New Zealand: Landmark year for language learning

[Harold Schiffman]

Landmark year for language learningThursday, 21 February 2008, 2:32 pm
Human Rights CommissionMedia Release21 February 2008
Landmark year for language learning
Last year was a landmark year for languages in New Zealand andprovides a strong foundation for further progress says Race RelationsCommissioner Joris de Bres. Mr de Bres will release a review oflanguage diversity at the launch of the International Year ofLanguages at Te Papa on 21 February. The review forms part of theannual review of Race Relations which will be published in March.
The review notes a number of key milestones in 2007:- Learning languages became a core learning area in the New Zealand curriculum- Curricula were completed for New Zealand Sign Language, Māori inmainstream schools, Vagahau Niue and Tongan- A survey of the health of the Māori Language showed improvements- The Māori Language Commission and the Māori Language Act turnedtwenty, and a review of the Māori Language Strategy was initiated- New community language resources were released for Cook IslandMāori, Vagahau Niue and Gagana Tokelau- BNZ and National Bank ATMs went multilingual- A national language policy framework was released
Mr de Bres said that last year's achievements provided a solidfoundation for further progress in the next decade, and that theInternational Year of Languages offered a unique opportunity todevelop a national languages strategy. He said, "Providingopportunities for language learning and retention is vital for NewZealand's social, cultural and economic wellbeing, and is therefore amatter of pressing public policy.  "New Zealand is a world leader inindigenous language regeneration, and also has a critical global roleto play in the preservation of Pacific languages, particularly thosethat fall within the "New Zealand realm", which includes Niue, theCook Islands and Tokelau."
The New Zealand Diversity Action Programme's Language PolicyStatement, released at the end of last year, called for strategies tobe refreshed or developed for English, Māori, NZ Sign Language,Pacific languages, community and heritage languages and internationallanguages, in the home, the community, education, public services,business and broadcasting. Mr de Bres said, "At present there are nostrategies for most of these languages and sectors, and they would allbenefit from a coordinated approach."
For a copy of the Language review in the Race Relations report, clickhere: http://www.hrc.co.nz/home/hrc/newsandissues/landmarkyearforlanguagelearning.php
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00266.htm
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