New Perspectives in Science Education

Maori is the indigenous language of New Zealand. It has been in contact with and influenced by English for around 200 years. Early records suggest that Maori was the dominant language of New Zealand for some time after colonization in the mid-19th century. From the late 1850s the New Zealand population began to reweight from being mainly Maori to being mainly non-Maori. Urban migration in the 1930s and 1950s saw further decline in the Maori language. English became the language of economic power and Maori homes shifted to use English. This trend continued until the early 1980s when Maori activists supported Maori as a right under the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori is now taught in bilingual and Maori-only schools, it is an optional language in the legal system, it is commonly found in signage, and in the media. Since 1987, Maori has been legislated as an official language, recognized in specified situations such as Parliament and the courts. The purpose of the article is to consider the features of Maori language immersion and bilingual education programs in New Zealand in the historical context. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: analysis of trends in the language situation and language policy in relation to the revival of the Maori language and culture, consideration of the problems of interaction of the indigenous Maori language in the conditions of bilingualism. This article focuses on the history of the decline of the Maori language and describes measures to revive the Maori language that were initially focused on education.

Keywords: New Zealand, Maori, bilingual education.