The Definition of Error

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter, the writer discusses the related literature which serves as the basis to answer the research questions. There are two major parts in this chapter, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

This part provides theories on error, parts of the English sentence, types of question, the formation of questions and uninverted questions.

1. Error

Since this study deals with error analysis, it becomes significant to provide the theories supporting the analysis. The discussion involves the definition of error, error analysis, types of error, sources of error and ways to minimize errors.

a. The Definition of Error

Defining the word error has long become an interesting discussion by some scholars. The characterization of error remains vague, yet it is significant to discern error among any other terms which seem to be synonymous with error. One term that is often used synonymously with error is mistake. Harmer 2007: 96 classifies error, slip and attempt as sorts of mistake. While slips can be corrected by the ones making mistakes, errors cannot be corrected by themselves. Besides, the term attempt is used when someone wants to say something but does not yet know how to say it. 8 9 Slips are mistake which students can correct themselves, once the mistake has been pointed out to them. Errors are mistakes which they can’t correct themselves-and which, therefore, need explanation. Attempts are mistakes that students make when they try to say something but do not know yet how to say it. Brown 1987: 170 defines error and mistake in another way. He points out that a mistake can be a random guess or a slip reflecting a performance error. It means that someone who makes mistakes does not succeed in utilizing a known system correctly. Besides, he adds that as a direct manifestation of learners’ operated system, error is an obvious deviation from the grammar of an adult native speaker. Rather than differentiating between error and mistake, Corder 1974: 24-25 prefers to distinguish between errors of performance, which are unsystematic, and errors of competence, which are systematic. We must therefore make a distinction between those errors which are the product of such chance circumstances and those which reveal his underlying knowledge of the language to date, or, as we may call it his transitional competence. The errors of performance will characteristically be unsystematic and the errors of competence, systematic. In other words, what Corder means by errors of performance is the same as what Brown calls mistakes, and the term errors of competence is the same as errors in Brown’s definition. Although the differences of error and mistake have been obviously defined, Brown 1987: 171 adds that it is not always simple to distinguish between an error and a mistake. The differences between those two terms may not be clearly 10 observed since the underlying grounds of their production are not easy to determine. It is also supported by Dulay, Burt, and Krashen 1982: 139 who state that although it is very important to make a distinction between performance and competence error, it is often not easy to find out the nature of a deviation since it should involve precise analysis.

b. Error Analysis