21DSG24
Doctoral Thesis
Project commenced:Michael Taiapa (Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi), Waikato University
Since the 1950s, the advancements in second language acquisition and grammar theories in English language studies has had a profound impact on its own description that has made it less syntactically-driven and more communicatively-oriented. This has the potential to influence language description moving it from a purely structurally-focused orientation to a more semantically-focused one that is more suited to the pedagogic context.
Nevertheless, in the case of the Māori language, its description continues to be dominated by structural linguistics that was prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries, making no concessions to the possibility of a semantic analysis and this, in turn, is reflected in grammar books and textbooks on te reo.
The aim of this thesis seeks to explore a semantically-oriented approach to rethink the ways in which te reo Māori has been described in these books and to determine the implications this may have for the teaching and learning of Māori in the field of second language pedagogy and acquisition. The questions asks how has this research impacted on the ways in which Māori has been described in these books? What principles should inform a description of te reo Māori for more communicative purposes?