Language is LifeThe Worldview of Second Language Speakers of Māori

Jeanette King, University of Canterbury

Second-languageadultspeakersofMāoriformthelargebulkofproficientspeakersofthelanguage.TheengagementtheseadultshavewiththeMāorilanguageismotivatedbyastrongly-heldworldviewcenteredonpersonaltransformationwhichenablesthemtoengagewithandmaintainarelationshipwiththeMāorilanguage.Thisworldviewappears tohaveadifferent focus to thatheldbynationaland triballanguageplannersandspeakersofotherindigenouslanguages.

Onefactorthatlanguagesundergoingrevitalizationhaveincommonisagroupoflanguagefanatics,peoplewhoarepassionatelydedicatedtorevital-izingtheirheritagelanguage.InNewZealandtherearemanyMāoriwhoaredevotedtobecomingfluentsecondlanguagespeakersofMāori.ThesepeoplearetypicallyinvolvedwiththeteachingprofessionandhavechildrenwhotheyareraisinginaMāorispeakingenvironment.Thesepeoplearethenecessaryintermediatestage:thesecondlanguagespeakinggenerationwhichisneededtoproduceanewgenerationoffirstlanguagespeakersofMāori. Thezealwhichtheseadultsecondlanguagelearnershaveforthelanguageissomethingthattheyhavesustainedforanumberofyears.Whatmotivatespeoplesuchasthesetobecomefluentsecondlanguagespeakersoftheirheritagelanguage?Aretheymotivatedbytheideaofsavingtheirlanguage?Oristheirmotivationmorepersonal?Thispaperexaminestheworldviewofsecondlan-guageadultspeakersofMāoriinNewZealandandcontraststheirperspectivewiththatoflanguageplannersandspeakersofotherindigenouslanguages.

Background MāoriistheonlyindigenouslanguageofNewZealandandhasbeenthefocusofintenserevitalizationeffortssincekōhangareo(languagenests)wereinstitutedintheearly1980s.Althougholdernativespeakershavealwaysplayedakeyroleintheserevitalizationefforts,muchofthepassionandcommitmenthascomefromacohortofsecondlanguagespeakingadults.Accordingtoarecentsurvey,14%oftheMāoripopulationareabletospeaktheMāorilanguagewellorverywell(TePuniKōkiri,2006,p.5).ThebargraphinFigure1showsbyagebandthisgroupofproficientspeakersoftheMāoripopulation. Thebarsshowthatthehighestproportionofthebestspeakersarefoundamongsttheveryoldestgenerations.Thepositiveimpactofimmersionschoolingcanbeseenintheincreasingnumbersofproficientspeakersamongsttheyoung-estgenerations.Thelinegraphgivesagenerousestimateofwhatproportionofthesefluentspeakersarenativespeakers,thatis,thoseforwhomMāoriistheirfirstlanguage.Again,theproportionsarehighestintheoldestandyoung-estcohorts.However,thebulkoftheproficientspeakersintheparentingand

FromJ.Reyhner&L.Lockard(eds.).(2009).Indigenous Language Revitalization: Encourage-ment, Guidance & Lessons Learned(pp.97-108).Flagstaff,AZ:NorthernArizonaUniversity.

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teachinggenerationaresecondlanguagelearnersofMāori.Itisthiskeygroupwhoarethefocusofthisanalysis.

The motivations for second language learning Second language acquisition literature describes how learners aremoti-vatedbyeitherintegrativeorinstrumentivemotivationwhenlearningasecondlanguage.Integrativemotivationiswherethespeakerwantstoidentifywiththegroupspeakingthelanguage,whereasforinstrumentivemotivationthespeakerismotivatedbyacademic,economicorsocialbenefit.Thisliteratureonsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)haslargelydevelopedoutofthestudyoftheacqui-sitionofsecondlanguagesbyimmigrantcommunities.Migrantstypicallylearnlargedominantlanguagesthatarespokenbythemajorityofthepopulation,andthisisquiteadifferentsituationfromthatofpeoplelearningaminoritylanguageundergoing revitalization.Accordingly,White (2006, p. 104)finds thatSLAtheories“fallshortwhenexaminedinandappliedtoNativeAmericancontexts…[and]itisunmistakablethatanewwayofthinkingaboutlanguagerevitaliza-tionisnecessary.”Thispaperaimstomakesomeprogressinmovingtowardsfindinganewtheoryofmotivationthatmoreaccuratelyreflectsthesituationofrevitalizedlanguages.

Figure 1. Highest Māori speaking proficiency by age with estimated pro-portions of native speakers

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Method Thefollowinganalysisisbasedoninterviewswith32Māoriinformants,17maleand15female,agedbetween17and44.Seventeenwereteachersorteachertrainees.Theinformantswerefromarangeoftribalareasandamixofurbanandruralbackgrounds,andtheinterviewswereconductedbetween1997and2002. Anearlieranalysisexaminedthemetaphorsusedbythese informants totalkabouttheirrelationshipwiththeMāorilanguage(King,2003).Thesemeta-phorsallowtheinformantstotalkaboutthreeaspectsoftheirinvolvementwiththeMāorilanguage:aninitialstateofbeingwithouttheheritagelanguage,anengagementwiththelanguage,andacontinuingrelationshipwiththelanguage.Accordingly,wecanpostulatethattheseadultlanguagelearnersneedapower-fulrhetoricandworldviewtosustainanongoingcommitmenttotheirheritagelanguage.Ananalysisoftheinterviewsrevealsthatamongsttheseadultsecondlanguage informants their sense of ongoing commitment drawson four ele-ments:

• aquasi-religiousworldview• NewAgehumanism• connectionwithancestorsandMāoriculture• connectionwithakaupapaMāoriphilosophy

Thefollowingfoursectionswill lookat theseelements in turnand illustratesomeoftheirmajorfeatureswithsupportiveevidence.

Quasi-religious worldview

Māoritanga1itselfhasbecomeasortofreligion.(Mead,1979,p.63)

AmongtheinformantsitseemsthattheideaoflearningandbeingcommittedtotheMāorilanguageislikebeingcommittedtoareligiousbelief.AnumberofinformantsexpressedtheideathatinvolvementinMāorilanguageimmersionsituationshadaspiritualdimension,anditseemsthatformanyofthemMāorilanguageisaspiritualquestforidentity,healthandwholeness.Foroneinformant,Rau,beinginvolvedinlearningtheMāorilanguageopenedupanewworld:

I te wā ka tīmata au i te ako i te reo, he ao anō ... te ao mārama. (Rau)2WhenIstartedtolearnthe[Māori]language,itwasanotherworld...theworldoflight.

Thequasi-religiousnatureoftheinformants’relationshipwiththeMāorilanguageisalsorevealedthroughtheiruseofthewordwairua(spirit)whentalkingabouttheMāorilanguage:

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He haerenga i runga i te wairua tēnei.(Karihi)3Thisisaspiritualjourney.

InthefollowingexampleKarihiistalkingaboutatimewhenhewasdrink-ingheavily,beforehebecameinvolvedwiththeMāorilanguage:

Engari, nā te kaha o tōku mahi, i kore au i tipu. I kore tōku wairua i tipu.(Karihi)ButbecauseIwasheavilyengagedinthatactivityIdidn’tgrow.Myspiritdidn’tgrow.

ThisquoteimpliesthatKarihi’swairuaisnowgrowingbecauseofhisinvolve-mentwiththeMāorilanguage.Inotherwords,theMāorilanguagewasassociatedwithimprovingthespiritualaspectsofhislife.Thisdescriptionhasresonancesofaconversionexperience,apowerfulemotionalandspiritualawakening,sig-nallingachangeinaperson’slife.4 Forsecondlanguagelearnerssuchasthoseinthisstudytheword‘renais-sance’aptlydescribestheirexperience.“Renaissance”isderivedfromtheFrenchword naissancewhichinturnisderivedfromtheLatinwordnascentia,bothofwhichmean“birth”(Thompson,1995,p.1163).Renaissancethereforeliterallymeans‘rebirth.’TheexperiencedescribedbymanyoftheinformantsoftheirengagementwiththeMāorilanguagesoundsverymuchlikeaspiritualrebirth,inthattheylinktheMāorilanguagewithmajorlifechangesandafeelingofongo-ingspiritualconnectionandjoy.ThisconfirmsGolla’s(2003,p.3)observation,“Fromthepointofviewoftheindividualitmustbeaconversionexperience,notacitizenshipexercise.”

New Age humanism NewAgeandhumanistbeliefsarepervasivethroughouttheWesternworldandhavehadparticularimportonindigenousrenaissancemovementsinthelast30years.Despitebeinggiventhename‘NewAgemovement,’NewAgeideasarenotonecoherent,stablesetofbeliefsbutthephraseisaconvenienttermap-pliedtothegroupingofanumberofinter-related,thoughalsowidelydifferentgroupsofbeliefsandpractices,rangingfromchannellingtocrystalsandholistichealth(Barker,1989,p.189).WhatNewAgemovementshaveincommonisthattheyplace“greatemphasisuponself-knowledge,innerexploration,andtheparticipationinacontinualtransformativeprocess”(Melton,1992,p.173). TwoofthewordsassociatedwithNewAgerhetoricthathaveparticularresonancefortheinformantsinthisstudyaretransformation and personal growth.TransformationisassociatedwiththeLife is a Journeyconceptualmetaphor,forinthisrhetoricwearesaidtobeonalifejourneythroughoutwhichweareexpectedtochangeandgrow,‘growing’evokingthePeoPLe are PLants concep-tualmetaphor.Thepathandgrowthmetaphorsarepervasivethroughoutsocietyanditisdifficulttohaveadiscussiononhumanactivitieswithoutusingoneorboth.Thatis,thepathandgrowthmetaphorsoftenunderpinourconceptualiza-

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tionoftheworld.Thesetwometaphorsarethetwoofthethreemostcommonmetaphorsemployedbytheinformantsinthisstudytodescribetheirrelation-shiptotheMāorilanguage(King,2007).Inthefollowingquote,RauusesbothmetaphorstoexplainthatherinvolvementinlearningMāoribeganwiththeideaofsupportinghersonwhowasinimmersioneducation:

Me haere au i runga i taua huarahi hoki ki te āwhina i a ia. Āe. Ka tīmata au ki te puāwai hoki.(Rau)Ishouldalsogoonthatpathtohelphim.Yes.Ialsostartedtoflower.

NewAgetransformationisoftenlinkedtolearningthroughtheuseofphraseslike“lifeislearning”(Lewis,1992,p.7-8).InformantsforthisstudyoftensaythattheirinvolvementwiththeMāorilanguageisalife-longone:

Āe, i whakatō i te kākano. I tahuna te ahi. Kei te kirikā tonu te ahi. Āe, te ahi kā roa, me kī, mō te reo.(Lovey)Yes,theseedwasplanted.Thefirewaslit.Thefireisstillburning.Yes,it’salongburningfire,let’ssay,forthelanguage.

NewAgebeliefsconnectwithsecularhumanismthroughthecentralideaofthefocusontheinnerlifeoftheindividualandthe“beliefthatpeoplehavetheanswerswithin”(ElliotMillercitedinBasil,1998,p.16).ItisnothardtofindthesesentimentsarticulatedbyMāori:“Inowknowtheoutsidedoesn’tmatter,thesubstanceiswithin”(Nehua,1995,p.26).Thiswillbediscussedinmoredetailinalatersection.

Association with ancestors and culture

Thereisalmostametonymicrelationshipbetweenalanguageanditsculture.(Ahlers,1999,p.137)

Aheritagelanguageisalinktothepast,thatis,totheancestorsandatra-ditionalwayoflife.ThisaspectofheritagelanguagerevitalizationisonethatiscommonlystatedintheinternationalliteratureanditisnotsurprisingthatitisoneofthekeyingredientsoftheworldviewwhichprovidestheinformantsinthisstudywiththeimpetustoengagewithandmaintaintheirinvolvementwiththeMāorilanguage.Forexample,TeHatacreditshisdecisiontolearntheMāorilanguagetotheguidanceandsupportofancestralforces:

Tērā pea ko tōku kuia, tōku kaitiaki, e kōhimuhimu nei ki ahau.(TeHata)Perhapsitwasmygrandmother,myguardian,whisperingtome.

KyledescribestheMāorilanguageasapathlinkinghimtohisancestorswhohavepassedon:

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Koirā taku hiahia, kia mōhio ai ki ā rātou kōrero. Āe, me te whai i te huarahi o ōku mātua.(Kyle)Andthat’smydesire,tounderstandtheirspeech.Yes,andtofollowthepathofmyparents.

Itisinterestingtonoteherethatwhiletheinformants’knowledgeoftheMāorilanguagecan’tbecreditedto intergenerational transmission, theimpetusanddesiretolearnthelanguagecanbe.Thatis,theideaofbeinginspiredbyparents,grandparentsorancestorsallowstheinformantstolinktheiruseoftheMāorilanguagewithprecedinggenerations.Animpetusisalsoprovidedthroughtheidea that learning the language provides a connectionwith thosewhohavepassedon. Alinkwithancestorsandcultureisobviouslyalinkwithidentity,thusevok-ingintegrativeaspectsofSLAtheory,howeverascanbeseenfromthequotesinthissection,this‘integration’isoftenmoremetaphysicalthancorporeal.

Adherence to a kaupapa Māori philosophy JoshuaFishmanconcludesfromobservinglanguagerevitalizationinitia-tivesinmanypartsoftheworldthatsuccessfuleffortsare“Invariably Part of a Larger Ethnocultural Goal”(emphasisinoriginal,1991,p.18).Hewrites,“Reversing language shift is basicallynot about language, certainlynot just aboutlanguage;itisaboutadheringtoanotionofacomplete,notnecessarilyunchanging,self-definingwayoflife”(Fishman,2000,p.14).Thus,itisnotsurprisingthatsimilaraimsareexpressedaspartofMāorilanguageinitiativesinNewZealand.Indeed,oneoftheaspectsofthepowerfulworldviewarticulatedbytheinformantsinthisstudyisrevealedintheirstatedadherencetokaupapaMāori(Māoriphilosophy):

He mea nui tērā ko te wairua kia eke ki runga i te kaupapa.(Karihi)That’sareallyimportant thing,havingthespirit togetonboardthekaupapa.

TheinformantsdescribetheMāorilanguageasbeinganintegralpartofthekaupapaMāoriphilosophy.ThissentimentisexpressedbyPiringākauwhoistalkingabouthowothersareawareofthephilosophyoftheMāorilanguageimmersionteachers’programmeheispartof:

Mōhio tonu rātou ki te kaupapa o tēnei kaupapa. Ko te reo (Piringākau).Theyreallyknowthephilosophyofthiskaupapa.It’sthelanguage.

Throughthe1990sacademicarticulationofkaupapaMāorihasemergedfromtwodisciplines:educationaltheoryandresearchmethodology.5IntheseforumskaupapaMāoriislinkedwithaspirationsforMāorisovereignty,asillustratedinthisdefinitionofkaupapaMāoribyGrahamSmith:

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• thevalidityandlegitimacyofMāoriistakenforgranted.• thesurvivalandrevivalofMāorilanguageandMāoricultureisim-perative.

• thestruggleforautonomy over our own cultural well being, and over ourownlivesisvitaltoMāorisurvival.(Smith,1992,p.3)

KaupapaMāori isan importantpartof theworldviewof the informantsbut,forthemitisnotaworldviewprimarilyfocusedonsocialchange.Insteadtheinformantshaveamorepersonalizedperspective.Thenextsectioncontainsamoredetailedinvestigationoftheindividualfocusoftheinformants.

Individual focus Besides needing a strongly articulated and forceful worldview, as discussed intheprevioussections,anotheraspectoftheinformants’experienceisthatithasahighlyindividualizedfocus. Since the informantswere being interviewed about their experiences inbecomingafluentspeakeroftheMāorilanguage,wemightexpectthattheem-phasisintheirwordswillbeonthemselvesandtheirownexperience.However,evenwheninvitedtotalkaboutawiderlanguagerevitalizationperspective,theinformantstendedtobringtheconversationbacktothemselves.Theyweremorecomfortabletalkingabouttheirownexperience.Thefollowingtranslationofaquotedemonstratesthatthefocusfornewly-fluentadultspeakersofMāoriisprimarilyonthemselveswithasecondaryfocusontheirfamilyandstudents:

That’showmydesireformylanguagegrew.Itbeganwithme,youknow,quiteselfish,atthebeginning....So,now,andbefore,Ididn’tthinkabouttheMāorispeakinggroupwithinthewiderMāoripopulation.Ithink,whoaretheytome?Theyaren’tanythingtome.But,mystudentsandmyfriends,theyarethemostimportantpeopletome.(Anaru)

Anarufeelsnoresponsibilitytoawidergrouping.Hisfocusisontheimmediatecircleofpeopleimportanttohislife.TohimtheMāorilanguageis‘mylanguage’,somethingthatherelatestopersonally.TheMāorilanguagehasaroleinhislife,buthedoesnotpresumetoexpressthathehasaroleinregardtotheMāorilanguage.Or,inotherwords,theMāorilanguageismoreimportanttoAnaruthanhefeelsheistotheMāorilanguage. Eighteenoftheinformantswereaskedwhethertheyfeltthattheywerepartofalanguagerevitalizationmovement.Althoughtwelveinformantsostensiblyanswered‘yes’tothisquestion,ingeneraltheirresponsesshowtheywerehedgedordiffidentintheiranswers.Icouldgetveryfewinformantstowholeheartedlyagreethattheyfeltpartofa‘movement’thatwassolelyfocusedonlanguagerevitalization:

Kāore au e whai ki tētahi ‘movement.’ (Rau)I’mnotfollowingany‘movement.’

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Theworldviewoftheseadultlanguagelearnersisbasedontheirexperienceasindividuals,whichisnotsurprisinginacontextwherethelanguageisspokenwellby65,000speakers.Inotherwords,theseindividualsdonotfeeldirectlyresponsibleforsavingtheMāorilanguage,buttheydofeelthattheMāorilan-guageistheirpersonalsalvation.

Language planning InNewZealandtherearetwogroupswhichundertakelanguageplanning:government(throughTePuniKōkiriandTeTauraWhiriiteReoMāori )andtribes,throughvarioustribalgroups.Theselanguageplannersarewellversedintheinternationalliteratureonlanguagerevitalizationandareawareoftherolethateachspeakerplaysintheultimatesuccessorotherwiseofrevitalizationef-forts.Inrecentpublicationsthereareindicationsthattheseplannersareeitherunawareoftheinternalizedworldviewofsecondlanguagelearners(asdescribedabove)orwishtoaugmentthisworldviewwithawidersenseofresponsibility.Forexample,arecentgovernmentreportcommentingonastudyofnewly-fluentadultspeakersofMāori,notedthat“someparticipantsappearedtolackurgencyandappreciationoftheirroleinMāoriintergenerationaltransmission”(Chrisp,2005,p.177).Theimplicationhereisthatitisimportantforsecondlanguagelearnerstohavethiswiderfocus. OnetribalgroupthatisdeterminedtoraisetheawarenessofspeakersisNgāiTahuwhichaimstohave1,000Māorispeakinghomesintheirtribaldistrictby2020(seewww.kmk.maori.nz).Oneoftheirlatestdevelopmentsisawebsitewhichhasveryuseful and supportive informationoncreatingan immersionenvironmentinthehome(seewww.generationreo.com).InconjunctionwiththewebsiteaseriesofadvertisementshavealsoappearedinthetribalmagazineTe Karaka,oneofwhichisshownbelow.

This advertisement is clearlyaimed at encouraging tribalmem-berstospeakMāoribypointingouttheimportanceofhavingasenseofresponsibility to the language.Theadvertisement implies that thissortofmoralimperativeisthemosteffec-tive way of encouraging a sustained commitmenttotheMāorilanguage.However, this assumption is opentoquestion,giventheresultsoftheanalysiswith the key target group,presentedabove. Obviously language planners are concerned about the future ofthelanguageandwanttostressthevalueofthelanguageandtherolethespeakerhasinrevitalizingit.Theyare

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naturallymorefocussedonthelanguageandwhatthespeakercandoforit,ratheronwhatactuallymotivatesthespeaker.However,itisunclearwhetherinvokingamoralimperativetowardsthelanguagewhichthespeakermaynotsharemaybeaseffectiveasappealingtomoreinternallyfocussedmotivationsalreadyheldbythespeakers.

North American situation WhatmotivatessecondlanguagespeakersofMāoriseemstodifferfromthemotivationsofsecondlanguagespeakersofNorthAmericanlanguages.Inaninformalsurvey7ofsecondlanguagespeakersfromarangeof(mainly)NorthAmerican languages themost common reasongiven for learningaheritagelanguagewasafeelingofresponsibilitytowardsthelanguage.Nineofthe16respondentsgaveresponsesofwhichthefollowingis typical: Iamlearningmylanguage“becauseofmyfeelingsofresponsibilitytothelanguage,toitscontinuance,tomypeople,tothecominggenerationsandtomyancestors.” Conversely,insimilarinformalsurveysamongstmyMāorilanguagestu-dents,Ihavebeenunabletogetanyonetorespondinasimilarmanner.ThisdiscrepancycouldbeexplainedbythefactthatthoserepresentingtheNorthAmericanlanguagessurveyedwereteachersandtriballanguageplannersandkeenlyawareoftheirroleinrevitalizingtheirlanguage.However,whilethisindeedmayaffecttheresultstosomeextent,itisworthnotingthatallbuttwoofthelanguagesinthisinformalsurveyhavefewerthan10,000speakersandsixaremoribund.Thissuggeststhatthesizeofthelanguagespeakingpopulationmaybehavinganeffectonrespondents’motivation.Thatis,thefewerpeoplewhoknowandarelearningthelanguagethemorethelearnerismotivatedbyabeneficialeffectonthelanguage(asintheNorthAmericansituation),andthatconversely,themorepeoplewhoknowandarelearningthelanguage,themore the learner ismotivatedbyabeneficialeffecton the individual (as inthesituationwithMāori).Thatis,thesizeofthelanguagespeakingpopula-tionmayaccountfordifferences inamoreexternallyor internallyfocussedmotivation.Thesedifferencesmay alsobepartly explainedby the fact thatlanguageactivisminNewZealandoccurredearlierthanitdidinNorthAmericaand is focussed on one language rather than a large number of languages. AswiththeMāoriinformants,integrativereasonsforlearningthelanguagewerealsoimportant.Thesecondmostfrequentlystatedreasonforlearningaheritagelanguagewastodowithidentity(‘ifwedon’tspeakXaaydathenhowcanwesayweareXaaydapeople’)orculture(‘ifweloseourlanguageourheritageandculturewouldceasetoexist’).

Discussion WehaveseenthatthesecondlanguagespeakingMāoriadultsinthisstudydoindeedhaveapowerfulworldview,onethatallowsthemtomovefromastateofbeingwithoutMāorilanguagetoonewherethisbecomesanimportantandongoingfocusoftheirlives.Wehavealsoseenthatthereisanindividual-izedperspectivetotheinformants’experience,onethatdiffersfromothersalso

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involvedinthelanguagerevitalizationprocess,suchaslanguageplannersandspeakersofotherlanguagesbeingrevitalizedwhichhavesmallernumbersofspeakers.TheexperienceoftheMāoriinformantscanbeencapsulatedinthephrase‘personaltransformation.’Eachofthesetwowordsrelatesbacktothetwoaspectsexploredinthisanalysis,inthatthepowerfulworldviewofthein-formantslargelyrevolvesaroundtheconceptofa‘transformation’experienceandthefocusontheindividualcanbeencapsulatedintheword‘personal.’ Thisanalysissuggestsanumberofpointers towardsamoreappropriatetheoryofsecondlanguagemotivationwithregardtoheritagelanguages:

1.Language fanatics are important. Successful second languagespeakersofheritagelanguagescaninvariablybedescribedas‘lan-guage fanatics.’ Such fanaticism is not a factor amongstmigrantcommunitieslearningalanguageofwidercommunication.Inordertobeafanaticyoumusthaveastrongworldview.

2.Cultural identity is an important motivator.Thestrongworld-viewofsecondlanguagespeakingadultsis,inallcases,motivatedbyaspectsofidentity.Thishasdifferentaspectstotheintegrativemotivation cited inSLA literature as is often expressed throughreferencetoancestorsandspiritualaspectsoftheheritagelanguageratherthandaytodayintegrativeaspects.

3.Internally or externally focussed motivators.Inadditiontoidentity,secondlanguagespeakerswillbemotivatedbyeitherastrongsenseofresponsibilitytowardsthelanguage(inthecaseoflanguageplan-nersorthosefromlanguageswithasmallnumberofspeakers)orbyastronginternallyfocussedworldview(inthecaseofthosefromalanguagewitharelativelylargenumberofspeakers).Accordingly,bothinternalandexternalmotivatorsneedtobeconsidered.

Forlanguageplanners,bothinNewZealandandoverseas,themessageisthatitisimportanttoresearchin-depthlocallytoaccuratelydeterminetheparam-etersofeachlocalsituationbecause“viewinglanguageshiftfromtheindividualmotivationperspectiveiscrucialtotheunderstandingoflanguageshift”(Karan,2000,p.74).Thisisparticularlyimportantwhentryingtodeterminethemosteffectivepromotion strategies to encourage languageuse amongst the targetpopulation. Thenewly-fluentMāori-speakingadulthasakeyroleinintergenerationaltransmissionasparents,andoftentheteachers,ofthechildrenbeingeducatedintheMāorilanguageschoolingsystem.Theresultssuggestthatstrategiesforfosteringtheirparticipationinlanguagerevitalizationmaybenefitfromempha-sizing their experienceof being empowered and transformed spiritually andemotionallythroughtheirinvolvementwith,anduseof,theMāorilanguage.Thatis,insteadoffocussingonwhattheseadultscandoforthelanguage,itmaybemoreeffectivetofocusonthebenefitsforthelanguagelearnerandspeakerinspeakingMāoriforsuchanapproachwouldreinforceandendorsetheinformants’experience.

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InreturningtothetitleofthispaperwehaveseenthatindeedlanguageislifeforstaunchsecondlanguagespeakersofMāori.Thesepeopleare‘languagefanatics’whoarededicatedtobecomingfluentspeakers.Inordertomaintainsuchalong-termgoaltheyhaveastrongworldviewwheretheMāorilanguageistheirlife.ItisthesesecondlanguagespeakersandtheirworldviewwhichwillultimatelygivelifetoMāoriandotherheritagelanguages.

Notes 1TheMāoriwayoflife,Māoriculture. 2Informantshavebeengivenpseudonyms.MostoftheinterviewswereconductedinMāori.TheEnglishtranslationsaretheauthor’s.

3Foreaseofidentification,keywordsareboldedinthequotes. 4Severaloftheinformants,includingKarihi,hadbecomeinvolvedwithlearningMāorilanguagethroughalcoholanddrugrecoveryprograms.Culturalreclama-tionthroughrecoveryprogramsisanareaworthyoffurtherinvestigation.

5ForarticulationsofkaupapaMāoriineducationaltheoryseeBishop&Glynn,1999andintheareaofresearchmethodologyseeL.T.Smith,1999.

6TePuniKōkiriistheusualtermfortheMinistryofMāoriDevelopment(http://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/)andTeTauraWhiriiteReoMāoriistheMāoriLanguageCommission(http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/).

7Manythankstoparticipantswhoattendedmypaperatthe15thAnnualStabilizingIndigenousLanguagesSymposiumheldatFlagstaff,Arizona,May1-3,2008.Respondentsincluded16secondlanguagespeakersof13languages[includingHawaiianandTokunoshima(Japan)].

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