puff 354 Strengthening Language: Maori and Samoan

Strengthening language: some more thoughts on Maori and Samoan
Peter Cleave
March,2007

An earlier version of this paper was originally given at the Measina a Samoa 2000 conference in Apia, Samoa and this was later published as the title paper in The Nurturing Shield of 2000. In 2006 the Maori Language Commission, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo has been talking about comparisons and contrasts between language retention and transmission amongst the Polynesian languages including Maori.

Maori and Samoan are both spoken in Aotearoa/ New Zealand along with English which is, of course spoken in Samoa as well as Samoan. There are various sovereignty issues in both contexts. In Aotearoa/New Zealand the Maori minority in schools will become a majority in 2050 according to some projections (Dom 6.8.2000). Policy will no doubt reflect this shift.. Samoan is spoken by a majority in Samoa and a minority in New Zealand. It seems to be he case that an increasing number of younger Samoans communicate with one another in English both in Samoa and Aotearoa/New Zealand.

There may be comparable transitions with respect to language. The Year Eight examinations in Samoa might have a effect on the use of and the status of Samoan in the eyes of younger people in Samoa. With the wananga developments of he last decades it is possible for Maori students to be taught in Maori until they graduate from a tertiary. But still for many students the transition to high school entails a greater use of English.

Both Samoan and Maori are Polynesian languages. Is it the case that Melanesian languages are more adaptable, more eclectic ? If so does this pose different challenges for these language families?

Fetui and Williams (in Mugler and Lynch 1996) draw on the work of Kristiansen, Harwood and Giles (1991) to point to three things:

1 the social status of language
2 institutional support
3 demographic support

Samoan is the official state language of Samoa and in practice it is the first language of the country. On this basis Samoan in Samoa would seem to have a firmer status than Maori in New Zealand. On the other hand there may be a more extensive state apparatus in the Maori case and the situation of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo, the Maori Language Commission is interesting in many respects. It effectively represents a minority view across a broad spectrum. The greater scale of resources may sometimes work to nurture or shield the minority language.

The status of a language varies from group to group of speakers. The status of Samoan might differ between matai or chiefs who use the Samoan in a ceremonial way and students preparing for examinations in English. There might be similar differences of status between groups i Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Both Maori and Samoan are caught up in a survival situation. Such a position requires the language to e a nurturing shield. The speaking of the language gives- and does not take away- confidence. In Aotearoa- New Zealand Maori is sometimes referred to as Te Reo Rangatira, the language of chiefs. This accords the language with status and also looks to protect it, to shield te reo and give it a protected status.

This leads to the second point, institutional support. For the most part this comes from the educational sector. The use of television and radio to promulgate the use of language especially where there is state support is also important.

Samoa is not an affluent country. This means that of necessity institutional support of any kind is limited by comparison with Aotearoa/New Zealand. On the other hand Samoa is compact and tightly knit as a society, at least by comparison with New Zealand. Also there are powerful institutions outside the state such as the church. As a transmission vehicle for the Samoan language the church in Samoa and in Aotearoa/New Zealand is very important.

Te Puni Kokiri and Te Mangai Paho are very useful institutional supports. The former helps with analysis and suggestions as to how to implement language policies and the latter with broadcasting.

Most important are the indigenous institutional supports. For example the way in which Maori is spoken at ceremonial gatherings such as the Poukai or round of meetings held by the King Movement on a annual basis offers significant support.

The three part process involving status, institutional and demographic matters misses some points. It has bee suggested that there is a difference between cognitive academic language proficiency, CALP and basic interpersonal skills, BICS, the former involving abstract problem solving and the latter contextual cues. According to this way of thinking unless the gap between these is minimised and achievable to speakers the language will have difficulties surviving. In a competitive situation the language preferred for abstract thinking will be the winner and this usually means that English prevails.

When considering the suggested distinction between CALP and BICS the Melanesian- Polynesian distinction suggested earlier also comes to mind. Is there a sense in which both languages are
, at present, symbolic?

Another point missed in the three part discussion above is corpus development and relexification. As Fenton and Moon in Cleave (2000) suggest there are important issues here.

Media including the use of the internet may also be of critical importance in language retention. Across Polynesia radio seems to be popular but other media are not as consistently found.

Intervention points may differ. Aoga are important but not, or at least not yet as important as kohanga reo. Should Te Taura Whiri be copied in Samoa? It might well be asked what constitutes an effective language intervention.

Maori and Samoan are both more than languages. Are they languages of emotional rescue? Do they each nurture and shield a culture?

Are both languages affected by language anxiety. Zaan suggests that the confidence of students learning Welsh is helped by their understanding of grammar. A second language is always asked to explain itself.

Is there a Polynesian style of learning? If so is such a style encouraged in both the Samoa and the Maori cases?

Would it be worth studying the comparisons and contrasts between iwi and Samoans in Samoa and elsewhere? For example, the Tuhoe might be closer in comparison to Samoans in Samoa with respect to language use while the Ngati Kahungungu or Ngai Tahu might be more similar to Samoans in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In the former comparison there might be more native speakers in both places and in the second there might be fewer.

The two languages along with English are found in educational systems that are very similar in Samoa and Aotearoa/New Zealand. While it might be too much to suggest that the Samoan educational system is an extension of he New Zealand system there is no question that they are similarly modelled and that a lot of advice is taken from New Zealand experts.

There is also the question of the Treaty of Waitangi. What difference have the policies and practices put into place with respect to the Treaty made to the situation in Aotearoa/New Zealand as compared to Samoa? How are aid strategies in Samoa affecting language retention and development?

Is there a profitable future in the comparison and contrast of Maori and Samoan or do Welsh and Hawaian yield more interesting insights when compared with Maori o Samoan?

Bibliography,
Cleave, P 2000 Ka hao te kupenga hiko, He Tuhinga aronui; the Journal of Maori Writing Ed Moon, P
Cleave, P 2000 Fields of light, Fields of pain: small group work in social work education in Aotearoa/ New Zealand in He Tuhinga Aronui; the Journal of Maori writings, Moon, P Vol 4 No 2 October
Cleave, P and Khulmann C 2000 Language and mutual aid in The Changing Field: a Journal of Social Change, Issue 2, Campus Press, Napier
Cummins, J 1984 Wanted; A theoretical framework for relating language proficiency to academic achievement among bilingual students, in C Rivera (ed) Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement Clevedon:Multilingual matters
Cummins J 1996 Negotiating Identities; education for empowerment in a diverse society Ontario: Canadian Association for Bilingual Education
Fetui, V and Maalaki-Williams, A. M Introduction to the Samoan language programme in New Zealand in Mugler and Lynch
Mugler, France and Lynch, John 1996 Pacific Languages in Education, Institute of Pacific Studies, Suva
Mulitalo- Lautaa, P 2000 Fa'asamoa and social work within the New Zealand Context Dunmore Press, Palmerston NorthThe Nurturing Shield Book
Webster, Steven, 1998 Patrons of Maori Culture: power, theory and ideology in the Maori Renaissance, Otago University Press
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