Responsive socio-cultural contexts: Supporting five year olds to become literate in a second language

Abstract

Learning one's own indigenous language and culture as a second language learner within formal mainstream education settings can pose many challenges, especially for students who have been raised in the dominant first language and who are just beginning school. This paper discusses a Māori language resource used by a Māori immersion teacher to respond to these challenges. This resource utilises community support to develop students' phonological awareness while simultaneously increasing their oral language. This study shows that within a relatively short period of time, students' phonological knowledge improved along with their confidence and ability to speak in Māori. With these skills they were then able to progress more successfully to becoming literate in Māori, their second language.