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2.1.6.1 Definition of Errors
There are so many theories about language errors. In this study, the writer uses only one theory. Dulay, Burt, and Krashen 1982 propose that:
Errors are flawed side of learners’ speech or writing. They are parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected norm of mature
language performances p.259. In brief, the errors are the violation of the syntactic rules of the language. The
errors itself may happen in the learners’ speech or writing.
2.1.6.2 The Cause of Errors
There are many possible answers dealing with the cause of errors. Lado points out that most errors are resulted from the interference of the learners’ first language
or mother tongue. An analysis, which is known as contrastive analysis, talks about comparison between the learners’ mother tongue and the target language. The
learners will not have any difficulties in learning the target language if there are similarities between the native and the target language being learned. On the other
hand, the differences will cause problems, and the result in errors. Brown 1994 reveals that there are three causes of errors. The first one is
Interlingual Transfer or Interferences. It means that the errors happen because the learners’ first language interfere the process of learning the second language. The
system of the second language is not familiar for the learners. Therefore, the learners draw the linguistics system that they really know, that is the first language. In this
19 case, the errors commonly happen in the early stages of the leaning process. The
errors can be easily detected by the learners’ speech. The second cause of errors is Intralingual transfer. This error happens on the
target language itself. It happens when the learners acquire the language. The examples of this error are “John writed”, “Do John write?”, “I don’t know where are
you.” The last cause of errors is the context of the learning. The context here means
the outside factors of the language, for example the teacher, the classroom, and the textbook. The teacher can be the source of errors if the teacher gives incorrect
explanation of the language. In the other hand, the textbook can be the source of errors if there is mistake or misprint in the book.
In conclusion, there are three sources of errors. The first source is from the learners themselves. In this case, the learners have had their own linguistics system of
their first language. When they learn the target language, the system of their first language influences their thought in learning the target language. The second cause is
from the target language, which is English. English has so many new rules for the learners. The last cause is the external factors: the teacher, the classroom, and the
textbook.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
Passive voice is an essential part of English grammar. When the students are expected to master English, the students have to master English grammar, including
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