Kajian ini menghuraikan kesalahan tatabahasa dalam kalangan pelajar antarabangsa di Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Objektif utama kajian ini ialah mengenal pasti jenis-jenis kesalahan tatabahasa dalam aspek penulisan. Data kajian diperolehi dari bahagian penulisan dalam kertas jawapan para pelajar untuk kursus Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi Lanjutan pada peperiksaan akhir. Pendekatan analisis kontrastif dan analisis kesalahan diaplikasikan dalam menganalisis penulisan pelajar asing yang terlibat dalam kajian ini. Terdapat 38 orang pelajar yang terlibat dan mereka berasal dari negara Bangladesh, Jepun, Morocco, Tajikistan, Afrika, China, Indonesia dan Brunei. Terdapat 215 kesalahan tatabahasa yang telah dikenal pasti dalam kajian ini. Kesalahan tersebut dikategorikan kepada 2 aspek, aspek pertama ialah morfologi yang merangkumi kesalahan ortografi 76%, dan leksikal 1%. Manakala yang kedua ialah aspek sintaksis yang merangkumi unsur kelewahan 15%, hukum D-M 8%. Peratusan menunjukkan kesalahan ortografi mencatatkan kekerapan yang paling tinggi. Kesalahan ortografi dibahagikan kepada 3 kategori berdasarkan proses yang berlaku iaitu penukaran huruf dengan huruf lain (^), penambahan huruf dalam perkataan (^^) dan pengguguran huruf dalam perkataan (^^^). Kesalahan ini dipengaruhi oleh latar belakang negara dan bahasa ibunda yang berbeza. Kajian ini turut mencadangkan penekanan dan bimbingan yang berbeza perlu diberikan kepada para pelajar yang terdiri daripada pelbagai latar belakang. Justeru teknik pengajaran seperti memberi ganjaran (seperti pujian) serta kepelbagaian strategi pengajaran yang menarik berasaskan teknologi dapat meningkat motivasi dalam mempelajari bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa asing.

The Punans are one of several indigenous communities in Sarawak, Borneo, having settled in the Kemena river basin, in Bintulu and in Belaga, at the upper reaches of the Rejang river. The total population of the Punans, recorded by the Punan National Association (PNA 2019) was 4790 in 2019, a number that will likely decrease over the years and without recourse to elavation. The Punan language is categorized as threatened (Asmah Omar, 2017; Ethnologue, 2019), suggesting that the number of its speakers has rapidly declined over many years. This paper presents a preliminary study on the phonological system of the Punan language, for the purpose of preserving the language. In this study, we adopt a descriptive approach, largely popularized by Bloomfield, and as such, we focus on the phonological features of the Punan language. In order to obtain Punan language data, we employed an open recording method, to video document informal speech and conversation. we revorded all language during face to face interactions with respondents. Ultlimately, in this study, we determined that the Punan language contains 18 consonants, six vowels, four diphthongs and two triphthongs.

This study focuses on the Punan language in Punan Bah, Belaga, Sarawak. The Punan language is a language spoken by the Punan people, one of the minority ethnic groups in Sarawak. This study is a preliminary study of the language and acts as an early step in the effort to document and preserve the language. This preliminary study is pivotal in preventing teh language from falling into an endangered phase or becoming moribund. This study also aims to resolve confusion over some terms used to refer to the Punan ethnicity and Punan language. This study was conducted as field-oriented research. The respondents were selected based on several criteria and were native speakers of the Punan language, aged forty and above, and living in the Punan Bah area. Data were collected through interviews and voice recordings. The data include the history and the background of the Punan ethnicity. The outcome of the study shows that the Punan language and ethnicity are different from the Penan language and ethnicity, and these ethnicities belong to two different categories with their own respective identities. From historical and background aspects, the Punan language is spoken in eight long houses, namely Punan Pandan, Punan Jelalong, Punan Mina, Punan Meluyou, Punan Bah, Punan Biau, Punan Sama and Punan Kakus. From a linguistics aspect, it is found that the Punan language has four main variations; daily spoken language, ukiet (folklore), u'a and setuo. Hence, this study will explore the diversity of indigenous languages in Sarawak.