The teaching, learning and testing of te reo Māori in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Tihema, Ngaire L. A.

The teaching, learning and testing of te reo Māori in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand

dc.contributor.advisor	Whaanga, Hēmi
dc.contributor.advisor	Nock, Sophie
dc.contributor.advisor	Fester, Anthea Marcelle
dc.contributor.author	Tihema, Ngaire L. A.
dc.date.accessioned	2018-07-06T00:44:42Z
dc.date.available	2018-07-06T00:44:42Z
dc.date.issued	2018
dc.date.updated	2018-05-13T23:35:36Z
dc.description.abstract	Additional language teaching and learning is fraught with problems the world over and Aotearoa/New Zealand is not immune to these issues. This doctoral research investigates current practices of teaching and learning te reo Māori (the Māori language) as an additional language in tertiary educational institutions and explores the appropriacy of measuring the language proficiency of speakers and learners of te reo Māori by using a variation of the C-test principle. The first chapter (Chapter One) sets the context by providing an overview of post-colonial historical events in Aotearoa/New Zealand that led to a language shift which would result in many Māori learning te reo Māori as a second language. The literature review (Chapter Two) provides an historical overview of additional language teaching methods and approaches since the 18th century and critiques some language teaching methods/approaches – found to be outdated, teacher-centred and/or too limited in scope – that are currently used to teach the Māori language in tertiary institutions. The next two chapters report on responses from a questionnaire-based survey (Chapter Three) and semi-structured interviews (Chapter Four) with tertiary teachers of te reo Māori, which found that most teachers are largely untrained and unqualified in the area of additional language teaching and learning. The chapter that follows (Chapter Five) provides an analysis of a textbook series – reported to be the most widely used Māori language resources in tertiary institutions – which was found to be largely influenced by an eclectic approach to textbook design that includes grammar translation and audiolingual methods. For the next chapter (Chapter Six), the development of a particular type of Māori language proficiency test (variant C-test) is discussed, along with the findings and results of its trial, which was done, firstly, with a sample of highly proficient speakers of te reo and, secondly, with a small sample of second language learners of te reo, prior to a pilot of the test which was conducted with a second sample of tertiary learners of te reo Māori. While analyses of test scores reveal that satisfactory reliability coefficients were obtained, more research is required, not only to investigate the validity of this particular C-test variant, but also to further explore the appropriacy of applying the (variant) C-test principle to measuring general Māori language proficiency. This chapter (Chapter Six) concludes with a discussion of the questionnaire responses about the educational backgrounds, language backgrounds, motivations and attitudes of the samples of learners, approximately half of whom are additional language learners and the other half of whom have been raised with te reo Māori as (one of) their main language. An overview of the research findings and its limitations is provided in the final chapter (Chapter Seven), along with potential contributions of the research and further recommendations for future research. The challenge that each issue raised in this thesis places on teachers, students and the revitalisation movement of te reo Māori in tertiary institutions, is one which needs to be further explored and addressed.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation	Tihema, N. L. A. (2018). The teaching, learning and testing of te reo Māori in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/11920	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10289/11920
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	The University of Waikato
dc.rights	All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subject	tertiary educational institutions
dc.subject	additional language teaching and learning
dc.subject	methods/approaches
dc.subject	questionnaire-based survey
dc.subject	semi-structured interview
dc.subject	language textbook analysis
dc.subject	language proficiency test
dc.subject	C-test variant
dc.title	The teaching, learning and testing of te reo Māori in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand
dc.type	Thesis
pubs.place-of-publication	Hamilton, New Zealand	en_NZ
thesis.degree.grantor	The University of Waikato
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)