Categories: News

Te Ahu o te Reo project to measure the health of te reo

&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" alignright size-full wp-image-1465" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schoolnewsnz&period;fastrackdev&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;05&sol;SND15-wk1-te&lowbar;reo1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"SND15-wk1-te reo1" style&equals;"margin&colon; 5px&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"226" &sol;>A new study is about to build on a seminal M&amacr;ori language survey carried out in the 1970s by Richard and Nena Benton that showed that the M&amacr;ori language was in a perilous state&period; This prompted a strong response from M&amacr;ori communities and Government&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> <&excl;--more--> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8216&semi;Te Ahu o te Reo&&num;8217&semi; will be led by Te W&amacr;hanga from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research &lpar;NZCER&rpar;&comma; in a contract with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo M&amacr;ori&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The project will undertake research to measure the health of te reo M&amacr;ori in homes and communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The project will benefit M&amacr;ori language communities by ensuring the best use of resources when supporting revitalisation&comma;&&num;8221&semi; acting CE of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo M&amacr;ori&comma; Poia Rewi says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>NZCER is excited to have the opportunity to reconnect with this earlier piece of influential work&comma; and the project will even involve communities that took part in the original study&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The innovation in this research work&comma; when compared to the 1970s study&comma; is that we are taking a kaupapa M&amacr;ori approach&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Te W&amacr;hanga manager and project leader Dr Jessica Hutchings says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We want to get a sense of how homes and communities are working towards re-establishing te reo M&amacr;ori as a living language and normal means of communication in daily life&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The 20-month-long study will focus on households in eight communities that include&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>high and low populations of M&amacr;ori speakers<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>communities actively involved in language revitalisation<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>areas with a diverse urban M&amacr;ori population&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>The research will explore&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol>&NewLine;<li>Where and how much te reo M&amacr;ori is being used&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Who is using it and who they are using it with&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>What te reo M&amacr;ori is being used for&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Why it is being used in particular situations or not&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>What is needed to further support communities and wh&amacr;nau to normalise the use of te reo M&amacr;ori in homes and communities&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>When complete&comma; the results will inform funding and delivery of M&amacr;ori language programmes&comma; to ensure the best results for the language&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>The beginning of this project marks a significant milestone for He Puna Whakarauora&comma; the research arm of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo M&amacr;ori whose role it is to set the research agenda for M&amacr;ori Language Revitalisation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
Rosie Clarke

Rosie is the managing editor here at Multimedia Pty Ltd, working across School News New Zealand and School News Australia. She has spent 10+ years in B2B journalism, and has spent some time over the last couple of years teaching as a sessional academic. Feel free to contact her at any time with editorial or magazine content enquiries.

Recent Posts

Fewer students completing secondary school

Since 2015, fewer students are completing secondary school, defined as remaining enrolled in education until…

6 days ago

Rising demand for Indian language classes at school

As the country’s Indian population grows, so does demand for Indian languages like Hindi, Punjabi…

6 days ago

The Cambridge factor: how influential NZ schools hastened the demise of NCEA

By promoting alternate qualifications, some schools may have undermined public trust in NCEA, explains an…

6 days ago

Using Te Whare Tapa Whā in outdoor adventure programs

When young people immerse themselves in nature, they leave feeling physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually…

6 days ago

Bringing a school production to life

Theatre is much more than performance. Deep skills can be developed across multiple curriculum areas,…

6 days ago

Generative AI tools used frequently by interested primary teachers in NZ

NZCER found generative AI tools are frequently used to support teaching and learning in primary…

2 weeks ago