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example is the addition of –ed in the past form of the word eat instead of using ate, so that the word becomes eated.
3 Misformation
“Misformation errors are characterized by the use of wrong form of the morpheme or structure” Dulay et al., 1982: 158. Different from omission, in
which the item does not exist at all, in misformation errors, the item exists but it is in incorrect form. The example is shown on the use of me as both a subject and an
object pronoun and the use of don’t + verb1 and no + verb1 Ellis and Barkhuizen, 2005: 61.
4 Misordering
Dulay et al. 1982: 162 state “Misordering errors are characterized by the incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes in an utterance.” The
example is the misplacement of the word is on the sentence I do not know what is it, which should be I do not know what it is.
d. Explanation of Errors
Explaining errors, which is the most important step in EA, means finding out the sources of errors to find why the errors are made. In this step, it is
necessary to be able to differentiate between errors and mistakes. Norrish 1983 states error is a “systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and
consistently ‘gets it wrong’” p. 7. He mentions that error is different from mistake. Error happens consistently, while mistake happens inconsistently.
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According to Chomsky, as cited by Dulay et al. 1982, errors are categorized into two types. The first type is error that is caused by some factors
like fatigue or carelessness. This kind of error is called performance error. The second type is competence error, which is caused by lack of knowledge. Corder
1967, as cited by Dulay et al., states performance error is called mistake, while competence error is called error.
Brown 2000 mentions there are four possible sources of errors. They are interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning, and communication
strategies.
1 Interlingual Transfer
“Interlingual transfer is a significant source of error for all learners. The beginning stages of learning a second language are especially vulnerable to
interlingual transfer from the native language or interference” Brown, 2000: 224. According to Brown 2000, interlingual transfer, or called interference, is
“the interfering effects of the native language on the target the second language p. 95.”
2 Intralingual Transfer
According to Jaszczolt 1995 and Taylor 1975 as cited by Brown 2000: 224, interference or interlingual transfer often dominates the early phase of
language learning. On the other hand, when the learners start to purchase parts of a new system, intralingual transfer or generalization within the target language,
will happen. Generalization means inference or derivation of a law or rule, usually from the observation of particular examples.
