4
foot, children, etc. These are irregular plural. The rule is complicated. The consequence is the students will make so many errors in their learning.
Making error during learning English is a natural process. It is normal because learning the second language is a process which involves the making of
mistake, even errors. However it cannot be neglected. The teacher should be aware of this issue and do something to avoid their students to make the same
error. The error they made should be regarded as necessary part of learning language. One of the strategies to prevent the students from making the same error
is b y analyzing the learners’ error itself.
Based on the background above, the writer interested in analysis the
students’ error in learning plural forms of nouns under the title “An Analysis of the Students’ Error in Learning Plural Forms of Nouns at the First year
students of MTs Nurul Huda Bogor”
B. Limitation of Problem
To make this research easy to understand the writer limits the discussion on the errors made by the first year students of MTs Nurul Huda Bogor on English
plural. The students „acquisition in English plural will be obtained from the result of test that given by the writer.
C.
Formulation of Problem
Based on the background of study describe above, the writer is interested in analyzing the error that made by the students in learning plural forms of nouns.
Therefore the writer would like to formulate the problem as follows: “What types of error are commonly students made?
D. The objective of the study
The objective of this study is the writers want to find out the errors made by the first year students of MTs Nurul Huda Bogor and
to know the reason why the students make errors in learning plural forms of nouns.
5
CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Error
When the students learnt English, they can make a lot of errors. It seems impossible if the learners or students have never been made some errors in their language learning
process, because do some errors is natural.
1. Definition of error
Learning the second language is a process which involves the making of mistakes, even errors as in this new system of language a learner will directly connect
with such a new vocabulary, a new grammatical pattern and a foreign pronunciation which differ from the learner’s native language. According to Jeremy harmer, errors are
part of the learner inter language that is a version of the language which a learner has at any one stage of development and which is continually reshaped as heshe aims toward
full mastery.
1
According to Brown, “an error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the inter language competence of the learner.
Dullay defines error as “the flawed side of learner speech or writing. They are those parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected norm of
1
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, New York: Pearson Education Limited, 2001, p. 34.
mature language performance”
2
. Meanwhile, douglas brown defines “a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the inter language
competence of the learner”.
3
Error is usually compared with mistake, but there is distinction between them. Stephen Pit Corder distinguishes error from mistake: a mistake is random performance
slip caused by fatigue, excitement, etc. mistake can be readily self- corrected, whereas an error is systematic deviation made by learners who have not yet mastered the rule of L2.
Error cannot be self –corrected because it is a product reflective of the learner’s current
stage of LT 2 development or underlying competence. Errors are not something to be prevented, but errors are sign that learners are actively engaged in hypothesis testing
which would be the result in the acquisition of target language rules.
2. Types of Error
To know more about error, the writer tries to write the types of error from some sources. According to Corder, errors fall into four main categories. Omission, addition,
selection, and misordering.
a. Omission
Certain linguistic forms may be omitted by the learner because of their complexity in production. Omission also occurs in morphology.
Learner often leave out the third person singular morpheme –s , the
plural marker-s and the past tense inflection-ed. b.
Addition Learners not only omit element which they regard as redundant but
they also add redundant element. For example: two fishs
c. Selection
Learner commit errors in pronunciation, morphology, syntax and vocabulary due to the selection of the wrong phoneme , morpheme,
structure or vocabulary item.
2
Heidi Dullay et.al.,Langauge Two, New York: Oxford University Press, 1982, p.138.
3
H Douglas Brown, Principle of Language and Teaching, New York: Addison Wesley Longman.Inc,2000, p. 217.
d. Misordering
Misordering can occur in morphological level misordering of bound morpheme in English is perhaps less frequent, given their limited
number.
There are some other types of error; Errors of competence are the result of the application of rules by the L2 learner which do not yet correspond to the L2 norm;
Errors of performance are the result of mistakes in language use and manifest themselves as repeats, false, starts, corrections or slips of the tongue.
Error of performance occurs frequently in the speech of both native speakers and L2 learners. They are especially likely to occur when the speaker suffers from stress,
indecision or fatigue. Corder has suggested the following operational criterion for differentiating between these two types of error: L2 learners can recognize and correct
errors of performance, but not errors of competence. However, identification of errors of competence will only be possible if we
establish a difference between actual and intended L2 utterances. Noam Chomsky made a distinction between competence and performance.
Competence knows what is grammatically correct; performance is what actually occur in practice. He regarded performance as a faulty representation of competence, caused by
psychological restrictions, such as memory lapses and limitations, distractions, changes of direction half-way through a sentence, hesitation and so on.
3. Cause of Error
The final step in the analysis of erroneous learner production is that of determining the sources of error. By trying to identify sources we can begin to arrive at an
understanding how the learner’s cognitive and affective self relates to the linguistic system and to formulate an integrated understanding of the process of second language
acquisition. Errors-
overt manifestation of learner’s system-arise from several possible general sources: inter lingual errors of interference from the native language, inter lingual errors
within the target language, sociolinguistic context of communication, psycholinguistic or
cognitive strategies, and countless affective variables.
