Craig writes:
When classification becomes an end in itself, the living,
dynamic language gets left behind.

This may be so in the case of purely linguistic analysis.  However, I do not agree that this reflects the recent comments related to the ESL context.  Therein, assuming that one is adopting an explicit approach to explaining the difference between phrasal  and prepositional verbs, first, one has to have a means of classifying the two, and second, one has to provide the students with a clear way of distinguishing them.
 
Ron Sheen
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