Issues in testing the proficiency of learners of indigenous languages: An example relating to young learners of Māori

Abstract

In 1999 the New Zealand Ministry of Education commissioned the authors to develop and trial a Māori language proficiency test. The test was to be appropriate for students in Year 5 of schooling (aged 9/10) who were being educated wholly, or in part, through the medium of Māori language. In this paper, we discuss the development and trialling of that proficiency test, focusing on the problems we experienced as well as on the test itself and on the ways in which it can be further developed. We also consider the implications of this project for the development of proficiency tests for other indigenous languages.