Which term best captures the study of how words in a sequence contribute to the meaning of a text, including collocations?

• A. Textual competence
• B. Syntagmatic relations
• C. Top-down processing
• D. Think-aloud protocols

Answer: (B)

This item tests how the arrangement of words in a sentence builds meaning, especially how words tend to occur together and influence one another in sequence. Syntagmatic relations describe the connections among words within a linear string—how a word’s meaning is shaped by its neighboring words and the order in which they appear. Collocations are a classic example of these relations, since they are word pairings or groups that co-occur more often than chance and contribute to the overall interpretation of a phrase or sentence.

Textual competence refers to broad skills in understanding and using text, not to the specific word-to-word interactions in sequences. Top-down processing describes using prior knowledge to interpret information, rather than focusing on the structural relationships among words. Think-aloud protocols are a research method for capturing someone’s real-time thought processes, not a linguistic relationship concept.

So the term that best captures how words in a sequence contribute to meaning, including collocations, is syntagmatic relations.