Significance of Study INTRODUCTION

2. The Definition of Error Analysis

Corder and his colleagues set up the field of Error Analysis EA in Second Language Acquisition SLA. 5 They stated that the key factor of EA, which cause the learners ‟ errors, has been the misunderstanding of the rules of the new language. EA is a type of linguistic study that focuses on the errors ‟ learners make. It consists of a comparison between the errors made in Target Language TL and within that TL itself. 6 Corder presented a completely different point of view. He stated that those errors are “important in and of themselves ”. 7 In his opinion, language learners ‟ errors that are systematically analyzed make it possible to be determined and reinforced in teaching- learning process. EA emphasizes “the significance of errors in learners‟ interlanguages system ”. 8 The term interlanguages introduced by Selinker refers to the systematic knowledge of an L2 which is independent on both the learner ‟s L1 and the TL. Nemser referred to it as the Approximate System, and Corder as the Idiosyncratic Dialect or Transitional Competence. 9 To be able to do Error Analysis properly, we have to be able to differentiate it from other analysis as Contrastive Analysis and Transfer Analysis. James described the differences as shown in the following diagram 10 : 5 Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada, How Languages are Learned, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 79. 6 Susan M. Gass Larry Selinker, Second Language Acquisition, London: Routledge, 2008, p. 102 7 Ibid. 8 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching: Fourth edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Inc, 2000, p. 217. 9 Jarek Fisiak, Contrastive Linguistics and The Language Teacher, Oxford: Pergamon Press. Ltd, 1981, p. 227. 10 Carl James, op. cit., pp. 2-3. Figure 2.1 Error Analysis, Contrastive Analysis and Transfer Analysis Adopted from: Carl James L1MT FLSL TL Interlanguage IL MT:TL Comparisons Contrastive Analysis IL:TL Comparisons Error Analysis MT:IL Comparisons Transfer Analysis Notes: MT = Mother Tongue TL = Target Language IL = Interlanguage FL = Foreign Language SL = Second Language From the diagram above, we can see that the differences among the analysis lies on what are compared. In Contrastive Analysis, the languages are compared between Mother Language and Target Language. Meanwhile, in Transfer Analysis, we compare Mother Language and Interlanguage. Then, in Error Analysis, we compare between Interlanguage and Target Language.