Ka Mau te Wehi!

Environment that promotes the use of te reo Māori

Te reo Māori is now heard and spoken more widely. Using te reo Māori for genuine communication, not only during the te reo Māori lesson but throughout the day, will enhance motivation and demonstrate that te reo Māori is a living, meaningful language. Kaiako who are themselves learners of te reo Māori could begin by using te reo for greetings, farewells, calling the roll, and saying the date each day. As kaiako and ākonga progress through the units and tasks, you will encounter and begin to use other words and phrases that have special appeal or relevance for you.

Integrating te reo Māori into other subject areas wherever possible is particularly valuable, as is giving positive feedback in Māori when learners speak Māori spontaneously, either in or outside the classroom. Another way to support learning is to have a range of te reo Māori books, magazines, and online content available in the classroom as well as in the school library.

Ākonga should also be alerted to other opportunities to hear and speak te reo Māori outside the school, for example by attending hui (where appropriate), watching Whakaata Māori, and visiting Māori art exhibitions and kapa haka performances.

Take an inclusive approach

Avoid using Māori-speaking students to explain grammar points or engage in any formal language teaching.

Be sensitive to the fact that many Māori students have not had exposure to te reo Māori. Take care to avoid accentuating any feelings of inadequacy in these students.

Errors, risk taking, and translation

Ākonga need to know early on that mistakes and errors are a natural and inevitable part of learning another language. Those who are prepared to take risks and learn from their mistakes will make better progress than those who delay speaking because they are afraid of getting things wrong. Creating a relaxed, supportive environment where ākonga feel able to experiment with new language forms is crucial. In an atmosphere of trust, there is room for laughter, which is a good way of relieving tension, provided that ākonga are laughing with, and not at, others.

Translation is just one of many ways of conveying meaning. It has a place in the Māori language classroom, especially for clarifying meaning quickly when other methods are impractical. This should be done while encouraging less dependence on the English language. It is preferable to promote the development and use of strategies such as guessing from context, making links to prior knowledge, using visual cues, looking at word parts, and recalling past experiences with the language item in question. By the time they reach year 7, ākonga have had a great deal of experience using these strategies, particularly in their reading. Inferring meaning in another language is an extension of these skills.

Promoting autonomous language learning

Translation is just one of many ways of conveying meaning. It has a place in the Māori language classroom, especially for clarifying meaning quickly when other methods are impractical. Routine use of translation at the expense of deductive strategies, however, tends to encourage dependence on English. It is preferable to promote the development and use of strategies such as guessing from context, making links to prior knowledge, using visual cues, looking at word parts, and recalling past experiences with the language item in question. By the time they reach Year 7, learners have had a great deal of experience using these strategies, particularly in their reading. Inferring meaning in another language is an extension of these skills.

Pronunciation guide

There are five vowels and ten consonant sounds in the Māori alphabet. You can listen to their sounds by clicking on the letters in the list below.

• five vowels: a, e, i, o, u
• eight consonants: h, k, m n, p, r, t, w
• two digraphs (two letters that combine to form one sound): wh, ng

Vowels

While there are five vowels, combinations of vowels (diphthongs) are common. You should regard the set of vowel sounds as a much larger group than simply the five vowels themselves.

A vowel can be long or short. A long sound is shown by a macron (a bar appearing over a vowel to indicate it is lengthened during pronunciation: e.g. ‘ā’ as in motokā). Orthographic conventions advise when a macron is used.

Vowels are pronounced as follows:

Consonants

The Māori language doesn’t have consonant clusters (a group or sequence of consonants that appear together in a syllable without a vowel between them).

Consonants are mainly pronounced as they are in English. The exceptions being:

T

It varies depending on which vowel appears after it. When succeeded by an ‘a’, ‘e’ or ‘o’, it is pronounced with little or no sibiliant(s) sound.

When followed by an ‘i’ or ‘u’, it includes a slight sibilant sound, but not nearly as much as an English ‘t’.

R

Commonly called a ‘rolled’ or ‘liquid’ r. If you’re able to imitate the purring sound of a cat, you’ll know exactly what’s required to pronounce the consonant correctly. Failing this, the sound you should aim for is something similar to an English ‘d’ – but softer.

Digraphs

The ‘ng’ digraph (representing the combined sound of two consonants) is pronounced as it sounds in the English word ‘singer'. A common mistake is to pronounce it as it appears in the word ‘finger’.

The ‘wh’ digraph is usually pronounced as an English ‘ f’ sound.

Using the video clips

Video clips are a key part of the resource, and activities based on the video clips are part of each unit. The clips and activities support and guide you in working with your ākonga.

Each video scenario is presented in te reo Māori and has a transcript that has an English translation. Te reo Māori transcripts of the videos use the colloquial language of everyday conversation, and the English translations capture the sense of the conversations. Thus, they are colloquial, not literal, translations.

Each activity has hyperlinks to the video clips, worksheets, waiata lyrics and translations, and transcripts of the videos.

Some worksheets have been produced as Word documents, so you can adapt them for your class.

Your ākonga will need an exercise book for notes and activities. This is referred to as their "Wehi book".

Recommended lesson procedure using Ka Mau Te Wehi!

1. Predict and discuss the type of language and content likely to be in the video content from the title of the video scenario.
   
   For example, through guided discussion, ākonga might predict that Unit 1 will introduce:

• characters who are likely to be of similar age to themselves
• greetings
• pronunciation guides and/or alphabet
• aspects of tikanga (Māori culture).
  
  As ākonga progress through the units, they will be able to use clues from the storyline to predict the likely language and content of subsequent units.

2. View the video scenario.
3. Discuss the video scenario. Talk about what happened and what you think the characters are saying. In the case of the video for Unit 1 Scene 1, for example, ākonga will probably guess that the characters are greeting each other and, since the scene is at the breakfast table, that it could be a specific morning greeting. The context will also give a clue that the boys are being invited to sit down and eat.
4. View the video a second time. During and after the second viewing, confirm or modify the ākonga’s initial interpretations.
5. Check ākonga’s interpretation against the translation. Praise successful attempts and guide the ākonga to rethink any misconceptions. Direct translation may be necessary at this point for any parts that remain unclear.
6. Form groups with the same number of ākonga in them as there are actors in the scene.
7. Read and act out the script. To maximise cooperation and encourage memorising new languages, give each group only one copy of the script. Alternatively, ākonga who are confident enough to recreate the scene without the aid of the script should be encouraged to do so.
8. Watch He kōrero whakamārama and discuss the reo and tikanga explanations.
9. Work through the activities at a pace to suit your ākonga. Promote maximum use of te reo Māori. In classes where Māori-speaking ākonga are present, encourage them to add further relevant words and phrases, without translation. Give praise in te reo Māori using kia ora! and other expressions introduced in later units.
10. Talk about how the new language items could be used in everyday situations in the classroom, playground, and at home. Some suggestions are given in the teachers’ notes for each unit of work. Kaiako and ākonga will find many opportunities during the day to use additional words, phrases, and idioms.
11. Use te reo Māori in everyday situations and praise learners for doing so. Enlist the cooperation of the ākonga to look for opportunities to use te reo Māori in other curriculum areas as well.
12. Revisit activities as often as necessary to consolidate learning.

Note: The above procedure is recommended for all units. Kaiako should aim to vary the pace and amount of repetition according to the needs of their ākonga. In most classes, there will be a wide range of levels of prior knowledge. This should not be seen as a problem but rather as a valuable opportunity to put peer scaffolding into practice.

The following glossary contains content words and phrases that occur throughout the video scenarios. The list does not include the names of the characters or function words such as; te, ngā, he, ka, i, tētahi, ētahi. 

Where a word is pronounced in more than one way by the characters, e.g. āhea, āwhea, both spellings are provided. 

The English meanings given relate to how each word or phrase has been used in the content of the scenarios.