CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington WHAKAWHANAUNGATANGA A-REO: AN INDIGENOUS GROUNDED THEORY FOR THE REVITALIZATION OF MĀORI LANGUAGE SPEECH COMMUNITIES BY EWAN JAMES POHE A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington (2012) Abstract This study focuses on the role of adult Māori language acquisition in the revitalization of the Māori language. Māori language transmission is now primarily dependent on transmission through educational institutions. The objective of Māori language revitalization is to re-establish intergenerational language transmission. Language shift means that intergenerational language transmission of the Māori language has effectively ceased in Māori homes and communities. This means Māori once again becomes the primary language spoken in the home, neighbourhood and community domains. This is a report of a grounded study of an adult cohort of novice language learners. A group of mainly Māori who joined a Te Ataarangi total immersion programme where they were immersed in both the Māori language and the culture over a three year period. I was a participant observer of the cohort and collected data in the form of field notes and interviews on the experiences of its members. Following classical Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) (Glaser 2002), I used constant comparative analysis of incidents to iteratively analyse the data and evolve the conceptual framework. The central finding of this study is the process of whakawhanaungatanga a-reo. I found that the shared objective in acquiring the Māori language for the cohort was to be able to use the language appropriately in ordinary communicative situations. The way their objective was met is represented in a three-stage process of whakawhanaungatanga a-reo. Whakawhanaungatanga a-reo is a process by which the cohort evolves from manene, to ako ngātahi and finally to a whānau ā-reo. At the manene stage, a novice learner is in a total immersion learning environment, their main inhibitor is whakamā. Whakamā is ameliorated by the tenet of ngākau māhaki which is an attitude of tolerance and caring propagated throughout the group. Ngākau māhaki facilitated trust relationships within the group. Ako ngātahi is the second stage of the process of whakawhanaungatanga a-reo. By the ako ngātahi stage, the Māori language was the default language of use amongst i the class members. Building on the level of trust built between the group’s members developed at the manene stage meant that they felt comfortable enough to mahi tahi (cooperate) and interact intensively in class learning activities. These interactions were all mediated using the Māori language as the primary language of communication. Whānau a-reo is the last stage of the whakawhanaunga a-reo process. By attending wānanga with other classes, often in different regions of New Zealand, relationships between the groups continues to develop until finally the group transitions into a whānau a-reo. Learners who reach this point are confident to continue practising the language outside of the classroom environment with members of other Māori speaking communities; such learners are the basis of language revitalization. ii Mihimihi Ko ahau tēnei e kake ake ana, e piki ake ana i te ara a Tawhaki kia tikina mai te kete hei painga mō tōku iwi. Arā noa atu ngā tāngata i poipoi i ahau i ēnei tau kua hipa ake nei. Mokori anō kia tuku maioha atu ki te hunga e whai ake nei. Ki tō mātou nei pouako, ki a Hēnare Francis Ngaia, he kura tangata, e kore e hokia. Mei kore ake i te ngākau mahaki o ngā momo pouako pēnā anō i a koe kua kore te reo Māori i pēnei rawa te ora i ēnei rā, ā haere ake nei. Ki tōku whānau whānui o Te Ataarangi. Nā Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira rāua ko Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi te kākano i whakatō, i whakatipu, kia hua mai ai tēnei mea e kīia ana ko Te Ataarangi. Taka rawa iho ki a mātou o Te Kāinga i tae manene atu mātou, ā, i runga i te werawera o te rae i whakawhitia ki te iwi ora. Ki te whānau o Te Kawa a Māui, ka mihi. Kei ōku kaiārahi ko Ahorangi Rāwinia Higgins he tautōhito i ngā mahi whakarauora i te reo Māori, kōrua ko Tākuta Ocean Mercier he mātanga i tēnei mea te tuhituhi kia nahanaha, kia arotau te tuhinga nei, me mihi ka tika. Tena anō kōrua i pānui ana i aku nei tini kupu kia eke ki te taumata e tika ana. Nōku te whiwhi i ō kōrua pūkenga, i ō kōrua pūmanawa me tō kōrua manawanui. Mei kore ake kōrua kua kore tēnei tuhinga i eke, otirā, ko ngā mea e noho hapa ana, nōku tonu ēnei. Tae atu ki tōku whānau whānui o Te Herenga Waka, me he marae tūturu nōku. Ko Te Herenga Waka tōku nei whakaruruhau i te wā o te mātaotao, He mea whāngai i ahau ā- wairua, ā-ngākau, ā-tinana. Kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. Kia tahuri atu ahau ki tōku whānau ake. Ki tōku hoa kahurangi, ki a Sue, ko koe tērā i raupī mai, i raupā mai i te ao, i te pō, hei taituarā ki tō tāua whānau. Ki āku tamāhine, ki ngā tau o taku ate, ki a Hōriana rāua ko Anahera, nā kōrua anō ahau i whakakipakipa kia ngana atu ki tēnei ara tāpokopoko. Ko te pae tāwhiti ia, mei kore kōrua e hiahia ki te whai atu i tēnei mea te tohu kairangi hei ō kōrua wā. iii iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... i MIHIMIHI ........................................................................................................................ iii CHAPTER ONE: MĀORI LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION .................................... 1 Is the language really in trouble? ..................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Māori language ................................................................................. 4 Normalising the Māori language ...................................................................................... 6 Researcher background .................................................................................................... 7 Te Kāinga study overview .............................................................................................. 10 Methodology overview .................................................................................................. 11 Conceptual framework of Whakawhanaungatanga a-reo .............................................. 12 Chapter prēcis ................................................................................................................ 13 Delimitations .................................................................................................................. 14 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE SURVEY ................................................................ 17 Language contact ........................................................................................................... 17 Ramifications of language loss ...................................................................................... 21 Relationship between language and community identity .............................................. 21 Reversing language shift ................................................................................................ 23 Māori awareness of shift ................................................................................................ 24 Intergenerational transmission ....................................................................................... 25 Steps in reversing language shift .................................................................................... 26 Revitalization ................................................................................................................. 27 v Re-establish communities of speakers ........................................................................... 29 Second language acquisition theory ............................................................................... 30 The natural approach ...................................................................................................... 30 Communicative competence .......................................................................................... 31 Factors motivating second language acquisition ........................................................... 31 Cultural identity ............................................................................................................. 32 Factors inhibiting language acquisition ......................................................................... 32 The problem of language institutionalisation ................................................................. 33 The problem of language attrition .................................................................................. 33 Joining a speech community .......................................................................................... 34 Te Whanake .................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 37 Indigenous Māori research paradigm ............................................................................