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Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning
Volume 6 Number 2 September 2021. Page 190-197
p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478
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GRADE 10 ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS’
STRATEGIES FOR PAST SIMPLE TENSE IRREGULAR VERBS INFLECTION
MASTERY
Farisani Thomas Nephawe1), Matodzi Nancy Lambani2)
1) University of Venda, South Africa
E-mail: Farisani.nephawe@univen.ac.za
2) University of Venda, South Africa
E-mail: Matodzi.lambani@univen.ac.za
Abstract. The mastery of the irregular form of verbs in the past simple tense poses challenges to non-native learners of
English all over the world. The objectives of this research paper were to establish why the English First Additional
Language learners face difficulties in mastering the inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense, and identify
strategies useful for mastering the inflection of the irregular verbs. The research paper adopted a quantitative research
design. A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection from the respondents. Data were analysed using
the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 to ensure valid interpretations. Date were presented in a table and a
graph dealing with the inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense. The respondets of this research paper
comprised 21 Grade 10 learners of Dimani Secondary School in Limpopo Province, South Africa in the 2021 academic
year. Initially, the respondents experienced difficulties in using the suppletion principle and the terminal consonants
phoneme changes. Therefore, the researchers used two irregular verbs learning strategies, namely: the grouping of
common irregular verbs and the learning of irregular verbs in sentences to enhance the learners’mastery of the irregular
verbs inflection. The findings revealed that learners had improved significantly in the mastery of irregular verbs
inflection in the past simple tense after utilising these two strategies.
Keywords: Inflection; irregular verbs; past simple tense; Strategies
I. INTRODUCTION
The learning of irregular verbs inflection in the past
simple tense poses difficulties to the English First Additional
Language (EFAL) learners because there are numerous
verbs which are formed irregularly. Irregular verbs in the
past simple tense do not have a pattern regarding past tense
verb formation. The inflection system does not add the -ed
ending to the root of verbs (Zaia, 2015; Author, 2019) or
past participle forms even though it does with the regular
verbs through adding the -ed ending to the root of verbs.
However, the sound patterning of verbs is used for marking
the past simple tense, and so are the perfect tenses in English.
The difference in sound patterning between regular and
irregular verbs depends on the pattern of verb formation.
Therefore, the formation of past tense irregularisation of
verbs does not follow the same phonological patterns as that
of regular verbs because the morphemes are unpredictable.
The EFAL learners confuse the inflection of the irregular
verbs in the past simple tense for the regular ones, in this
regard. The unpredictability of irregular verbs inflection in
the past simple tense creates difficulties for these learners
when they form irregular verbs in the past simple tense.
Although a few patterns can be learnt, one might eventually
need to work on memorising each form of an irregular verb.
However, memorising the inflection of irregular verbs in the
past simple tense is not an easy task especially for non-
native learners of English. Even if these learners started
learning English from Grade 4, the National Curriculum
Statement Grades 10 - 12 (2012) emphasises that they are
incompetent in the inflection of irregular verbs in the past
simple tense. The assumption is that by the time these
learners progress from Senior Phase to Further Education
and Training Band, they must be competent enough in the
inflection of irregular verbs. Nevertheless, they still
experience challenges regarding the inflection of irregular
form of verbs (Odetallah, 2013) in the past simple tense.
Considering this challenge, there is a need, therefore, to
provide learners with suitable strategies to enhance the
mastery of irregular verbs inflections in the past tense.
According to Rosydah (2018), second language (L2)
learners, commit two frequent errors such as adding wrong
suffix ‘-ed’ to the irregular verbs and produce deviant
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Volume 6 Number 2 September 2021. Page 190-197
p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478
191
structures, for instance, break/*breaked and go/*goed. When
these learners realise that they cannot differentiate between
the regular and irregular verbs, they seek refuge in the
inflection of regular ones and consequently commit errors.
In learning the inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple
tense, they start by acquiring them in chunks, for example,
broke, woke, or no past form at all. The suggestion is that
the acquisition of irregular verbs in the past simple tense is a
difficult process for the learners whose mother-tongue is not
English. The difficulties faced by these learners are
exacerbated by the fact that there is no rule regarding the
inflection of an irregular form of verbs in their home
languages (Rosydah, 2018), and that irregular verbs in the
past simple tense change the forms based on the time of
action. Moreover, these learners overgeneralise rules of the
inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense.
Nevertheless, even if the EFAL learners have learnt English
for six years, in Grade 10 they still face difficulties in the
inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense.
Notwithstanding, the provision of irregular verb lists in
numerous English language textbooks (Idek & Fong, 2015).
These verbs obtain their past forms when vowels are
changed or left unchanged, for example, ‘begin/began’ and
spread/spread’. In the process, learners use deviant inflection
of the irregular verbs in the past simple tense. Due to their
inconsistent manner of changing from the present tense to
the past tense forms (Rosydah, 2018), irregular verbs may
prove difficult to memorise. One reason for the difficulties in
learning irregular verbs is that there are approximately 180
of them in English (Deibler, 2012) and can be created
differently, for example, seek/sought. However, learners
cannot memorise all irregular verbs within a short space of
time and recognise their past simple forms or the past
participle forms.
In respect of the inflection of irregular verbs in the past
simple tense, Rahmawati (2019) and Author (2019) studied
the inflection of irregular verbs by the high school learners
and discovered that they faced difficulties when attempting
to memorise them. The findings indicate that the students
studying English at institutions of higher learning such as
colleges and universities also face difficulties in the
inflection of irregular verbs in the past tense. The study by
Naser (2017) demonstrates that the use of irregular verbs
inflection by university students is problematic as 75% of
them could not use irregular verbs correctly. In addition,
Majeed (2018) investigated irregular morpheme errors
among university students and found that their performance
was unsatisfactory. Furthermore, Mouri (2020) studied first-
year university students and found recurrent errors in the
mastery of irregular verbs in the past simple tense.
Nonetheless, Majeed (2018) and Mouri (2020) were
incongruent in thinking that some strategies cannot improve
the learners’ mastery of irregular verbs inflection in the past
tense. In essence, the Grade 10 EFAL learners are equally
affected by the challenges in this regard.
Theoretical Framework
The research paper is underpinned by Petty, Cacioppo,
Strathman, and Priester's (2005) dual-mechanism and
Chomsky’s (1965) grammatical competence theories.
Dual-mechanism theory: Petty, et al. (2005) postulate that
in ‘dual mechanism theory’, the brain is a collection of
identifiable regions. This theory states that in the brain there
are specific regions developed to deal with language
activities. For example, the ‘main area’ of the brain assesses
language structures according to diverse rules and patterns
consisting the regular and irregular forms of verbs in past
simple tense. However, this theory speculates that the L2
learners master the inflection of regular verb rules much
faster than irregular verbs. Still, it was not always the case
that the inflection of regular verbs supersedes the irregular
ones. The ‘secondary associative memory area’ of the brain
interprets, classifies, and stores the irregular verbs, according
to the order in which they belong. However, if this area can
perform these activities accordingly, the L2 learners would
not face difficulties in the inflection of irregular verbs in the
past simple tense. During the time at which learners must
select the suitable past simple tense form of the English verb,
a comparison of the word is made with the familiar
exceptions. In this process, the matching irrational form of
the verb is considered if it is available in the brain (Deibler,
2012). Nonetheless, if it is difficult to find, the regular past
simple tense verb form is created by adding the ‘-ed’ ending
to the root of verbs to compensate for the uncertainties. Thus,
it is worth noting that the over-regularisation of verbs might
prevail to corroborate this theory.
Grammatical competence theory: This theory was
propounded by Noam Chomsky in 1965, and he emphasises
that a human being is born with innate and unconscious
knowledge of language learning. In this situation, the L2
learners’ inborn knowledge does not necessitate the English
language. There are grammatical codes such as
morphological, syntactic, semantic, phonetic, vocabulary,
orthographic rules, and mechanics which enable the L2
learners to use and understand the target language
(Nordquist, 2017). Therefore, the focus was on morphology
and syntax because they are a prerequisite (Canale & Swain,
1980) for effective inflection of irregular verbs in the past
simple tense. These grammatical codes enable learners to
understand the inflection, in this case, the irregular verbs in
the past tense, hence communicative competence theory
particularly grammatical competence is a prerequisite for
appropriate communication in the English language.
Strategies For Learning Past Simple Tense Irregular Verbs
There are numerous strategies for mastering irregular
verbs inflection in English including grouping common
irregular verbs, turning memorisation into a game (Rundell,
2014; Atlas Language School, 2020), memorising the 10
most common irregular verbs first, asking learners to correct
one another, leaving the lists of irregular verbs where
learners can see them, learning of all new vocabulary with
the tense form and learning of irregular verbs in sentences.
However, in this research paper, the focus was on 'grouping
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p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478
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common irregular verbs together’ (engVid, 2021), and the
‘learning of irregular verbs in sentences’ (Author, 2019).
The researchers used these two strategies because learners
have different capabilities of learning irregular verbs in the
past simple tense. In their first attempt to find out learners'
competence in the inflection of the irregular verbs in the past
simple tense, the researchers discovered that learners
performed below average. However, it was worth noting that
after having used the two targeted strategies for learning
verb inflection, in the past simple tense, it has been revealed
that learners’ performance was satisfactory.
Grouping common irregular verbs: In this strategy, both
past simple tense form and the past participle form of verbs
were included to indicate the inconsistency of irregular verb
formation. Although there are several irregular verbs in the
past simple tense, the researchers considered ‘suppletion’
and ‘terminal consonants phoneme changes’ as
representatives of all irregular verbs existing in English due
to the limited scope of this research paper. The researchers
used verb stems in the present simple tense form, the past
simple tense form, and the past participle form of verbs and
their examples to illustrate how irregular verbs are formed.
The following tables, therefore, contain irregular verbs in the
‘suppletion principle’, and the ‘terminal consonants
phoneme changes:
TABLE I
IRREGULAR VERBS: SUPPLETION
No
Verb stem
Simple past
Past participle
1.
Go
Went
Gone
2.
Is/Am (be)
Was
Been
3.
Are (be)
Were
Been
TABLE II
IRREGULAR VERBS: TERMINAL CONSONANTS PHONEME CHANGES
No
Verb stem
Simple past
Past participle
1.
Bring
Brought
Brought
2.
Begin
Began
Begun
3.
Fling
Flung
Flung
4.
Sleep
Slept
Slept
5.
Strive
Strove
Striven
6.
Win
Won
Won
learning of irregular verbs in sentences: In this strategy,
the Grade 10 EFAL learners can master irregular verbs
appropriately, especially if short sentences are utilised
because they are easy to comprehend. In sentences such as
‘We get money today, we got the money yesterday and ‘You
seek permission now but you sought for it last week’.
Therefore, using the strategy, namely: the learning of
irregular verbs in sentences can enhance the mastery of the
inflection of the irregular verbs in the past simple tense. In
this instance, learners enjoy learning particular rhythmic
sentences than long strings of tedious ones.
Modification of Irregular Verbs in Past Simple Tense
Irregular verb modification in past simple tense occurs in
several forms with no consistent patterns. According to the
Author (2019), these conditions include the ‘suppletion
principle’, the ‘ablaut principle’, the ‘terminal consonants
phoneme changes’, and the ‘zero-making principle’.
However, the focus of this research paper was the use of
strategies to master the ‘suppletion principle’ and the
‘terminal consonants phoneme changes’ as the two areas in
which the majority of the L2 learners commit errors.
Suppletion principle: In this principle, the two strategies,
namely: the ‘grouping of the common irregular verbs’, and
the ‘learning of irregular verbs in sentences’ were utilised in
learning the inflection of the irregular verbs in the past
simple tense. The L2 learners were taught how to group the
forms of irregular verb ‘to be’, namely: ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’,
‘was’, ‘were’ and ‘been’, etc. Also, they were informed that
the irregular verb ‘go’ must be grouped with the verb ‘to be’
because it changes from the simple present tense to either the
past simple or the past participle form of verbs. They were
trained to place the common irregular verbs in tables to
comply to the strategy of learning irregular verbs in groups.
The researchers indiscriminately grouped the common
irregular verbs according to the verb stems in present simple
form, the past simple form, and the past particple form of
verbs. They instructed them to group the irregular verbs in
tables according to their time of action.
The root of the verbs changes into new forms because
there is no regular phonological communication with other
forms, for example, go/went. It includes the word forms of
the same lexeme with phonologically distinct stems and
entails the dissimilar allomorphs of the same morphemes i.e.
it is associated with two phonologically unconnected
realisations depending on the morphosyntactic context.
Moreover, In this instance, it is accurate that when learners
face difficulties in forming the past simple form of irregular
verbs, they might reckon out their grammatical rules
(Denham & Lobeck, 2013). For example, a sentence such as
*‘They goed to the cinema’ can be formed instead of ‘They
went to the cinema’ even though syntax requires lexemes
that cannot be morphologically predictable.
Furthermore, the strategy regarding the learning of
irregular verbs in sentences was utilised. Learners were
given short sentences that have good rhythm such as ‘Today
the lady goes home, yesterday she went home after
everybody has gone from the cinema’. The researchers asked
learners to repeat the sentence starting from the part to
arouse their attention. For example, ‘After everybody has
gone from the cinema, the lady went home yesterday, but
today she goes home’. All learners were requested to stand
up in their classroom. The researchers selected learners
randomly and requested them to repeat the sentence from the
beginning. The learner could only sit down after having
shown understanding of the answer, and then the sentence
was passed on to the next learner who would start it from its
last part. Learners who could not get the answers correctly
remained standing, and could only sit down after having
answered the sentence correctly. The researchers did the
same with the other forms of the verb ‘be’ regardless of the
tense under which they belonged. In this situation, learners
got motivated and learnt the suppletion principle with ease.
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Therefore, they understood the ‘suppletion rule principle’
and realised that the entire stem go- must be replaced by the
different stem ‘went’. Hence, they could effect a total
change in the irregular verb forms.
Terminal consonants phoneme changes: This mechanism
entails the removal of one vowel from a word and the
addition of the sound ‘-t’ to the stem of the word such as
keep/kept, and spell/spelt. The two strategies such as the
'grouping of the irregular verbs', and the 'learning of
irregular verbs in sentences' were also involved in learning
the 'terminal consonants phoneme changes’. Learners were
shown how irregular verbs in the past simple tense can be
grouped to ease their memorisation. Learners were given a
task to rearrange the irregular verbs according to their order
of appearance in each column relating to the ‘grouping of
irregular verbs’ strategy. For example, they were instructed
to group them according to their similarity in the second and
the last column or different appearance in each column.
The ‘grouping of irregular verbs' strategy necessitates the
formation of irregular verbs in the past simple tense. The L2
learners were able to construct the sentence ‘The fishbone
*sticked in his false teeth’ instead of ‘The fishbone stuck in
his false teeth’. According to the Author (2019), the irregular
verbs can be changed from the present simple forms into the
past ones using the addition of the final ‘-t’, and the
changing of the stem vowel from ‘-i’ to ‘-e’, for example,
creep/crept, changing the vowel ‘-i’ to ‘-o’, in think/thought,
changing the vowel ‘-e’ into ‘-o’ in seek/thought. Therefore,
learners’ grammatical competence was enhanced.
Furthermore, learners were informed that the vowel ‘-i’
can be transformed into ‘-u’ in stick/stuck, and the doubling
of the last consonants of the verbs before adding the suffix ‘-
ed’ to produce a similar word, for example, prefer/preferred.
Learners’grammatical competence was also improved
because they were able to place the irregular verbs
accordingly in their respective columns. Therefore, the use
of this strategy necessitates considerable proficiency in the
inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense. This
finding is in contrast with Author’s (2019) claims that the
inflectional morphology in the irregular past tense, in
comparison with irregular inflections, creates difficulties for
learners because of their complex irregularities. In this
situation, the ‘grouping of irregular verbs is an invaluable
strategy for learning the 'terminal consonants phoneme
changes' in the past simple tense.
Regarding the strategy for learning the inflection of
irregular verbs concerning the ‘terminal consonants
phoneme changes’, also the second language learners were
given rhythmic short sentences to memorise verbs in this
situation. For example, the researchers used the sentence:
‘They win the prize now, they won the prize last year but
they never wanted to share the prize they have won’. The
researcher instructed learners to write the learnt past tense
sentence into their exercise books to enhance their
grammatical competence. Therefore, if learners could write
the correct sentences, it is evident that the ‘learning of
irregular verbs in sentences’ is an indispensable strategy for
learning the ‘terminal consonants phoneme changes’
II. METHODS
The research paper used Classroom Action Research
(CAR) as a technique of getting detailed information from
the respondents' participation in the research paper. The
researchers and or the educational practitioners (Sutarti
(2017) investigate the respondents in their natural settings to
improve their teaching practices. The purpose of the CAR is
to advance rationale and quality including (a) socio-
educational training, (b) knowledge of the practice, (c) the
milieu at which practice is done. It is designed to improve
the quality of learners’ competence in the topic under
scrutiny. This model arouses learners’ interest in educational
perception.
In this research paper, the researchers used learners’
interpretation of variables in each thematic attribute
regarding the inflection of the irregular form verbs in the
past simple tense. As all the learners came from villages, the
possibility was that they could have shared similar exposure
to the English language so much that the research paper
focus can be easily identified (Creswell, 2014). The research
was conducted at Dimani High School in Limpopo Province,
South Africa. As simple random sampling (Bala, 2017)
technique provided every member of the population a
likelihood of participating in the sample. Since the overall
population of the Grade 10 EFAL comprised 213 learners,
21 respondents were sampled according to the acceptable
10% sample population norm.
Empirical data were collected from the following points
of view, namely: (1) the researchers’ delivery of the
questionnaire, (2) learners’ reaction when responding to the
questionnaire, and (3) the environment at which they
responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprises
a list of questions, along with the choice of answers, printed
or typed in a sequence to acquire specific information from
the respondents (Aryal, 2017). The researchers, therefore,
drafted closed-ended questions from which learners made
their informed choices from a set of pre-defined responses.
As a structured interview (Gazu, 2020), questions requiring
‘yes’, or ‘no’ answers can be asked, items on a list are
checked, or answers from multiple-choice options are
selected. Therefore, questions were placed on a table and a
graph for learners to indicate their personal opinions in this
research paper. Moreover, learners' written responses and
observations made by the researchers ensured that learners
responded carefully and honestly to the questionnaire. Thus,
the validity and reliability of the CAR model were
accomplished.
The quantitative research design was used because it is an
“engine behind evidence-based outcomes” (Abuhamda,
Bsharat & Ismail, 2021:71). It uses statistical and
mathematical techniques in exploring unfamiliar areas
(Lediga & Ngoepe, 2020), and the percentages of the
variables translate into accurate results. Data were analysed
using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
version 22. Miles and Huberman’s model of data analysis
were used. Their step-by-step model of analysis includes
data reduction, data presentation, and making conclusions
depicting research findings and verification of the research
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paper findings. Eventually, (1) data reduction was invaluable
as it helped in sorting, selecting, classifying, and eliminating
irrelevant data against the focus of the research paper, (2) the
relevant data were interpreted and presented according to the
aim of the research paper, and (3) conclusion was three-fold:
the depiction of the research findings, verification of data,
and specification and validation of the results that lead to the
withdrawal of the conclusion of the research paper. The
researchers then found the research paper findings that are
specific and end on illustrating convincing conclusions.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
From the objective of identifying the types of strategies
suitable for learning the inflection of irregular verbs in the
past simple tense, the two strategies, namely: the ‘grouping
of common irregular verbs’ and the ‘learning of irregular
verbs in sentences’ provided reliable data to the researchers.
This has been proved from the application of the two
strategies in the ‘suppletion principle’ and the ‘terminal
consonants phoneme changes’. In the application, therefore,
of these strategies, learners demonstrated considerable
competence in the mastery of irregular verbs inflection in the
past simple tense.
To ascertain the validity of the respondents’ grammatical
competence, in this regard, the researchers used a
questionnaire concerning the application of the knowledge
gained from the use of the two strategies. Five multiple-
choice questions were provided within the brackets
concerning the inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple
tense. The strategies for learning the inflection of irregular
verbs in the past simple tense regarding the ‘suppletion
principle' and the ‘terminal consonants phoneme changes’
were the foundation of the questionnaire. The respondents
were requested to select the appropriate answer that could
demonstrate their grammatical competence after they have
been trained to use the two strategies for learning the
inflection of irregular verbs in the past simple tense.
The researchers utilised a table showing the correct and
the incorrect responses from the respondents regarding the
choices provided in the table. Percentages were used to
represent statistical data obtained from the respondents’
grammatical competence in the inflection of irregular verbs
in this regard. Therefore, the respondents’ performance, was
reduced to numbers as it can be seen in the next table.
TABLE III
TERMINAL CONSONANTS PHONEME CHANGES
Questions
Respondents’
responses
Correct
responses
Incorrect
responses
1) He (seeked/sought) for
help from strangers last
night.
83.6%
16.4%
2) They (brought/bringed)
the case before the court.
72.7%
27.3%
3) She (kept/keeped) crying
for toys yesterday.
58.6%
41.4%
4) The roughly thatched
house (catched/caught)
fire from the barbecued
meat.
70.9%
29.1%
5) We (built/builded) a big
lodge by the other side
of the river.
64.3%
35.7%
Question 1 shows that the majority (83.6%) of the
respondents were competent in the mastery of the past
simple tense because they could use the strategies learnt for
understanding the inflection of such irregular verbs. They
became accustomed to the rule about the inflection of
irregular verbs in this tense because they were trained to use
strategies, namely: the grouping of the irregular verbs, and
the learning of irregular verbs in sentences. The finding is
incongruent with Rahmawati’s (2019) suggestion that
respondents face difficulty in the inflection of irregular verbs
in the simple past tense. The respondents could recognise the
correct form of the irregular verb ‘sought’ resulting from the
changing of vowels from ‘e’ to ‘-ou’ in the question: ‘He
(seeks/sought) for help from strangers last night’ when
forming the irregular verb ‘sought’.
Nevertheless, only 16.4% were incompetent (Naser, 2017)
with the inflection of the past simple tense which stands to
suggest that the strategies used were helpful. The
respondents confused the rule regarding the inflection of
irregular verbs in the past simple tense. The rule states that
the ending ‘-ed’ is added to the root of the regular verbs
when forming the past simple tense. In this instance, learners
selected the word *seeked for an answer.
Question 2 shows that the majority (72.7%) of the
respondents were competent in the question: 'They
(brought/bringed) the case before the court', because they
could apply the rule they had learnt from the two strategies,
namely: the ‘grouping of the irregular verbs’, and the
‘learning of irregular verbs in sentences’. The rule states that
when forming the irregular verbs in the past simple tense,
the vowels ‘ou’ can replace ‘i’ vowel that the remaining verb
‘brought’ is in line with the past simple tense form. The
finding of this research paper was congruent with
Rahmawati (2019) who suggested that there was a deficit in
using irregular verbs.
However, 27.3% of the respondents were incompetent in
the application of the two strategies they have learnt for the
inflection of irregular verbs (Majeed, 2018) in the past
simple tense. On this basis, these respondents might have
been confounded by the rule regarding the inflection of the
suffix ‘-ed’ to the stem of verbs. Hence, they opted for the
ungrammatical answer *'bringed’ instead of ‘brought’.
Question 3 reveals that 58.6% of the respondents could
apply the strategies such as the ‘grouping of the irregular
verbs’, and the ‘learning of irregular verbs in sentences’ they
have learnt for the inflection of irregular verbs in the past
simple tense in the question: ‘She (kept/keeped) crying for
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toys yesterday’. They could distinguish between the irregular
verb ‘kept’ and *'keeped’ which is grammatically incorrect
since they were aware that the double ‘e’ vowels can be
reduced into a single ‘e’ vowel to form the past tense forms
of verbs. The finding is dissimilar to Mouri’s (2020) claim
that learners could not form irregular verbs in the past simple
tense. They knew that the verb ending ‘-ed’ must not be
indiscriminately added to the root of verbs.
It is a point of concern that almost 41.4% of the
respondents were incompetent in the inflection of irregular
verbs concerning the ‘terminal consonants phoneme
changes’. These respondents were unfamiliar with the rule
regarding the formation of irregular verbs in the past simple
tense because they selected the answer ‘keeped’ instead of
‘kept’. Nonetheless, even though some respondents were not
competent in the inflection of irregular verbs in the past
simple tense, the majority of the respondents demonstrated
their competence in this regard.
Question 4 shows that the majority (70.9%) of the
respondents were competent in the formation of the irregular
verbs in the past simple tense concerning the question: ‘The
roughly thatched house (catched/caught) fire from barbecued
meet’. They indicated their skill of applying the two
strategies they have lear learnt for dealing with the ‘terminal
consonants phoneme changes’, namely: the ‘grouping of the
irregular verbs’, and the ‘learning of irregular verbs in
sentences’. These respondents showed proficiency in the
inflection of the irregular verbs in the past simple tense
because they selected the answer 'caught' and ignored
*'catched' which is grammatically incorrect. They knew that
the suffix ‘-ed’ is not the only way of forming irregular
verbs in the past simple tense because the vowel ‘a’ can be
changed into ‘au’ to form the irregular verbs in the past
simple tense. This finding is in contrast with Majeed’s (2018)
assertion that learners cannot form irregular verbs in this
regard.
However, 29.1% of the respondents were unaware (Mouri,
2020) of the rule relating to the infection of irregular verbs
in the past simple tense. They did not know that the double
‘e’ vowels must be reduced to a single ‘e’ vowel when
dealing with the 'terminal consonants phoneme changes’ in
the past simple tense. They might have been confused by the
rule relating to the addition of the suffix '-ed' to the stem of
regular verbs. Therefore, the strategies for learning the
irregular verbs in the past simple tense improved the
respondents’ performance even though the minority of them
indicated poor competence in this essence.
Question 5 shows that the majority (64.3%) of the
respondents were competent in the application of the two
strategies such as the 'grouping of the irregular verbs', and
the 'learning of irregular verbs in sentences' for learning
irregular verbs inflection. They could respond positively to
the question: We (built/builded) a big lodge by the other side
of the river' because they selected the answer ‘built’ and
rejected ‘builded’ which is grammatically inappropriate.
These respondents knew that the last consonant ‘d’ in the
verb ‘build’ is transformed into ‘t’ when forming irregular
verbs in the past simple tense because they understood the
application of the two strategies in this regard. The finding is
consistent with Rahmawati’s (2019) claim that respondents
can transform the last consonant of an irregular verb into the
other consonant when forming the past simple form, and the
past participle form of irregular verbs.
However, the minority 35.7% of the respondents were
incompetent in the application of the two strategies they
have learnt, namely: the ‘grouping of the irregular verbs’,
and the ‘learning of irregular verbs in sentences’ for the
inflection of the irregular verbs in the past simple tense
(Naser, 2017). They were not aware that the word *'builded’
is ungrammatical, and must not be used in forming the
irregular form of verbs in the past simple tense. Therefore,
they rejected the grammatically proper answer ‘built’ in
favour of *'builded’. The respondents might have been
confused by the rule regarding the addition of the '-ed'
ending to the root of verbs during the inflection of irregular
verbs in the past simple tense.
In adjusting the vowels and consonants from one form to
another during the irregularisation of verbs based on the
'terminal consonants phoneme changes', most respondents
demonstrated their competence in the inflection of the
irregular verb both in the past simple tense form and the past
participle form of verbs. Although the minority of the
respondents were incompetent (Rahmawati, 2019), the
research paper established that the majority of the
respondents became competent in the inflection of irregular
verbs in the past simple tense. Therefore, the respondents
could demonstrate their proficiency only after having been
trained to use the two identified strategies. In conclusion, the
two identified strategies were reliable in the elimination of
the challenges faced by the L2 learners when attempting to
learn the inflection in this regard.
Fig. 1 Suppletion
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p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478
196
It is pleasing to note that 19 respondents amounting to
90% were aware that the simple present tense form of the
verb ‘go’ had to be used in the first option. Furthermore, 17
respondents amounting to 80% were also mindful that in the
second option, the past simple form of the verb ‘went’ could
indicate their expertise in the inflection of an irregular verb
in this context. In this situation, it is therefore evident that
these respondents were conscious of the use of the
suppletion principle as one mechanism of forming the
irregular form of the verbs in the past simple tense. This
suggests that after having learnt the strategies for mastering
the irregular verb inflection such as the ‘grouping of
common irregular verbs’, and the ‘learning of irregular verbs
in sentences’, respondents realised the inflection of irregular
verbs in the past simple tense. This finding is unrelated to
Rahmawati's (2019) and Mouri’s (2020) suggestion that
learners face challenges in the inflection of irregular verbs in
the past simple tense.
Respondents never realised that the complete stem /go-/
must be replaced by a different stem to effect a total change
within a paradigm (Helmie & Hum, 2012). The formed
morpheme has a morphological relationship with the two
phonologically unrelated realisations in ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’, and
their past forms. They also knew that the root morpheme
must not be replaced by a phonologically unrelated form to
designate grammatical contrast and that the replacement of
one stem with another could be done. Besides the allomorph,
having no phonological similarity to the other allomorphs,
must also not be fashioned.
However, only 2 respondents amounting to 10% were
unaware of the fact that the variable ‘went’, in the first
option, could not be the desired option as they were dealing
with the present simple tense form of the verb. They might
have been confusing the rule about the past simple form of
the verb with the present simple tense. This rule states that
when forming the past simple tense, verbs must be changed
into their past simple forms. Moreover, 4 respondents
amounting to 20% were also unaware of the fact that the
variable *‘goed’ is ungrammatical and could not prove their
anticipated competence in the inflection of irregular verbs in
the past simple tense. The respondents, in this context, might
have overgeneralised the use of the -ed ending through the
addition of the verb ‘go’ and formed *'goed’.
Nevertheless, only the minority of the respondents,
approximately 2 and 3, faced difficulties in the inflection of
irregular verbs in the past simple tense. They could not
realise the morphological processes involving the stem's
replacement with another stem in the past simple tense
(Majeed, 2018) although they had learnt how to group
common irregular verbs and learnt them in sentences. The
respondents might have been confused by the rule regarding
the addition of the suffix ‘-ed’ in the past simple tense. It can
be construed that the respondents could not show their
expertise in using the irregular verb ‘go’ and the inflection of
‘went’. They could still select the ungrammatical word
*‘goed’ and ‘went’ unnecessarily for an answer. The
targeted strategies improved the learning of irregular verbs
in the past simple tense although the minority of the learners
showed poor mastery.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The Grade 10 EFAL learners’ strategies for past simple
tense irregular verbs inflection mastery are important tools
for communication. From the findings of this research paper
dealing with the questionnaires involved in the strategies for
learning irregular verb inflection in the past simple tense,
therefore, the key conclusions are:
Competence in the inflection of irregular verb inflection
in the past simple tense cannot be disregarded. The two
identified strategies, namely: the grouping of common
irregular verbs and the learning of irregular verbs in
sentences can bring a major improvement in the inflection pf
irregular verb inflection. Understanding the use of the
suppletion principle and the terminal consonants phoneme
changes is a requirement for learning irregular verb
inflection in the past simple tense.
In line with the conclusions mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, the next suggestions are: Encouraged learners to
practise the grouping of common irregular verbs and the
learning of irregular verbs in sentences strategies. Workshop
English teachers frequently on the inflection of irregular
verbs. Urge researchers to carry further studies on the
inflection of irregular verbs,
incorporate strategies for the teaching and the learning of
irregular verb inflection in the past simple tense into the
school syllabus.
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