Understanding the use of Māori and English in dual language picturebooks through a sociolinguistic lens

Abstract

In this presentation I will explore the use of te reo Māori in English text in dual language picturebooks published in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A series of studies examining the frequency of Māori loanwords in children’s picturebooks (Daly 2007; Daly 2008; Macdonald & Daly, 2013) are presented showing that when books came out of a publishing company with a commitment to publishing Māori and Pasifika stories, the frequency of loanwords was much higher than in other contexts; but even when a survey of all picturebooks published in New Zealand between 1995 and 2005 was conducted, the frequency of loanwords was much higher than in previous studies of comparable literature, such as the New Zealand school journal (Macalister, 1999). Very few dual language picturebooks featuring Māori and English are produced in New Zealand (Daly 2016a; Daly 2016b). The synchronous or sequential format of having separate books for each language seems to be favoured. But it is in the parallel dual language format (where both languages are present in a single book) that the relative status of the two languages is evident. In the second part of the presentation the layout and comparative presentation of the two languages are explored in terms of size of font and order of languages, using a Linguistic Landscape framework (Landry & Bourhis, 1997). These uses of two languages within New Zealand children’s literature (both interlingual and dual language) are examined and considered in terms of Bell’s (1984) theory of Audience Design, considering whether writers and publishers of such literature are now catering for a wider and more bilingual audience and whether publishing such linguistically diverse material such linguistically diverse picturebooks may be contributing to the creation of a more bilingual society.