THE ENGLISH IRREGULAR VERBS: THEIR CHALLENGES FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Language refers to a complex system of communication used by humans to convey meaning and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas. It is a fundamental aspect of human cognition and serves as a tool for conveying information, expressing emotions, and connecting individuals. Language is typically comprised of a set of symbols, such as words, sounds, gestures, or written characters that have agreed-upon meanings within a specific community or culture. In Nigeria, English is officially recognized as the language of instruction and serves as the second language for the majority of the population. It is extensively used in education, business, government, media, and other formal settings. According to Baldeh (1990, p.56) “English is the most important legacy of the British colonial masters in Nigeria", as our political, social, economic and cultural engagements are suffused with English. English as a second language is an integral part of the Nigerian education system. It is taught in schools across the country, starting from primary education and continuing through secondary and tertiary levels.

Grammar is the rule of the language that can change words into structural sentences that has an appropriate meaning. Harmer (2001) stated that, “The grammar of the language is a description of the ways in which words can change their forms and can be combined into sentences in that language.” The grammar has a term that describes the position of every word in sentence called part of speech. Part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar; it is categorized into eight categories in which words are classified according to their functions in sentences and they include nouns, articles, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions. In this research, the researcher focuses on the verb term and there are ten types of verbs, which are auxiliary verbs, lexical verbs, dynamic verbs, stative verbs, finite verbs, non-finite verbs, regular verbs, irregular verbs, transitive verbs, and intransitive verbs. The main focus is on one type of the verbs which is the irregular verbs. Irregular verbs are common verbs in the English language that does not follow the simple system of adding “d” or “ed” to the end of the word to form the past tense like the regular verbs. It has several patterns, such as drink-drank, spring-sprang, know-knew, blow-blew etc. Tense is a compulsory element of a verb which is used by the speaker or the writer to show the time when a situation or an event takes place with reference to the moment of speaking. Irregular verb tenses have the value of helping second language learners to express intentions with reference to the present, past or future, the writer or speaker needs to use the irregular verb tense forms appropriately.

A second language is a language which is not indigenous to a country but is used in official settings. Scholars like Stephen Krashen and Jim Cummins aver that learning English or any other language as a second or foreign language implies several difficulties. Not only would the L2 learner master the sounds of the target language (the phonemes) and understand the arrangement of words to make meaningful utterances (syntax), but he should also strive to master the vocabulary of the target language and its orthography (the way words are written). Without tenses, it is difficult to construct a sentence in English and make sense. Thus, any misuse in irregular verb tense forms in English may result in ill-formed sentence or utterance which itself may lead to distorted meaning and misunderstanding by the reader or listener.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study are:

1. The level of competence of learners in using irregular verbs in sentences.

2. To characterize the patterns of difficulty in the use of the irregular verbs by Nigerians and propose briefly the solutions to these difficulties.

3. Seeks to provide insights into the specific grammar rules or irregularities that cause challenges for learners.

4. Explore effective instructional methods and techniques for teaching irregular verbs to second language learners

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Irregular verbs, unlike regular verbs do not follow a predictable pattern in terms of their past and past participle and then pose difficulties for non-native speakers. Effective use of irregular verb is of great importance in that tenses help us to express our thoughts clearly and meaningfully. However, it is observed that second language learners in Nigeria are often faced with challenges to express their ideas using irregular verb tense forms appropriately in their speeches or writings. When expressing their ideas, they frequently produce sentences with malformations in the forms of English irregular tenses. Many additions of unnecessary morphemes or omissions of necessary morphemes are also found in their sentences making it difficult to understand the intended message. The goal of the research is to alleviate the difficulties faced by second language learners in acquiring and using English irregular verbs. By addressing this problem, the research seeks to provide insights into the nature of these challenges and potential strategies to enhance the learning and mastery of English irregular verbs.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The major significance of any second language study is its contribution to the corpus of work in English language pedagogy and learning. The verb holds sway over many parts of speech. The irregular type of verb constitutes the greatest source of error in English grammar. As such, good use of English verbs, especially irregular verbs in sentences, makes for grammatical and acceptability. This may only be realized as envisaged in this work by improving the standard of English in our schools, colleges and institutions of higher learning. The significance of this study also lies in being an important source material for language teachers who would now be placed in a better position by consulting this work to predict areas of difficulty and help the learners overcome them.