Māori language resources and Māori initiatives for teaching and learning te reo Māori

Abstract

As the most southerly member of the Polynesian languages, a sub-group of the widespread Austronesian language family (Harlow, 2007), te reo Māori has been the subject of substantial analysis, documentation, and analyses of its structure since first contact with Captain Cook in 1769 (Whaanga & Greensill, 2014). The history, trials and tribulations of te reo Māori in Aotearoa have been well documented (see, for example, Reedy, 2000; Spolsky, 2005; Waitangi Tribunal, 1986, 2011). The various reasons for the language’s decline has been an area of ongoing debate and critique by academics, researchers, linguists, language activists, parliamentarians and Māori in recent times (see, for example, Bauer, 2008; Benton, 2015; Higgins, Rewi, & Olsen-Reeder, 2014; Rata, 2007; Winitana, 2011).