Richard Benton

The Maori language in New Zealand education

Abstract The paper discusses the present position of the Maori language in New Zealand, its decline and revival in recent history, its current status in the educational system, and the challenges it faces in the years ahead. Among the issues raised are the implications of multiculturalism versus biculturalism in state policy, the role of the school in the maintenance and revival of an ethnic language; the balance between linguistic cultural elements in the programmes it designs towards this end; the necessity of community involvement; and the total restructuring of the syllabus that becomes necessary in bilingual education, not merely in language and language‐related subjects but in other subjects also.

Initial Literacy Teaching: A Cautionary Tale.

New Zealand and Australia are the only countries in Southeast Asia where the bulk of the population speak English as their first (and usually their only) language. Problems of teaching literacy in English in these countries are, therefore, rather different from those encountered in other parts of Southeast Asia and the Island Pacific. For the indigenous peoples of both countries however, learning a second language has become almost synonymous with schooling for those children who come from homes or communities where the local vernacular is still used. Children of migrants from non-English speaking countries also may find themselves in a similar situation.