Purpose Statement
This learning area equips students with the linguistic, cultural, and sociolinguistic knowledge needed to communicate in an additional language.
Learning Languages provides students with the knowledge and practices to interpret meaning, adapt communication for different audiences and situations, and communicate purposefully in increasingly complex contexts. It also supports literacy development by strengthening students’ understanding of how language works, how meaning is communicated, and how spoken, written, and signed language are used in different contexts.
Through learning additional languages, students develop understanding of the cultural and social contexts in which languages are used and recognise that language reflects and upholds the values, stories, and practices of different communities andmcultures. This enables them to contribute meaningfully to New Zealand’s diverse society and increasingly interconnected world.
Learning Languages exposes students to new ways of thinking about themselves and their world. It can deepen understanding of their first language, strengthen cultural connections, contribute to the vitality of languages, and build confidence in communicating with others in a range of contexts.
Learning Languages prepares students to further develop their language proficiency in Years 11–13 in the language they have studied, including Te Reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language, Gagana Sāmoa, Gagana Tokelau, Lea Faka-Tonga, Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani, Vagahau Niue, French, German, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Korean.
Learning Languages - Vagahau Niue (Niuean) Years 0-10 curriculum
The Learning Languages - Vagahau Niue (Niuean) Phase 1-4 (Years 0-10) curriculum is now available and can be downloaded from the File Downloads section below
Our priority is to get this information to you as soon as possible, and the PDF is the fastest way to do this. However, we understand that an online format is easier for you to work with, so we are working to make full html pages available later in the year.
Word or phrase | Description |
|---|---|
Additional language | Any language learnt in addition to a person’s first language (or home language). |
Bilingual contexts | Any communicative setting where two languages are actively used or understood. |
Communication | Process of sharing information, ideas, thoughts, or feelings. Refers to all modes of communication: signing, watching, and interacting in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL); and listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interacting in all other languages. |
Cultural communities | Groups of people who share common cultural traits such as language, traditions, beliefs, values, customs (tikanga), heritage, and stories that shape their identity. |
Cultural perspectives | The ways in which individuals or groups interpret the world based on their cultural background, values, beliefs, and experiences. |
Cultural practices | The customary ways people in a cultural community behave, interact, communicate, and participate in social life. |
Cultural protocols | Accepted and respectful ways of behaving, speaking, and interacting within a specific culture. |
Cultural understanding | The capacity to understand, respect, and engage with the values, beliefs, practices, and perspectives of different cultures. |
Culturally grounded communicative base | Framework for communication that is embedded in the cultural values, relational norms, and worldviews of a specific community. It ensures that communication is not just linguistically accurate but also culturally resonant and respectful. |
Figurative meaning | The non-literal meaning of a word, phrase, or expression, where the intended message is symbolic, implied, or culturally understood. |
Formulaic expression or language | Chunks of language that follow a fixed pattern and are learnt as whole units. |
Foundational language patterns | Basic, recurring structures and forms of language that serve as the building blocks for communication. |
Highly practised contexts | Settings or situations where language is used frequently and consistently, helping learners to develop fluency and confidence. |
Intercultural communicative competence | The ability to communicate effectively, appropriately, and respectfully with people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. |
Intercultural understanding | The ability to recognise and respect cultural diversity. |
Intergenerational knowledge | The knowledge, skills, values, traditions, language, and cultural practices that are passed from one generation to the next. |
Kilikiti | A traditional Pacific sport that is derived from cricket. |
Kinship terms | Words used to identify and address people according to family relationships. |
Linguistic knowledge | The understanding of how a language works, including formation of signs, vocabulary, articulation, pronunciation, spelling, and grammar. |
Non-verbal cues | Forms of communication that do not involve spoken words but convey meaning through actions, expressions, and body language. |
Oracy development | The process of building a person’s ability to communicate effectively through spoken language. |
Particle | Small grammatical words placed before or after other words to show their function and meaning in a sentence, such as tense, time, and emphasis. |
Productive skills | The ability to sign, speak, write, interact, and present. |
Receptive skills | The ability to understand signed, spoken, or written language. |
Social norms | The unwritten rules, expectations, and conventions of behaving within a particular cultural or social group. |
Sociolinguistic knowledge | Understanding of how social factors (e.g. age, gender, race, class, location) influence language use and how language shapes social identity and relationships. |
Sociolinguistic norms | Social rules and expectations for the use of language in different contexts. They shape what is considered appropriate, respectful, or effective communication based on factors like culture, age, gender, status, and setting. |
Text | Signed, written, spoken, or visual materials that students use to understand and practise the target language (e.g. passages, dialogues, recordings, posters, menus). |
Vitality of a language | How strong and actively used a language is within a community. |
About this resource
This page provides the Years 0-10 Learning Languages learning area of The New Zealand Curriculum. This content is proposed to be made by the Minister of Education as a National Curriculum Statement under section 90(1)(a) of the Education and Training Act 2020. Once made and published in the New Zealand Gazette, it will set the requirements for the teaching of Years 0-10 Learning Languages in state schools and schools will be required to start using it from 1 January 2027 for Years 9-10 and from 1 January 2029 for Years 0-8. This page will be replaced with the official version made under the Act and published in the New Zealand Gazette once that has occurred.
