
 .. 
 If we hold on together 
 I know our dreams will never die 
 Dreams see us through to forever 
 Where clouds roll by for you and I 
 Souls and the wind must learn how to bend 
 Seek out a star, hold on to the end 
 Valley, mountain, there’s a fountain 
 Washes our tears all away 
 . 
 When we are out there in the dark 
 We’ll dream about the sun 
 In the dark we’ll feel the light 
From this song, the phrasal verbs contain the following meanings: 
Throw away = discard sth as useless or unwanted 
 Ex: That’s rubbish – you can throw it away. 
hold on (to sb/sth) = keep grasping or gripping sb/ sth; not let go of sb/ sth 
 Ex: When the horse jumped over the fence, I held on as hard as I could 
Roll by = make (sth) or be made into the shape of a ball or cylinder 
Seek sb/sth out = look for and find sth/sb 
 Ex: She sought out and acquired all his early paintings. 
Wash sb/sth away (of water) = remove or carry sb/sth away to another place 
 Ex: The cliffs are being gradually washed away by the sea. 
Dream about sth = experience sth in a dream 
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 Ex: I dreamt about flying last night. 
The next song I would like to describe is considered one of the meaningful and 
well-known songs all over the globe. That is the song We Are The World in which 
there are some phrasal verbs such as come together, go on. 
 There comes time when we heed a certain call 
 when the world must come together as one 
 There are people dying, oh and it’s time to lend 
 a hand to life the greatest gift of all. 
 We can’t go on pretending day by day that someone, 
 Somewhere will soon make a change 
 .. 
As we can see from this song, the phrasal verbs come together and go on imply 
the following meanings: 
Come together (as one) = unite 
Go on = continue 
 Ex: The party went on until dawn. 
The last song which is used to teach phrasal verbs is Papa by Paul Anka. There 
are some phrasal verbs appearing in this song. 
 After all the prays were said 
 Growing up with him was easy 
 Time just flew on by, the years began to fly 
 He aged and so did I 
 I could tell that mama wasn’t well 
 Papa knew and deep down so did she, so did she 
 When she died, papa broke down and cried 
 Your children live through you 
 They’ll grow and need you too 
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In this song, the phrasal verbs can be understood as follows: 
Grow up = reach the stage of full development; become adult or mature 
 Ex: She is growing up fast 
Fly on by = pass, go by 
Break down = lose control of one’s feeling 
 Ex: Tom breaks down whenever he thinks of the tragedy 
 Or He broke down and swept when he heard the news. 
Live through = experience a difficult situation or event 
 Ex: It was hard to describe the nightmare she had lived through. 
 By applying this teaching method into the lecture, it seems to me that the 
students will memorize more and more phrasal verbs. Additionally, this method 
gives them a pleasure in studying English. 
 b. Findings 
After teaching phrasal verbs through English songs are taken into considerations, I 
have conducted a survey to check how effective this method is. Meanwhile, I 
have made a comparison between the traditional method and the new one. 
 Based on the results of the survey for over 100 twelfth students at Buon Ma 
Thuot High School, via many written texts such as fifteen-minute tests and one-
period tests in three classes. and some interviews on the English teachers of the 
school, the findings are collected as follows: 
 The majority of the students (72%) state that they can do their test better. 
The number of phrasal verbs that they have in their mind is bigger and bigger. 
Furthermore, I come to realize that they become interested in learning phrasal 
verbs by listening to the English songs. They say that the more songs with phrasal 
verbs they listen to, the more phrasal verbs they can remember. 
 However, the small percentage of students (28%) state that they are still 
confused with so many phrasal verbs. They can’t distinguish and know how to use 
them easily. Therefore, I come up with a new idea that this teaching method is still 
applied to stimulate their learning of English and a list of phrasal verbs should be 
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sorted alphabetically. More importantly, the students will practice a variety of 
exercises in different forms with the motto “Practice makes perfect” 
4. Solutions 
From the problems and realities illustrated above, the researcher puts forward 
some suggestions below: 
 Firstly, the teachers of English pick out the arousing English songs which 
contain phrasal verbs. Thanks to music, the students become more interested in 
learning English and stimulate them to get to know the meaning of the lyrics in the 
song. The more songs they listen to, the more phrasal verbs they remember. 
 Secondly, the teachers of English should give clear explanations for each 
phrasal verb in different contexts so that the students can apply them into language 
practice. In addition, the teacher should provide the students with different kinds 
of exercises in order that they can avoid making mistakes and use phrasal verbs 
flexibly and correctly. What’s more, I enclose a glossary of phrasal verbs and 
example sentences to help students look them up if necessary. 
a. Commonly used phrasal verbs 
PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
ask someone out invite on a date Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie. 
ask around ask many people the same 
question 
I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet. 
add up to something equal Your purchases add up to $200. 
back something up reverse You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out. 
back someone up support My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my 
job. 
blow up explode The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence. 
blow something up add air We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party. 
break down stop functioning (vehicle, 
machine) 
Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the 
snowstorm. 
break down get upset The woman broke down when the police told her that 
her son had died. 
break something down divide into smaller parts Our teacher broke the final project down into three 
separate parts. 
break in force entry to a building Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo. 
break into something enter forcibly The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the 
children. 
break something in wear something a few times so 
that it doesn't look/feel new 
I need to break these shoes in before we run next week. 
break in interrupt The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's 
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PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
death. 
break up end a relationship My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to 
America. 
break up start laughing (informal) The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started 
talking. 
break out escape The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't 
looking. 
break out in something develop a skin condition I broke out in a rash after our camping trip. 
bring someone down make unhappy This sad music is bringing me down. 
bring someone up raise a child My grandparents brought me up after my parents died. 
bring something up start talking about a subject My mother walks out of the room when my father 
brings up sports. 
bring something up vomit He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the 
toilet. 
call around phone many different 
places/people 
We called around but we weren't able to find the car 
part we needed. 
call someone back return a phone call I called the company back but the offices were closed 
for the weekend. 
call something off cancel Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love 
with his fiancé. 
call on someone ask for an answer or opinion The professor called on me for question 1. 
call on someone visit someone We called on you last night but you weren't home. 
call someone up phone Give me your phone number and I will call you up 
when we are in town. 
calm down relax after being angry You are still mad. You need to calm down before you 
drive the car. 
not care for 
someone/something 
not like (formal) I don't care for his behaviour. 
catch up get to the same point as someone 
else 
You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch 
up with Marty. 
check in arrive and register at a hotel or 
airport 
We will get the hotel keys when we check in. 
check out leave a hotel You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM. 
check someone/something out look at carefully, investigate The company checks out all new employees. 
check out someone/something look at (informal) Check out the crazy hair on that guy! 
cheer up become happier She cheered up when she heard the good news. 
cheer someone up make happier I brought you some flowers to cheer you up. 
chip in help If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by 
noon. 
clean something up tidy, clean Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside. 
come across something find unexpectedly I came across these old photos when I was tidying the 
closet. 
come apart separate The top and bottom come apart if you pull hard 
enough. 
come down with something become sick My nephew came down with chicken pox this 
weekend. 
come forward volunteer for a task or to give 
evidence 
The woman came forward with her husband's finger 
prints. 
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PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
come from somewhere originate in The art of origami comes from Asia. 
count on someone/something rely on I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out. 
cross something out draw a line through Please cross out your old address and write your new 
one. 
cut back on something consume less My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty 
foods. 
cut something down make something fall to the ground We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the 
storm. 
cut in interrupt Your father cut in while I was dancing with your uncle. 
cut in pull in too closely in front of 
another vehicle 
The bus driver got angry when that car cut in. 
cut in start operating (of an engine or 
electrical device) 
The air conditioner cuts in when the temperature gets 
to 22°C. 
cut something off remove with something sharp The doctors cut off his leg because it was severely 
injured. 
cut something off stop providing The phone company cut off our phone because we 
didn't pay the bill. 
cut someone off take out of a will My grandparents cut my father off when he remarried. 
cut something out remove part of something (usually 
with scissors and paper) 
I cut this ad out of the newspaper. 
do someone/something over beat up, ransack (BrE, informal) He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a 
street gang. 
do something over do again (AmE) My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she 
doesn't like my topic. 
do away with something discard It's time to do away with all of these old tax records. 
do something up fasten, close Do your coat up before you go outside. It's snowing! 
dress up wear nice clothing It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up. 
drop back move back in a position/group Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off 
her bike. 
drop in/by/over come without an appointment I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week. 
drop someone/something off take someone/something 
somewhere and leave them/it there 
I have to drop my sister off at work before I come over. 
drop out quit a class, school etc I dropped out of Science because it was too difficult. 
eat out eat at a restaurant I don't feel like cooking tonight. Let's eat out. 
end up eventually reach/do/decide We ended up renting a movie instead of going to the 
theatre. 
fall apart break into pieces My new dress fell apart in the washing machine. 
fall down fall to the ground The picture that you hung up last night fell down this 
morning. 
fall out separate from an interior The money must have fallen out of my pocket. 
fall out (of hair, teeth) become loose and 
unattached 
His hair started to fall out when he was only 35. 
figure something out understand, find the answer I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the 
bookshelf in this room. 
fill something in to write information in blanks, as 
on a form (BrE) 
Please fill in the form with your name, address, and 
phone number. 
fill something out to write information in blanks, as 
on a form (AmE) 
The form must be filled out in capital letters. 
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PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
fill something up fill to the top I always fill the water jug up when it is empty. 
find out discover We don't know where he lives. How can we find out? 
find something out discover We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but 
Samantha found it out. 
get something across/over communicate, make 
understandable 
I tried to get my point across/over to the judge but she 
wouldn't listen. 
get along/on like each other I was surprised how well my new girlfriend and my 
sister got along/on. 
get around have mobility My grandfather can get around fine in his new 
wheelchair. 
get away go on a vacation We worked so hard this year that we had to get away 
for a week. 
get away with something do without being noticed or 
punished 
Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths 
tests. 
get back return We got back from our vacation last week. 
get something back receive something you had before Liz finally got her Science notes back from my room-
mate. 
get back at someone retaliate, take revenge My sister got back at me for stealing her shoes. She 
stole my favourite hat. 
get back into something become interested in something 
again 
I finally got back into my novel and finished it. 
get on something step onto a vehicle We're going to freeze out here if you don't let us get on 
the bus. 
get over something recover from an illness, loss, 
difficulty 
I just got over the flu and now my sister has it. 
get over something overcome a problem The company will have to close if it can't get over the 
new regulations. 
get round to something finally find time to do (AmE: get 
around to something) 
I don't know when I am going to get round to writing 
the thank you cards. 
get together meet (usually for social reasons) Let's get together for a BBQ this weekend. 
get up get out of bed I got up early today to study for my exam. 
get up stand You should get up and give the elderly man your seat. 
give someone away reveal hidden information about 
someone 
His wife gave him away to the police. 
give someone away take the bride to the altar My father gave me away at my wedding. 
give something away ruin a secret My little sister gave the surprise party away by 
accident. 
give something away give something to someone for 
free 
The library was giving away old books on Friday. 
give something back return a borrowed item I have to give these skates back to Franz before his 
hockey game. 
give in reluctantly stop fighting or 
arguing 
My boyfriend didn't want to go to the ballet, but he 
finally gave in. 
give something out give to many people (usually at no 
cost) 
They were giving out free perfume samples at the 
department store. 
give something up quit a habit I am giving up smoking as of January 1st. 
give up stop trying My maths homework was too difficult so I gave up. 
go after someone follow someone My brother tried to go after the thief in his car. 
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PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
go after something try to achieve something I went after my dream and now I am a published 
writer. 
go against someone compete, oppose We are going against the best soccer team in the city 
tonight. 
go ahead start, proceed Please go ahead and eat before the food gets cold. 
go back return to a place I have to go back home and get my lunch. 
go out leave home to go on a social event We're going out for dinner tonight. 
go out with someone date Jesse has been going out with Luke since they met last 
winter. 
go over something review Please go over your answers before you submit your 
test. 
go over visit someone nearby I haven't seen Tina for a long time. I think I'll go over 
for an hour or two. 
go without something suffer lack or deprivation When I was young, we went without winter boots. 
grow apart stop being friends over time My best friend and I grew apart after she changed 
schools. 
grow back regrow My roses grew back this summer. 
grow up become an adult When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman. 
grow out of something get too big for Elizabeth needs a new pair of shoes because she has 
grown out of her old ones. 
grow into something grow big enough to fit This bike is too big for him now, but he should grow 
into it by next year. 
hand something down give something used to someone 
else 
I handed my old comic books down to my little cousin. 
hand something in submit I have to hand in my essay by Friday. 
hand something out to distribute to a group of people We will hand out the invitations at the door. 
hand something over give (usually unwillingly) The police asked the man to hand over his wallet and 
his weapons. 
hang in stay positive (informal) Hang in there. I'm sure you'll find a job very soon. 
hang on wait a short time (informal) Hang on while I grab my coat and shoes! 
hang out spend time relaxing (informal) Instead of going to the party we are just going to hang 
out at my place. 
hang up end a phone call He didn't say goodbye before he hung up. 
hold someone/something 
back 
prevent from doing/going I had to hold my dog back because there was a cat in 
the park. 
hold something back hide an emotion Jamie held back his tears at his grandfather's funeral. 
hold on wait a short time Please hold on while I transfer you to the Sales 
Department. 
hold onto someone/something hold firmly using your hands or 
arms 
Hold onto your hat because it's very windy outside. 
hold someone/somethingup rob A man in a black mask held the bank up this morning. 
keep on doing something continue doing Keep on stirring until the liquid comes to a boil. 
keep something from 
someone 
not tell We kept our relationship from our parents for two 
years. 
keep someone/something out stop from entering Try to keep the wet dog out of the living room. 
keep something up continue at the same rate If you keep those results up you will get into a great 
college. 
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PHRASAL VERB MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE 
let someone down fail to support or help, disappoint I need you to be on time. Don't let me down this time. 
let someone in allow to enter Can you let the cat in before you go to school? 
log in (or on) sign in (to a website, database etc) I can't log in to Facebook because I've forgotten my 
password. 
log out (or off) sign out (of a website, database 
etc) 
If you don't log off somebody could get into your 
account. 
look after someone/something take care of I have to look after my sick grandmother. 
look down on someone think less of, consider inferior Ever since we stole that chocolate bar your dad has 
looked down on me. 
look for someone/something try to find I'm looking for a red dress for the wedding. 
look forward to something be excited about the future I'm looking forward to the Christmas break. 
look into something investigate We are going to look into the price of snowboards 
today. 
look out be careful, vigilant, and take 
notice 
Look out! That car's going to hit you! 
look out for 
someone/something 
be especially vigilant for Don't forget to