Resumen de Te reo o te tai Tokerau: The assessment of oral Maori
James Marshall, Michael Peters
The national examination of Maori language in New Zealand’ has not, to date, reflected the strong oral tradition of Maori culture. For over a decade oral Maori had been a minor component (15%) of a national examination which had emphasised the skills of literacy. Te Reo O Te Tai Tokerau Project, as part of the State Department's developmental work in Maori, was designed to investigate the feasibility and reliability of teacher‐based assessment of the oral component of the national examination. Whilst the evaluation established the satisfactory reliability of teacher‐based oral assessment, a significant shift had taken place during the formative evaluation, so that questions of reliability were subsumed under wider questions of the appropriate cultural background and conditions for any such assessment.
The movement towards pragmatic language testing has in effect emphasised survival skills in a foreign culture, whereas the assessment of oral Maori, where Maori are living their culture, demands a culturally appropriate style of assessment, one which respects Maori traditions of knowledge, learning and assessment. The success of Te Reo O Te Tai Tokerau Project was, to a significant extent, dependent upon these demands.
In the first section we locate the project within the history of race relations and Maori education in New Zealand. The second section considers the movement towards tests of communication as it affects Maori. The project and the features consonant with Maori culture and learning and this move towards tests of communication are discussed in the third section.
