17 error and mistakes. Norrish 1983 distinguishes between error, mistake, lapse and
careless slip as they are known as “types of error”. They are explained as follows.
a. Error
Error is when a learner has not learnt something and consistently „gets it wrong‟. Norrish 1983 also mentions that in the same way, an ESL student makes
an error systemically, that is because the student has not learnt the correct form. Norrish 1983
calls errors as “systematic deviations”.Corder 1967 as cited by Ellis 1994: 51 stated
that “an error takes place when the deviation arises as a result of lack knowledge
. It represents a lack of competence”. Errors occur as the result of students‟ lack of competence. Gass and Selinker 2001: 78 state that “an
error, on the other hand, is systematic. That is, it is likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized
by the learner as an error”. In order to differentiate between errors and mistakes accurately, Ellis 1994stated that frequency of occurrence is
regarded the distinctive point. Error has high frequency of occurrence. Corder 1967 as cited by Dulay et al 1982 stated that errors are obviously systematic
deviations.
b. Mistake
Norrish 1983 stated that a mistake occurs when a learner has been taught an English sentence pattern, and he uses the correct pattern and sometimes he uses
the incorrect pattern. If that situation happens quite inconsistently and later that situation is called “inconsistent deviation” or “mistake”.Gass and Selinker 2001
also define mistakes as akin to slips of the tongue. Mistakes are generally one- time-only events. The learner who makes mistakes is able to recognize it as a
18 mistake and correct it if necessary. Corder 1967 as cited by Dulay et al 1982
stated that performance errors are apparently mistakes.
c. Lapse
Norrish 1983 also presents lapse. Lapse happens because of the lack of concentration, shortness of memory, fatigue and other factors. Lapse happens
when the students do not obtain a good atmosphere and situation of learning for example due to the weather, or other particular situations. Lapse is neither an error
nor a mistake and lapse can happen to anyone at any time.
d. Careless Slip
