appropriate starting point for the study of learner L2 acquisition Ellis, 1996: 47-48
From the definition above, the writer can conclude that error analysis may
be defined as a study of student’s errors covering collecting samples, identifying, describing, classifying, and evaluating errors.
2. The Differences between Error and Mistake
In order to get the proper perception between errors and mistakes, it is crucial to make a distinction between them.
a. Definition of Error
Brown 1987: 125 defines an error as a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of native speaker, reflecting the inter language competence of
the learner. While Richards 1997: 25 states that a learner’s errors provides evidence of the system of the language that he is using i.e. has learned at a
particular point in the course and it must be repeated that he is using some systems, although it is not yet the right system.
The appearance of such errors can be detected. It means that the errors arise because each learner has different motivation, social background, and
intelligence. It has a relationship with the learner’s language competence. In learning a second language, some errors appear because the learners have
not yet understood the grammar of the second language.
b. Definition of Mistake
A mistake occurs when learners fail to perform their competence. Ellis 1997: 17 states that mistake reflects occasional lapses in performance, they
occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows.
While according to Brown 1987:165 a mistake refers to performance error that either random guess or slip, it is a failure to utilize a known system
correctly. All people make mistakes, in both native and second language situations. Native speakers are normally capable of recognizing and
correcting such lapses or mistakes, which are not the result of deficiency in competence but the result of some sort of breakdown in process of
producing speech. From the explanation above, it can be concluded that erroneous
expressions are divided into two kinds; they are mistakes and errors themselves. Errors refer to the competence, whereas mistakes refer to the
performance. In analyzing student’s erroneous expressions there is a way to check the
difference between mistakes and errors based on student’s consistency. Ellis 1997:18 proposes one way to check the consistency of learner’s
performance, that is, ask learners to try to correct their own deviant utterances. Where they are unable to correct their own deviant utterances,
the deviations are errors; where they are successful, they are mistakes.
3. Types of Error
