The Value of Te Reo Māori

In our recent deliberations regarding research and the Māori language, we identified three major questions facing the life of the language. The first concerns "how do we increase the number of people speaking the Māori language?". The second question is 'how do increase our understanding of fluency in the Māori language and increase the number of people achieving fluency?" The final question, and the one that is less well researched is "what is the value of the Māori language?" This is vitally important question which, if addressed properly I feel, will bring even more energy into the revitalisation of our language. As a response to this question of the value of the Māori language, I offer the following ideas: - The contribution of the Māori language to the construction and articulation of identity. This leads to feelings of empowerment and mana leading to social cohesion. This is the case for the individual Māori person who is building a sense of their own identity. It is also the case for general New Zealand society/culture which seeks distinctive 'identity markers' which distinguish us on the world stage from other nations, peoples and communities. (eg Pōkarekare ana, haka, placenames, Aotearoa etc) - The value of the Māori language expressed through the benefits of bilingualism. These include increased cognitive abilities and attributes, increased memory capability, increased qualities of articulation and expressiveness and increased dimensionality of meaning. Bilingualism and multilingualism is a worldwide phenomenona. Unfortunately we have inherited a stoic monolingualism from our British forebears. The ability to express oneself in two languages significantly broadens a person's perception and understanding of life. This leads to the third value I suggest: - The value of the Māori language expressed as a vehicle of worldview, an avenue into a way of thinking, explaining and experiencing life which offers benefits. I feel that this is ultimately the value of the Māori language to us today. The point of bilingualism is not so that we may say precisely the same thing in two languages but that we may possess a variety of 'lenses' by which to view our world, to understand life, alternative ways of thinking about issues and opportunities presented by life.

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