Te mana o te reo Māori: analysing word choice in assessments written in Māori

Intern: Mareikura Waiti, The University of Auckland

Supervisor: Dr Julia Wilson, University of Otago

Te Mana o te Reo Māori: Analysing Word Choice in Assessments Written in Māori explores how Māori students use te reo Māori to express specialised knowledge in university Health Sciences assessments. 

The project forms part of the wider initiative Manaakitia Te Reo: How Do We Support Assessments in Te Reo Māori, which aims to improve how tertiary institutions support and mark work submitted in Māori. 

The study analyses written mock exam responses produced by two tauira Māori. Rather than assessing correctness, the research focuses on how students make strategic language choices when writing about complex scientific concepts in te reo Māori. It examines how Māori and English are used together to communicate disciplinary knowledge, and what this reveals about bilingual academic practice. 

Findings show that students draw on their full linguistic repertoires in thoughtful and deliberate ways. English biomedical terms are often retained for precision, while te reo Māori structures explanation, relationships, and process. This demonstrates that te reo Māori is actively adapting and expanding within contemporary scientific contexts. 

The project highlights both the capability of te reo Māori as a language of higher education and the additional cognitive labour required of students who learn in English but choose to write in Māori. It calls for stronger institutional support to ensure Māori-medium assessment are enabled and also culturally safe.