The article explores how low-level English learners in China organize and connect words in their minds. By using word association tests, the researchers found that these learners store English words based on how they are used together in sentences and how they relate to each other in meaning. The study shows that learners rely more on how words are used together (syntagmatic associations) rather than how they are related in meaning (paradigmatic associations). Surprisingly, the results contradict previous beliefs that Chinese learners mainly connect words based on sounds.