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James pointed out, “Error Analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessful language.
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No one learner ever makes some errors in language learning process. It will always occur although
best effort has been done. Errors made by students do not mean a failure or inadequacy but they can be viewed as important evidence of strategies or
procedure employed by the students in learning a target language.
1. Definition of Error
Errors are the flawed side of learner speech or writing.
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According to “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English”, Error is something done wrong; or a mistake.
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According to S. Pit Corder, has another opinion concerning error, “Error are a result of partial knowledge because the teaching – learning process extends
over time”.
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2. Distinction between Errors and Mistakes
In the study of error analysis, some linguists distinguish error and mistake. Hubbard et al in their book make a distinction between error and mistake. “Errors
caused by lack of knowledge about the target language English or by the incorrect hypothesis about it; and unfortunate mistakes are caused by temporary
lapses of memory, confusion, slips of the tongue and so on.
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Rod Ellis pointed out, “Errors reflect gaps in a learner’s knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct. Mistakes reflect
occasional lapses in performance; they occur because in particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows.”
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In other words, error is a
44
Carl James, Error in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis, New York: Longman, 1988, p. 1.
45
Heidi Dulay, et al., Language Two, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 138.
46
A S Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, London: Oxford University Press, 1974, p. 138.
47
S. Pit Corder, Introducing Applied Linguistic, New York: Penguin Books, 1973, p. 283.
48
Hubbard, et al., A Training Cause for TEFL, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 134.
49
Rod Ellis, Second Language Acquisition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 17.
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lack of knowledge and mistake is the students possess knowledge of the correct form and are just slipping up.
Brown also gives the similar opinion about error and mistake. According to him, an error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native
speaker, reflects the competence of the learner. And a mistake is a “slip” a failure to utilize a known system correctly, and mistakes can be self-corrected.
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According to Jacek Fisiak, “Mistakes are deviations due to performance factors such as memory limitations, spelling pronunciations, fatigue, emotional
strain, etc. Errors, on the other hand, are systematic, consistent deviances characteristic of the learner’s linguistic system at a given stage of learning.
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Then the writer concluded that students made error because lack of knowledge, assert learners’ competence, and consistent deviances characteristic. It
cannot be self corrected. The students do not know what is the correct while mistakes happen because lapses of memory, slip of tongue and memory
limitations. It can be self corrected.
3 . Step of Error Analysis
Error analysis has methodology involving some procedures to do. There are number of steps taken in concluding an error analysis.
a. Collect data. Although this is typically done with written data, oral data can also serve
as a base. b. Identify errors.
What is the error e.g., incorrect sequence of tenses, wrong verb, or singular verb form with plural subject?
c. Classify errors. Is it an error of omission? Is it an error in addition?
50
H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, fourth edition, New York: Longman, 2000, p. 21.
51
Jacek Fisiak, Contrastive Linguistics and the Language Teacher, New York: Pergamon Press, 1981, p. 224.
