CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
D. The Concept of Error Analysis
Re-Orientation But, my parents warn me to play attention more to study, basketball just for hobby.
D. The Concept of Error Analysis
is failure to utilize a known system correctly.22 In other word, mistake has a more general meaning than error it self. Error is something more specific than mistake.
Richards divides errors into three main categories which comprise with: interlanguage errors, intralingual errors and developmental errors.23Interlanguage errorsrefer to “errors which are caused by the interference of the learner’s mother tongue.” Intralingual errorsrefer to
“errors which reflect the general characteristics of rule learning.” In addition, developmental errorsrefer to “errors which appear because the learners try to build up hypotheses about the English language from his or her limited experiences of it in the classroom or text book.” It refers to false concepts hypothesized which means the learner misunderstands about certain rules of structures in the target language. For example,
“was” may be misunderstood as a marker of past tense and “is” as a marker of present tense, e.g. one day it was happened.
2. Definition of Error Analysis
To observe, analyze and classify the errors made by students, error analysis is important to do. Richards24 says that error analysis is the study of errors made by the second and foreign language learners. Error analysis may be carried out in order to (a) find out how well someone knows a language, (b) find out how a person learns a language, and (c)
22H. Douglas Brown, Principle of Language Learning and Teaching, (San Fransisco,State University, fourth edition,2000), p.215.
23C.Jack Richard, Error Analysis: Perspectives an Second Language Acquisition, (London, Longman: 1985), P. 173.
24 Ibid. p.96.
obtain information on common difficulties in language learning, as an aid in teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials. Beside that, Crystal also states that error analysis is a technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a foreign language, using any of the principles and procedures provided by linguistics.25
Another concept of error analysis is given By Brown. He defined error analysis as the process to observe, analyze, and classify the deviations of the rules of thesecond language and then to reveal the systems operated by learner.26
Based on the definitions above clarify that error analysis is an activity to identify, classify and interpreted or describe the errors made by someone in speaking or in writing and it is carried out to obtain information on common difficulties faced by someone in speaking or in writing English sentences. Another thing, which should be noticed is the procedure of error analysis.
Corder associates errors with the failures in competence and mistake with failures in performance, making use Chomsky’s distinction. He also says that mistake are of no significance to the process of language learning27 since they do not reflect a defect in our knowledge (are not caused by incompetence) but are traceable to performance failure.
25 Sunardi Hasyim, Error Analysis., p.43
26 H. Douglas Brown, Principle of Language., p.166
27 S.P Corder, .Error Analysis and Interlanguage, (London: Oxford University Press, 1981), p.10
In foreign language teaching, error analysis becomes useful device to know the ability of students in language mastery. Errors provide feedback to teacher about the effectiveness of a teaching materials and teaching techniques. According to Ellis28 there are proceduresto analyze datain error analysis that consist of:
1) Identification of errors
In identifying errors the sentences that produced by students are compared with the normal and correct sentences in the target language.
2) Describing error
In this step, the errors are classified into word order categories relating to the distribution of noun phrase in sentence or construction of sentence. Beside that, describing error is to identify the differences of disordering of word between students’ utterances and the reconstructed of target language utterances.
3) Explanation of errors
Explaining is a step to analyze the cause of errors.In other words, in this step the writer tries to explain how and why a sentence called to be erroneous.
28Rod Ellis, The Study of Second Language Acquisition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p.20.
4) Evaluation of errors
Evaluation is a process to collects, clarifies and verifies relevant values and standard. It is designed to reduce, revised and devise remedial lessons in teaching learning process. However, in this study, the writer uses evaluating the errors as a step that involves drawing conclusion.
3. Differences Between Error And Mistake
In distinguishing between error and mistake, Ellis claims that errors reflect gaps in the student’s knowledge, it occurred because the students does not know what is the correct, whereas mistake reflect occasional lapses in performance, they occur because, in particular instance, the students untenable to perform what he or she knows.29
When we learn about error, it cannot be separated from learning about mistake. Error and mistake are different, but some people still misunderstanding about the both. To make clear the distinction of error and mistake, Corder refer to mistake as a performance error that is a failure to utilize a known system correctly by the native speakers;
resulting from memory mistakes, physical condition, such as tiredness and psychological condition, such as strong emotion. Mistake is also characterized as unsystematic deviation or inconsistent deviation. In this case the learner has been taught the right form of the language,
29Ibid., p.17.
sometimes the students get it right but sometimes he makes a mistake and uses the wrong form.
Errors caused by lack of knowledge about the target language (English) or by incorrect hypotheses about it; and mistakes caused by temporary lapses of memory, confusion, slips of the tongue and so on. In other word, it means that if the learner is inclined and able to correct a fault in his or her output, it is assumed that the form he or she selected was not the one intended, it called as mistake. In addition, if the learner is unable or in any way disinclined to make the correction, we assumed that the form the learner used was the one intended, it called an error.
4. Cause of Error
The errors made by students are caused by some factor either from the students itself or from the other person. Norrish 30classifies the causes of error into three types that is carelessness, first language interference, and translation. Those are discussed below:
a. Carelessness
Carelessness is often closely related to lack of motivation. Many teachers will admit that it is not always the student’s fault if he loses interests; perhaps the materials and/or style of presentation do not suit them.
30 Sunardi Hasyim, Error Analysis., p.47.
b. First language
Norrish states that language learning is matter of habit formation.
When someone tries to learn new habits the old ones will interfere the new ones. This cause of error is called the first language interference.
c. Translation
Translation is one of the causes of errors. It happens because a student translates his first language sentence or idiomatic expression into the target language word by word. This probably the most common cause of error.
Another expert who also discusses the cause of errors is Pit Corder claims that there are three major the causes of error that consist of;
1) Mother tongue interference
Students who were not in golden age usually have difficulties in learning foreign language, especially in learning English. This case caused by interference of mother tongue that was used in long time. Differences of the sound system (phonology) and the grammar of the first language made learner do mistake in use of grammatical pattern and occasionally to the wrong choice of vocabulary.
2) Over-generalization
Overgeneralization generally involves the creation of one deviant structure in place of two regular structures, for examples
when teacher ordered to change the sentence “he walks quickly”
to continuous pattern, student change it in to “he is walks quickly.”
3) Errors encouraged by teaching material or method
Error can appear because of the teaching process itself and error is an evidence of failure of ineffective teaching or lack control. If material is well chosen, graded and presented with meticulous care, the error can be prevented. So effective teaching and structured material are needed in teaching-learning process.
CHAPTER III