The Sources of Error
b. Addition
Addition errors are the opposite of omissions. They are characterized by the presence of an item which must not appear in a well-formed utterance. It
usually occur in the later stages of L
2
acquisition, when the learner has already acquired some target language rules. In fact, addition errors result from the all-
too-faithful use of certain rules.
For example in Syntax: The London. in morphology: The books is here.
c. Double Marking
Many addition errors are more accurately described as the failure to delete certain items which are required in some linguistic constructions, but not in
others. For example in past tense error: She did
n’t wentgoed. i
n present tense: He doesn’t eats.
d. Regularization
A rule typically applies to applies to a class of linguistic items, such as the class of main verbs or the class of nouns. In most languages, however, some
members of a class are exceptions to the rule. For example, the verb eat does not become eated, but ate; the noun sheep is also sheep in the plural, not sheeps.
e. Simple Addition
Errors are the “grab bag” subcategory of additions. If an addition error is not a double marking nor a regularization, it is called a simple addition. Not
particular features characterize simple additions other than those that characterize all addition errors-the use of an item which should not appear in a well-formed
utterance, Simple addition errors observed in both L
1
and L
2
child speech. For example in preposition: in over here.
in 3
rd
person singular-s : The fishes doesn’t live in the water.
f. Misformation
Misformation errors are characterized by the use of the wrong form of the morpheme or structure. While in omission errors the item is not supplied at all, in
misformation errors the learner supplies something, although it is incorrect. For example: The dog eated the chicken.
In a past tense marker was supplied by the learner; it was just not the right one. As in the case of additions, misformations are usually not random. Thus far,
three types of misformations have been frequently reported in the literature: 1. Regularizations, 2. Archi-forms; and 3. Alternating forms.
1. Regularization Errors
Regularization Errors that fall under the misformation category are those in which a regular marker is used in place of an irregular one, as in runned for ran.
For example in the regulalarization errors in the misformation category observed in Chilld L
2
production: Linguistic Item Misformed
Example Reflexive Pronoun
His self himself
Regular Past Gooses
geese
2. Archi-form
The selection of one member of a class of forms to represent others in the class is a common characteristic of all stages of second language acquisition. We
have called the form selected by the learner an archid-form. For example, a learner may temporary select just one of the English demonstratives this, that,
these, and those, to do the work for several of them:
That dog That dogs
For this learner, that is the archi-demonstrative adjective representing the entire class of demonstrative adjective.
3. Alternating Forms.
As the learner’s vocabulary and grammar grow, the use of archi-forms often gives way to the apparently fairly free alternation of various members of a
class with each other. Thus, we see for demonstratives: Those dog
This cats
g. Misordering
Misordering are characterized by the incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes in an utterance. For example, in the utterance:
He is all the time late. all the time is misordered