SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

(ERROR ANALYSIS)

Emeral (17716251014)

PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

PROGRAM PASCA SARJANA
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI YOGYAKARTA
2017
 I. Introduction
 Human learning is an undeniable process which involves
the making of error. Broughton et al. (2003) believe that a
learner will always make error as an unavoidable and
necessary part of the learning process, so errors are not the
bad thing but visible proof that learning is taking place. In
second language (L2) acquisition and learning process,
error does occur as an indication of a learning process
itself. However, it is really significant to analyze error to
attain an appropriate perspective about error and to
increase the quality of L2 acquisition and learning process.
This paper is focusing on a brief discussion of Error
Analysis and its implication on language teaching.

 Key Words: Error, Error Analysis, Intralingual

 II. Discussion
A. What is Error in SLA?
 VanPatten and Williams (2015) define error as an evidence of lack of
learning.

 Similarly, Ellis R. (1997) claims that error occurs because the learner
does not know what is correct; it reflects gaps in learner’s knowledge.

 In addition, Gass and Selinker (2008) state that error is systematic as it

is likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an
error.
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 Mistake is accidental and can be self-corrected. It is supported by
Tavakoli (2012) who claims that mistake refers to a learner’s
performance (the actual use of language in concrete situations) in
which he is not able to utilize a known system correctly; mistake is not
only made by second language learners but also by native speakers.
 B. The Emergence Of Error Analysis
 Before the rise of Error Analysis, Contrastive Analysis is
widely used between 1950s and 1960s to conceptualize the
learner’s errors.
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 The study of Contrastive Analysis believes that the primary
source of error is interference from the learner’s first
language (L1) or native language which is then termed
interlingual (Khansir, 2012).

 As mentioned by Saville and Troke (2006), there are two

types of interference or transfer, those are positive transfer,
in which the structure in L1 and L2 is appropriate in both
language, meanwhile negative transfer happens when the
forms of the L2 and those of the learner's L1 are different
from each other.
 During the 1960s and 1970s, Stephen Pit Corder and
his colleagues established Error Analysis to supplant
Contrastive Analysis because Contrastive Analysis was
not adequate for the study of SLA as it was not able to
predict a great major of errors.
-
 The emergence of Error Analysis showed that L2
difficulties were responsible for error experienced by
the learners and it is then known as intralingual.
 C. Types of Error Based on Error Analysis
 As Error Analysis emphasizes that learner’s mother tongue is not
only reason for committing errors in target language, it presents
intralingual or a type of error as a result of complexities and
difficulties in L2. Based on Travakoli (2012) intralingual is
classified as follow:

1. Based on basic type

 Omission: skipping an item that is required in a correct
utterance (eg. There is boy over there).
 Addition: adding an item that must not appear in a correct
utterance (e.g. Does can he sing?).
 Overgeneralization or Misinformation: using the form or
construction in one context and extending its application to
other contexts where it should not apply wrong form of a
morpheme or structure (She goed to market yesterday).
 Misordering: the incorrect position/placement of a morpheme
in an utterance (e.g. What he is doing?).
2. Based on language competency
 Overt: an error that is unquestionably ungrammatical
at the sentence and easy to identify because there is a
clear deviation in form; a sentence level error. (eg. I is
angry).

 Covert: an error that is grammatically well formed at

the sentence level but not interpretable within the
context of communication (eg. The rain was stopped).
3. Based on level of language
 Phonological, the lack distinction of /p/ and /b/
 Morphological, inappropriate prefix or suffix “get
upping for getting up”
 Lexical, involves inappropriate direct “key car for car
key”
 Syntax, inappropriate arrangement of words and
punctuation in a sentence or clause, “Come for a visit I
have plenty of food” for “Come for a visit! I have plenty
of food”
4. Error Gravity

 Local Error: affects a single elements in a sentence and

it does not hinder communication and the meaning of
utterance. (eg. A scissors)

 Global Error: affects overall sentence organization and

makes an utterance difficult to understand. (eg. Well,
it’s a great hurry around)
 D. Error Analysis Procedure-
 Corder (1974) proposes four procedures in error
analysis research, these steps are:

 Collection of a sample of learner language.

 Identification of errors.
 Description & Classification of errors.
 Explanation of errors
 E. Implication of Error Analysis on Language
Teaching
 First, error as a visible proof that learning is taking
place make the teacher tolerate some errors, especially
on some local errors.
 Second, as stated by Corder in Ellis (1994), error
provides the teacher with information about how
much the learner had learnt.
 Finally, Regarding to Bitchener and Dana R. (2012), the
occurrence of errors make SLA theorists and
researchers interested in how individuals learn or
acquire a second language.
 F. The Weakness of Error Analysis
 Ellis in Kansir (2012) mentions that the limitation of Error
Analysis includes the theoretical, the scope and the
methodological problem.
 The classification of errors that are identified is not
usually proper.
 Then, learner makes error in both comprehension and
production, but Error analysis focuses only on learners’
production, some important features of learners’
competence may not be apparent.
 In addition, Error Analysis only defines error as a result of
complexities in second language (L2).
 Additionally, there is insufficient attention to identify and
control the factors which may influence the the error
learners produced.
 III. Conclusion
 Error Analysis reveals that error may occur because of the complexities
of L2, or called as intralingual. Intralingual is classified based on basic
types, language competency ,level of language and error gravity.

 In order to analyze error, there are some steps to follow started from
collecting the samples of learner language and ended with explaining
errors.

 In language teaching, error as a visible proof that learning is taking

place make the teacher tolerate some errors, especially on some local
errors. Indeed, error provides the teacher with information about how
much the learner had learnt will help the teacher to choose the best
teaching strategy to fix learner errors.

 However, Error Analysis has some weaknesses. Error analysis focuses

only on learners’ production, not competence. In addition, there is
insufficient attention to identify and control the factors which may
influence the the error learners produced. Consequently, Error Analysis
is then supplanted by Interlanguage.
 IV. References
Bitchener J. & Ferris Dana (2012). Written Corrective Feedback In Second Language
Acquisition and Writing. New York: Routledge.

Broughton, et. al. (2003). Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Education Books).
New York: Taylor & Francis e-library.

Ellis Rod (1994). Study of Second Language Acquisition (Oxford Applied

Linguistics). USA: Oxford University Press.

Ellis Rod (1997). Second Language Acquisition (Oxford Introduction to Language

Study). USA: Oxford University Press.

Gass M. Susan (2008). Second Language Acquisition (An Introductory Course). New
York: Routledge.

Kansir, A. A. (2012). Error Analysis and Second Language Acquisition. Theory and
Practice in Language Studies. 2(5): 1027-1032

Saville M. & Troike (2006). Introducing to SLA. New York: Cambridge University.

Tavakoli Hossein (2012). A Dictionary of Language Acquisition (A Comprehensive

Overview of Key Terms in First and Second Language Acquisition).
Iran: Rahnama Press

VanPatten, et. al. (2015). Theories in second language acquisition-An Introduction.

New York: Routledge.
Thank You 