<div dir="ltr"><h1> Bill sparks debate on languages in schools </h1> <div class="gmail-publish"> 15 Jan, 2018 5:00am <div class="gmail-read-time"> <span class="gmail-clock-pic gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-clock-icon-9e9f9f"></span> 5 minutes to read </div> </div> <div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-video-video-player"> <div style="display:block;max-width:100%"> <div class="gmail-video-wrapper" style="padding-top:56.25%"> </div></div></div><div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-full gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-article-header" id="gmail-fmJuYa1941F6Eq"><header class="gmail-article-header gmail-hed-first gmail-video-lead"><figure><div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-video-video-player"><div style="display:block;max-width:100%"><div class="gmail-video-wrapper" style="padding-top:56.25%"> </div> </div> <figcaption class="gmail-closed"> <span class="gmail-caption gmail-credit gmail-col-sm-12 gmail-under-image">Former education Minister Nikki Kaye’s launching a new bill, with the aim of sparking a national debate on the issue.</span> </figcaption> </div> </figure> </header> </div> <div class="gmail-wrapper gmail-clearfix gmail-full gmail-pb-feature gmail-pb-layout-item gmail-pb-f-article-slimline-byline" id="gmail-f0Paraf941F6Eq"> <div class="gmail-byline gmail-bio-with-share gmail-has-author"> <div class="gmail-author-name"> <span class="gmail-author gmail-author-space"> <div class="gmail-image-container"><img class="gmail-author-img" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/nzme/a84e232b-8934-4674-81f3-983f8b1e99d9.png" alt="Simon Collins"></div> <div class="gmail-bio-text"> <span class="gmail-author"> <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/simon-collins/"> By: <span class="gmail-section-national-color gmail-author-title">Simon Collins</span> </a> </span> <div class="gmail-author-bio">Education reporter, NZ Herald</div> <a class="gmail-author-attr" href="mailto:simon.collins@nzherald.co.nz">simon.collins@nzherald.co.nz</a> </div></span> </div> <div class="gmail-byline-shares-wrapper"> <div class="gmail-byline-shares"> <div class="gmail-utility-tools"> </div> <div class="gmail-social-tools"> <a class="email gmail-tool gmail-first gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-email-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-facebook gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-facebook-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-twitter gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-twitter-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-share-container gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-share-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><a class="gmail-bookmark gmail-tool gmail-last gmail-not-alone gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-bookmark-icon gmail-section-national" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><div class="gmail-hidden-shares extra-shares"> <div class="extra-share-wrapper"> <div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-facebook gmail-tool gmail-first gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-facebook-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-twitter gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-twitter-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="email gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-email-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-linkedin gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-linkedin-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-google-plus gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-googleplus-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-whatsapp gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-whatsapp-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-pinterest gmail-tool gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-pinterest-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div><div class="gmail-icon-wrapper"> <a class="gmail-reddit gmail-tool gmail-last gmail-share-button gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-reddit-icon" tabindex="_tbidx_"> </a><span class="gmail-icon-name"></span> </div> </div> <span class="gmail-share-close gmail-svg-bg gmail-svg-close-icon-white"></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="element element-paragraph">
Should every Kiwi child learn a second language? The National Party is
saying 'yes' in a controversial new private member's bill.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
National's education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye will release a draft bill
today that would require every primary and intermediate school to offer
at least one second language from a list of at least 10 "national
priority languages".</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> She wants to spark a national debate about how to change New Zealand's monolingual culture. Only <a href="http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE8021#" target="_blank">19 per cent</a>
of New Zealanders in the 2013 Census could speak more than one
language, including only 4 per cent who spoke our second official
language, Māori.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> <strong>READ MORE: <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11959402" target="_blank">Monolingual no more: kids lead the way</a></strong></p> <div class="gmail-ad-container gmail-has-text gmail-max-width-300 gmail-max-width-300" style="max-width:300px"> <div class="gmail-ad-text-before">Advertisement</div> <div id="gmail-ContentRect" class="gmail-pb-ad-container gmail-max-width-300 gmail-min-height-250 gmail-max-width-300" style="width:300px;height:250px;min-height:250px;max-width:300px"> </div> <div class="gmail-ad-contact-text"><a href="http://advertising.nzme.co.nz/">Advertise with NZME.</a></div> </div> <p class="element element-paragraph"> "The case for languages is really clear around cognitive ability," she said.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
"We need to legislate for this, it's not an optional thing to provide
that access to languages, and that is a big shift as a country."</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> Her bill, which would give legal teeth to a National Party policy <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11912050" target="_blank">unveiled in the party's election campaign opening</a> last August, would dramatically ramp up what is already a trend towards offering more languages since a <a href="http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum#collapsible13" target="_blank">revised school curriculum</a> in 2007 said schools should be "working towards" offering languages in Years 7 to 10.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> The proportion of all primary and intermediate students learning a second language, in addition to English and Māori, has <a href="https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/student-numbers/subject-enrolment" target="_blank">more than doubled</a> from 13 per cent in the year 2000 to 29 per cent in 2016.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph">
At least some study of te reo Māori has also become almost universal,
increasing from 79 per cent of all primary and intermediate students in
2000 to 95 per cent.</p> <p class="element element-paragraph"> However
the number studying foreign languages in secondary schools has dropped
from 24 per cent of students in 2000 to 19 per cent.</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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