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Some of New Zealand’s official
languages are Te reo Māori and NZSL (New Zealand
Sign Language). Because of its widespread use, the
de facto official language of New Zealand is
English. It is also the medium for learning and
teaching in most of the country’s schools. Due to
these reasons, special mention is given these three
languages in The New Zealand Curriculum.
Native to Aotearoa New Zealand is Te reo Māori. It
is a treasured thing or taonga (Maori) acknowledged
under the Treaty of Waitangi, a principal source of
the country’s identity and self-knowledge, and an
official language. |
By using and understanding Te reo Māori, there is an
increased awareness for New Zealanders as to the role played
by the native language and culture in asserting and defining
their point of difference in the global world.
By studying te reo and becoming more and more intimate with
tikanga (Maori customs and traditions), students of Māori
strengthen their native identities, while those of non-Māori
heritage travel towards shared ethnic understandings. All
who study Te reo Māori aid in securing its future as a
dynamic, living, and rich language. As they find out more
about it, they come to treasure that diversity is
fundamental to unity.
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By studying Te reo Māori, students are capable of
participating with confidence and understanding in
circumstances where Maorui te reo and tikanga
prevail and integrating cultural and language
sympathies into their lives. They are also able to
strengthen the identity of Aotearoa New Zealand
internationally as well as widen their employment
and entrepreneurial choices to include work in an
always-increasing scope of legal, social, business,
educational, and professional circumstances. NZSL is
unique to New Zealand and it is a comprehensive
language which is visual-nonverbal with its own
vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. Like
most signed languages, it makes use of the hands,
the rest of the body, and facial gestures (including
mouth patterns) to convey meaning and the eyes to
comprehend meaning. As with any language, it is able
to communicate a countless number of thoughts. |
Person to person interaction is especially crucial in NZSL
since it has no written variant. There are, nevertheless,
notational systems that are employed for putting down signs
in writing.
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New Zealand’s Deaf community primarily employs NZSL
and those associated somehow with this group, such
as non-deaf people who have relatives who are Deaf
or people (like interpreters) who come in direct
contact with Deaf people. Studying New Zealand Sign
Language can be an enriching and positive experience
for both hearing and deaf people of whatever age. By
studying NZSL, Deaf children and hearing children
with parents who are Deaf arrive at a sense of
belonging in the community of the Deaf. For non-deaf
students who want to learn another language, New
Zealand Sign Language may be given as another
selection beside the languages which are spoken and
are available at their school. |
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In these cases, learning institutions need to confer with
their Deaf communities and make sure that, whenever
possible, students have access to role models who are Deaf
and have NZSL as their primary language. Students need to
have chances for sustained interactions with other NZSL
users, and they must be exposed to role models of the
language in a mixture of situations.
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