One of the best things about adopting a more lexical view of language is that you start to appreciate more clearly how words interact with other words, and you are then able to start passing on to students the message that “these words often go together”. It also means you lose many of the worries that your training may have planted in you. One area of the lexicon that we’ve both radically changed our approach to is phrasal verbs. For far too long, coursebooks made phrasal verbs into part of the grammar of the language, rather than simply treating them as you should any other verb and its collocates – a group of words often used together in a certain order!Why on earth did we allow ourselves to be tricked into beleiving that He told me I need to cut down on red meat is any harder to learn than He’s always undermining my confidence?
Designed to strike fear into students readying themselves for FCE and to scare teachers into panicking about, for example, whether pop into is a phrasal verb in its own right or simply an intransitive verb with an additional preposition (the answer is: it depends which dictionary you consult!), this approach strips all the possible fun out of teaching vocabulary and, ironically, often makes it less likely that students will start using these items as they commonly are.
The verb pop and the prepositions it’s often used with (or, if you prefer, the phrasal verbs pop into, pop out, pop round and so on) may well appear in classroom material at Intermediate level and above. In essence, pop means to go somewhere quickly and for a short period of time, and is used in all manner of common chunks:
I’m just popping out to the shops. I’ll be back in a minute.
I’m afraid Mr. Tanaka’s not here at the moment. He’s just popped out for lunch. Can I take a message?
Pop round sometime if you’re in the area.
I’m just popping round to Andy‘s. I won’t be long.
I just need to pop in here for a second.
I just need to pop into the post office and send these two parcels, OK?
Notice the co-text that’s often used with these chunks – I’ll be back in minute, I won’t be long, for a second, and so on.
In terms of how these items are explained and exploited in class, it does rather depend on the context in which they’re encountered. If, for instance, you’re teaching a Business English course – or unit – and are looking at dealing with incoming calls and taking messages, the chunk pop out for lunch may well come up – either in a listening or vocabulary exercise – or else it could something you choose to teach after asking students for reasons why someone may not be in the office. In either case, you can briefly explain its meaning and ask for / give variations on the chunk:
She’s not here at the moment, I’m afraid. She’s just popped out for a few minutes. Shall I get him to call you back?
I’m afraid you’ve just missed him. He’s just popped out for lunch. Do you want to leave a message?
Alternatively, if you’re doing some vocabulary on different kinds of shops, introducing the chunk I need to pop into . . . to . . . may be a useful way of practising both the shops and what services they offer. Once the names of shops have been looked at, you could introduce the chunk through one example such as I just need to pop into the chemist’s to pick up a prescription. You could then ask for any other reasons why people might need to pop into the chemist’s, which generally allows for some possible humour to emerge from the group, and then put students in pairs and ask them to come up with four different reasons for popping into each shop using this sentence frame. They may well then come up with things like this:
I just need to pop into the bank to pay some money in.
I just need to pop into the bank to change some money.
I just need to pop into the bank to see if I can take out a loan.
I just need to pop into the bank to pay some cheques in.
Have YOU ever taught any chunks based around the verb pop?
If so, can you remember what you told your students about it and what examples you gave?