James 1998 differentiates between errors and mistakes. He defines errors as a systematic mistakes due to lack of language competence while mistakes
refers to performance errors because of a random guess or slip. While errors cannot be self-corrected, mistakes can be self-corrected if the deviation is pointed
out to the speaker.
4
Meanwhile, Edge 1989 offers simpler definitions that are especially important for classroom teachers to keep in mind. He states that a slip or mistake
is what a learner van self-correct.
5
Furthermore, Corder 1967 defines mistakes as a random performance caused by fatigue, excitement, etc; therefore, it can
readily be self-corrected. Errors are systematic deviation made by learners who have not yet mastered the rules of the target language. Consequently, learners
cannot self- correct an error because it is a product reflective of the learner’s stage
of target language development, or underlying competence.
6
To sum up, mistakes are failure to use language because of slip of the tongue, or spelling. The learner easily corrects this failure since they conceptually
understand the language system. On the other hand, errors are mistakes that the students make due to lack of competence. They are not able to do self-correction
because they do not know the concept.
2. The Causes of Errors
Errors occur for many reasons. One obvious cause is interference from the native language. The learners may make errors because they assume that the target
language and their native language are similar. While in fact they are different, they generalize the similarity between the target language and their mother tongue
known usually as ‘overgeneralization’.
Another obvious cause is simply an incomplete knowledge of the target language. The students are asked to produce words or sentences that they have not
yet learnt in grammar; therefore they often might made several mistakes. For
4
Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching 4
th
Edition., New York: Longman, 2000, p. 217.
5
Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching 4
th
Edition., ......p. 217.
6
Diane-Larsen Freeman, and Michael H. Long, An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research, New York: Longman. 1991, pp. 59
–60.
example, English has different tenses to indicate time of happening, such as present, past, and future, while Indonesian language does not. Therefore, these
differences obviously cause many Indonesian learners make errors in tenses. John Norrish exposes three types and causes of errors:
a. Carelessness: it is often closely related to lack of motivation. Many
teachers will admit that it is not alwa ys the students’ fault if he loses
interest; perhaps the materials andor the style of presentation do not suit him.
b. First language interference: It was commonly believed until fairly
recently that learning a language mother tongue or a foreign language was a matter of habit formation. The learners’ utterances were thought
to be gradually ‘shaped’ towards those of the language he was learning. For instance, in English ‘some’ and ‘any’ are used in different ways.
c. Translation: it should be made clear at this point that the distinction
between ‘interference’ is that what takes place is largely unconscious in the mind of the learner.
7
Meanwhile, Brown 2000 states that “Causes of errors are inter-lingual transfer, intra-lingual transfer, context of learning, and communication
strategies.”
8
For more details, please look at the explanations below: a.
Inter-lingual transfer Inter-lingual transfer is cause of error from transferring knowledge or
grammar into the target language. It means the native language interference the target language in terms of patterns, system or rules.
b. Intra-lingual transfer
Intra-lingual transfer refers to errors caused by the lack competence of the language being learnt TL. There are items produced by the learner that does not
reflect the structure of the mother tongue, but generalizations based on partial exposure to the target language. The learner tries in this case to derive the rules
behind the data to which has been exposed by the learner, and may develop hypotheses that correspond neither to the mother tongue nor to the target
language.
7
John Norrish, Language Learners and Their Errors, London: Macmillan, 1983, pp. 21 –
26.
8
Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching 4
th
Edition., New York: Longman, 2000, pp. 223
–227.
