CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Meeting with so many learning problems are bound to
happen when someone wants to learn a foreign language;
the sound system, vocabulary, structure, etc. This is
understandable since the student learning the foreign
language has spoken his own native language, which has
been deeply implanted in them as part of his habit. The
case is that they tend to transfer the so called habit into
the foreign language they learn, which indeed, will be the
cause of errors. Contrastive analysis theory pioneered by
Fries assumed that these errors are caused by the different
elements between the native language and the target
language (Fisiak, 1981:7).
However, not all the problems predicted by contrastive
analysis always appear to be difficult for the student. On
the other hand, many errors that do turn up are not
predicted by contrastive analysis. This tend to reason why
there are the so called error analysis; to overcome the
shortcoming of contrastive analysis. To overcome the
shortcoming of contrastive analysis; it is suggested to
accompany contrastive analysis with error analysis.
This paper was made to provide the knowledge about
what is contrastive analysis and what is error analysis, with
the example that will make it more understandable for the
reader to know about it.

1.2 Problem of the Study

1. What is Contrastive Analysis?
2. What is Error Analysis?
3. What are the common causes of Error?

1.3 Objectives of this Paper

1. To identify the meaning of Contrastive Analysis and
Error Analysis
2. To categorize the causes of errors.

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 CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION
2.1Definition of Contrastive Analysis (CA)

Contrastive analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages with

a view to identifying their structural differences and similarities.
Contrastive Analysis was extensively used in the 1960s and early 1970s as
a method of explaining why some features of a Target Language were
more difficult to acquire than others. According to the behaviorist theories,
language learning was a question of habit formation, and this could be
reinforced by existing habits. Therefore, the difficulty in mastering certain
structures in a second language depended on the difference between the
learners' mother language and the language they were trying to learn.

Contrastive Analysis in general term can be defined as the method of

analyzing the structure of any two languages with a view to estimate the
differential aspects of their system, irrespective or their genetic affinity of
level development (Geethakumary, 2006). In other word, CA is a
systematic comparison between the target language (the one being learned
by the learners, and the learners’ native language to know the similarities
and differences between the two.

The goals of CA can be stated as follows: to make foreign language

teaching more effective, to find out the differences between the first
language and the target language based on the assumptions that:

(1) foreign language learning is based on the mother tongue

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 (2) similarities facilitate learning (positive transfer)

(3) Differences cause problems (negative transfer/Interference)

(4) via contrastive analysis, problems can be predicted and considered

in the curriculum.

While it is obvious that the positive transfer stated means that the
learner has no difficulty in learning language (because what they have
learned in the first language is positively transferred into the second one
and the fact that in positive transfer, first or native language helps the
learners learning the second language, it is different case for negative
transfers, which lead us to the second topic;

2.2 Negative Transfer

Odlin (1989) gave this definition: Transfer is the influence resulting
from similarities and differences between the target language and any
other language that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly)
acquired.

Negative transfer (previously referred to as interference) – where the

first/other language causes you to make an error.
This may be through:
a. Underproduction or avoidance
b. Overuse of a structure/lexis etc.
c. Errors in speech and writing – called production errors e.g. literal
translation; or using a particular politeness strategy
d. Misinterpretations – where the mother tongue guides how you
interpret the target language

This is the classification used by Odlin but it is not entirely a satisfactory

description. Perhaps easier to concentrate on the linguistic areas in which
transfer, both negative and positive occurs.

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 Effects of transfer – areas in which it happens
a) Discourse
b) Syntax e.g. relative clauses
c) Phonology – a very strong negative transfer usually
d) Lexis

Transfer can be a very useful strategy to overcome problems in

communication – you can make up for gaps in your knowledge by
borrowing from your mother tongue and hoping. You can use discourse
patterns that exist in your own language to for example try to persuade
somebody, but like what have been said before, different with the case of
positive transfer, negative transfer is, by any means, problematic. Why?

First of all, it is because the interference of the first or native language

on the second one (It occurs when the first language is different from the
second language). Second, it is because the learning differences in
language takes a lot of time and energy, and the last, it is because the first
learning inhibits (prevents) the second learning.

2.3 Examples of Contrastive Analysis (CA)

There are so many languages that we could use as the
native or first language in this part, but let us focused on
the Indonesia-English version of CA.

The structures of Indonesian idioms are:

1. Complex word idiom

 Affixation
 Prefix + root

There are 2 prefix, meng- and ter-, examples:

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 a. Meng- + ekor, means “memiliki sifat hanya
menuruti pendapat orang tanpa mempunyai pendapat
sendiri.”

b. Meng- + uban, means “dalam keadaan jelek.”

c. Ter- + buku, means “sampai ke buku.”

d. Ter- + semat, means “dalam keadaan melekat.”

e. Ter- + kena, means “dalam keadaan merugi.”

 Affix gabung + root

There is only one of affix + gabung, berse- which is
compounded with root will make verb, means
“melakukan sesuatu dengan melibatkan dua pihak.”
Example:
a. Berse- + muka, means “melakukan sesuatu (tatap
muka), dilakukan oleh dua pihak.”

b. Berse- + badan, means ‘melakukan sesuatu, yaitu

hubungan badan, dilakukan oleh dua pihak’

 Reduplicasion (repetition)
Example:
a. Mata-mata, means “alat atau orang yang menjadi
kelengkapan (suatu organisasi) untuk pengawasan.”
b. Kuda-kuda, means “bersiap-siap.”

2. Frasal idiom
 Verb
 Verb + noun, example
a. Naik darah, means “menjadi marah.”
b. Berutang budi, means “menjadikan orang
menerima kebaikan orang lain.”

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 c. Naik daun, means “menjadi bernasib baik.”

d. Menggantang asap, means “menjadikan orang

berangan-angan atau berkhayal.”

Condition verb
In condition verb, the verb is compounded become
adjective. Verb + noun means “menjadi” and
“memiliki sifat (bersifat),” examples:
a. Putih mata, means “menjadi gelisah.”
b. Besar lambung, means “bersifat suka yang banyak,
terutama dalam hal makan.”
c. Berat kaki means “malas bekerja.”
d. Kecil hati, means “menjadi tersinggung.”
 Adverb + verb
There are two words of adverb in this case, “sudah”
and “sedang.” Means “sudah terjadi” and “dalam
keadaan,” examples:
a. Istri pengusaha Suparman, Nyonya Emi, tadi pagi
sudah berpulang ke rahmatullah.
b. Laras saat ini sedang berbadan dua.
 Noun
 Noun + noun, examples:
a. Buaya darat, means “orang yang memiliki sifat yang
kurang baik.”
b. Darah daging, means “anak kandung.”
c. Buah bibir, means “yang selalu menjadi bahan
pembicaraan orang.”
d. Kaki tangan, means “orang kepercayaan.”

 Noun + adjective, example:

a. Kuda hitam, means “lawan yang tidak
diperhitungkan yang akhirnya menjadi pemenang.”

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 b. Air besar, means ‘air yang banyak dan deras yang
seringkali meluap.”

c. Darah biru, means “kalangan kerajaan.”

3. Proverb Idiom, examples:

Kalah membeli menang memakai.

Gali lubang tutup lubang.

Cepat kaki ringan tangan.

Differences and Similarities between English idiom and

Indonesian idiom

Differences Similarities

English Idiom and

English Idiom Indonesia Idiom
Indonesian Idiom

It has reduplication There is kind of proverb

It has not.
idioms. idiom.

It has prefix + root There is form of idiom:

and affix gabung + It has not.
root. Verb + Noun

It has forms:
Noun + noun It has not.
Noun + adjective
Adverb + verb

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There is condition
verb which verb It has not
becomes adjective.
It has not suffix in It has form, by
indonesian idiom. add suffix.
It has forms:
Preposition +
noun
It has not. Verb +
preposition
Verb + adverb
Verb + adjective
Verb + verb
Verb + noun

2.4 Definition of Error Analysis (EA)

Error analysis is a branch of applied linguistics. It is concerned with
the compilation, study and analysis of errors made by second language
learners and aims at investigating aspects of second language acquisition.

EA is an invaluable source of information to the teachers. It provides

information on students’ errors which in turn helps teachers to correct
students’ errors and also improves the effectiveness of their teaching.
Corder (1974) stated that Error Analysis has to do with the investigation of
the language of second language learners.

One thing to be noted is that, as EA is a study that analyzes learners’

errors, it is appropriate to define what is meant by errors. The terms

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 “Mistake” and “Error” are often used interchangeably. However, there is a
clear difference between the two.

Norrish (1983) made a clear distinction between errors and mistakes.

He stated errors as “a systematic deviation when a learner has not learnt
something and consistently ‘gets it wrong.” He added that when a learner
of English as a second or foreign language makes an error systematically,
it is because they have not learnt the correct form. Norrish defined
mistakes as “inconsistent deviation”. When a learner has been taught a
certain correct form, and he uses one form sometimes and another at other
times quite inconsistently, the inconsistent deviation is called a mistake

EA is a type of linguistic study that focuses on the errors learners

make. It consists of a comparison between the errors made in the target
language and within that target language itself.

The procedure for error analysis was elaborated by Corder (1974) as

comprising five stages:
a. selection of a corpus of language
b. identification of errors in the corpus
c. classification of the errors identified
d. explanation of the psycholinguistic causes of the errors
e. evaluation (error gravity ranking) of the errors

2.5 Causes of Error

Norrish (1983:21-26) classifies causes of error into three
types, which are:
1. Carelessness
Carelessness is often closely related to lack of
motivation. Many teachers will admit that it is not

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 always the student’s fault if they lose interest,
perhaps the materials and/or the style of
presentation do not suit them.

2. First Language Interference

Norrish states that learning a language (a mother
tongue or a foreign language) is a matter of habit
formation. When someone tries to learn new habits,
the old ones will interfere the new ones. This causes
of error is called first language interference.

3. Translation
Translation is one of the causes of error. This
happens because a student translates his first
language sentence or idiomatic expression into the
target language word by word. This is probably the
most common cause of error.

Another expert who discusses the sources of error is Brown (1980) that
categorized four sources of errors:

1. Interlingua transfer which errors are interfered by L2 learners' mother

tongue
2. Intralingual transfer which errors occur from L2 development of a new
linguistic system
3. Context of learning which errors are caused by misleading explanations or
contexts and
4. Communication strategies which wrong techniques cause errors.

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In another article “A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error
Analysis”, Richards (1971:19-22) classifies causes of error
into:

1. Overgeneralization
This generally involves the creation of one deviant
structure in place of two regular structures, for
examples, “He can sings”, “We are hope”, and “it is
occurs”.

2. Incomplete Application of Rules

An example of incomplete application of rules can be
seen in the question forms. Very often they are used,
not to find out something, as they should, but as a
means of eliciting questions through a transform
exercise.

3. False Concepts Hypothesized

Are something due to poor gradation of teaching items.
The form ‘was’ for example, may be interpreted as the
marker of the past tense, as in “one day it was
happened”.

4. Ignorance of Rule Restriction

Closely related to the generalization of deviant
structures is failure to observe the restriction of
existing structures, that is, the application of rules to
context where they do not apply. They man who I saw
him violates the limitation on subjects in structure with
who. This is again a type of generalization of transfer,
since the learners is making use of previously acquired
rule in a new situation.

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 There are also kind of errors which focused on
Grammatical part of speech, such as:
a. Errors in using adjective
b. Errors in presenting subject an incorrect agreement
c. Errors in using question word ‘how far’
d. Errors in using preposition
e. Errors in using passive voice

2.6 Types of Error

Linguists have always been attempting to describe the types of errors

committed by the language learners, and that is exactly the best way to start
with, as it helps out the applied linguist to identify where the problem lies.
According to Dulay et al. (1982) errors take place when the learner change the
surface structure in a particularly systematic manner (p. 150), thus, the error,
no matter what form and type it is, represent a damage at the level of the target
language production.

Errors have been classified by J. Richard et al. (2002) into two categories.
The Interlingual Error and the Intralingual Error, those two elements refer
respectively to the negative influence of both the speaker's native language,
and the target language itself.

Interlingual error is caused by the interference of the native language L1

(also known as interference, linguistic interference, and crosslinguistic
influence), whereby the learner tends to use their linguistic knowledge of L1
on some Linguistic features in the target language, however, it often leads to
making errors.

Intralingual error is an error that takes place due to a particular misuse of

a particular rule of the target language, it is, in fact, quite the opposite of
Interlingual error, it puts the target language into focus, the target language in
this perspective is thought of as an error cause. Furthermore, J. Richard, et al.

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(2002) consider it as one which results from ‘’faulty or partial’’ learning of the
target language. (p.267) thus the intralingual error is classified as follow:

Overgeneralizations: in linguistics, overgeneralizations error occur when

the speaker applies a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn’t apply. Richard
et al, (2002) mentioned that they are caused ‘’by extension of target language
rules to inappropriate context.’’ (P.185). this kind of errors have been
committed while dealing with regular and irregular verbs, as well as the
application of plural forms. E.g. (Tooth == Tooths rather than teeth) and (he
goes == he goed rather than went).

Simplifications: they result from learners producing simpler linguistic

forms than those found in the target language, in other words, learners attempt
to be linguistically creative and produce their own poetic sentences/utterances,
they may actually be successful in doing it, but it is not necessary the case,
Corder (as cited in Mahmoud 2014:276) mentioned that learners do not have
the complex system which they could simplify. This kind of errors is
committed through both of Omission and addition of some linguistic elements
at the level of either the Spelling or grammar. A. Mahmoud (2014) provided
examples based on a research conducted on written English of Arabic-
speaking second year University students:

1. Spelling: omission of silent letters:

o no (= know)
o dout (= doubt)
o weit (weight)
2. Grammar:

1. Omission:
 We wait ^ the bus all the time.
 He was ^ clever and has ^ understanding father.
2. Addition:
 Students are do their researches every semester.
 Both the boys and the girls they can study together.

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 Developmental errors: this kind of errors is somehow part of the
overgeneralizations, (this later is subtitled into Natural and developmental
learning stage errors), D.E are results of normal pattern of development, such
as (come = comed) and (break = breaked), D.E indicates that the learner has
started developing their linguistic knowledge and fail to reproduce the rules
they have lately been exposed to in target language learning.

Induced errors: as known as transfer of training, errors caused by

misleading teaching examples, teachers, sometimes, unconditionally, explain
a rule without highlighting the exceptions or the intended message they
would want to convey. J. Richard et al. (2002) provided an example that
occurs at the level of teaching prepositions and particularly ‘’ at ‘’ where the
teacher may hold up a box and say ‘’ I am looking at the box ‘’, the students
may understand that ‘’ at ‘’ means ‘’ under ‘’, they may later utter ‘’ the cat
is at the table ‘’ instead of the cat is under the table.

Errors of avoidance: these errors occur when the learner fail to apply

certain target language rules just because they are thought of to be too
difficult.

Errors of overproduction: in the early stages of language learning,

learners are supposed to have not yet acquired and accumulated a satisfied
linguistic knowledge which can enable them to use the finite rules of the
target language in order to produce infinite structures, most of the time,
beginners overproduce, in such a way, they frequently repeat a particular
structure.

2.7 The Importance of Doing Error Analysis

Why is EA useful/necessary? How is it used in
academic contexts?
Error analysis helps you to:
1) Make your writing intelligible
2) Make your ideas clear

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 3) Get higher marks (Some subjects allocate a
percentage of the final mark to accuracy in grammar
or lack of errors).

Who does an EA of your writing?

1) Ideally, we do it by ourselves.
2) In addition, you should be able to write, evaluate,
and make required changes to your grammar
independently, so that you know which areas you
can correct by yourself and which areas you need to
learn more about.

How can EA be carried out?

1) Determine your most serious and frequent sentence

errors.
2) Decide which ones to focus on first
3) Develop a strategy for solving this particular
problems
4) Look through your writing for examples of this
structure should be used / is being used incorrectly.
5) Make corrections.
6) Take note of any feedback from tutors, lecturers or
other people who read your writing

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 CHAPTER 3
CLOSING

3.1 CONCLUSION
From the discussion above, it can be concluded that:
Contrastive Analysis (CA) is the systematic study of a pair of
languages with a view to identifying their differences and
similarities with the assumption of the different elements
between the native and the target language will cause learning
problems, while similar elements will not cause any problems.
And Error Analysis (EA) was an alternative to CA, and is another
way of error correction.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Corder, S. (1974). Idiosyncratic dialects and error analysis. Error Analysis , 158-
171.

Fisiak, J. Contrastive Linguistics and The Language Teacher. Oxford:

Pergammon Press.

Larsen, D., & et, a. (1992). An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition

Research. London: Longman.

Rustipa, K. (2006). Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis, Interlanguage and the

Implication to Language Teaching. Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis,
Interlanguage and the Implication to Language Teaching , 1-7.

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