1 Learners’ Native Language
Learners use their first language as the pattern in learning the new language. The pattern could be in the form of the first language’s sound system, grammatical
system, or vocabulary.
2 The Second Language Itself
Errors are seen as the result of the complexity of the second language. The fact that the second language rule is different from learners’ first language rule makes the
learners confused to produce the second language.
3 The Context of the Learning Situation
Learning situation could become the source of errors. The context of learning language in a classroom which becomes the source of errors are: the teacher’s
limitation in the language mastery, the confusing method in presenting the knowledge, confusing or misleading textbooks, or influence from other students.
4 The Strategies Employed by the Learners
The learners’ strategy in the process of attempting to make the language their own could cause errors. For instance, learners memorize English expressions to apply
them in communication. In fact, those expressions might be inappropriate with the situation of communication.
b. Category of Errors
According to James 1998 as stated by Ellis and Barkhuizen 2005: 60, describing errors could be conducted through descriptive category called taxonomy.
There are two kinds of taxonomy to be used in describing errors. They are linguistic taxonomy and surface structure taxonomy.
1 Linguistic Taxonomy
It is based on categories described from descriptive grammar of the target language. Here, a researcher identifies the errors found in the sample using the
category based on the descriptive grammar.
2 Surface Structure Taxonomy
It is based on the ways surface structures are changed in erroneous utterancessentences. According to Dulay, Burt, and Krashen 1982:150 as stated by
Ellis and Barkhuizen 2005: 61, the errors are divided into five types, as follows. a.
omission, the absence of an item which must exist in a correct utterance. For example: omission of to be in the sentence My sisters very pretty.
b. addition, the presence of a form which does not appear in a regular sentence. It is
sub-categorized into: i. regularization, for example: eated for ate.
ii. double-marking, for example: He didn’t came. iii. simple additions, they involve other cases of addition, excluding regulation
and double-marking. c.
misinformation, the use of the incorrect form of the morpheme or structure. It is sub-categorized into:
i. regularization, for example: Do they be happy?
ii. archi-forms, for example, the learners uses me as both subject and object pronoun.
iii. alternating forms, for example: Don’t + V and No + V. d. misordering, the errors are categorized as the incorrect placement of a morpheme
or groups of morpheme in a sentence, as in She fights all the time her brother. e. blends, the errors which reflect the learners’ uncertainty as to which of two forms
is required. For example: The only one thing I want which is a combination of The only thing I want
and The one thing I want. Thornbury 2006: 114 added that there are three categories of errors based on
their occurrence in levels of language: lexical errors, grammar errors, and discourse errors.
1 Lexical Errors
Learners make the errors in choosing the wrong form of words or the meaning of words they want to express. They occur at the word level.
2 Grammar Errors
Learners make the errors related to verb form and tense. They occur at sentence structure level.
3 Discourse Errors
Learners make the errors related to the way sentences are organized and linked in order to make a whole text. They are errors at text level.
2. Error Analysis
