Paradigmatic vs. Syntagmatic Language Learning: an Experiment with English Irregular Verbs

Authors

Thomas Scovel

Publication Date

1989-01-01

Abstract

Linguists have traditionally classified grammatical patterns into two types : paradigmatic and syntagmatic. The former are sets of morphological changes that are relatively easy to memorize (e.g. SING, SANG, SUNG) ; the latter are syntactic relationships that are determined by the entire context of the words within the sentence (e.g. I HAVE SUNG THAT SONG SINCE I WAS A CHILD.). In an experiment with Thai and native-speaking students of English, it was demonstrated that Thai EFL students are even better at remembering English paradigmatic patterns than native speakers ; however, native speakers were far better in choosing correct syntagmatic patterns. It was concluded that teaching and learning paradigmatic patterns in English is not an appropriate way for Thai EFL students to acquire communicative ability in English.

DOI

10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.19.2.5

First Page

45

Last Page

49

Recommended Citation

Scovel, Thomas (1989) "Paradigmatic vs. Syntagmatic Language Learning: an Experiment with English Irregular Verbs," PASAA: Vol. 19: Iss. 2, Article 6.
DOI: 10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.19.2.5
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/pasaa/vol19/iss2/6