"He wāhi tare" : a sociolinguistic study of te reo o Ngāpuhi : language proficiency and patterns of language use

Abstract

This thesis is a sociolinguistic study of language shift through the analysis of data gathered on language use by two distinct groups of Maori the tangata whenua of New Zealand. One cohort is comprised of members whose families moved into the city of Auckland from the 1950's onwards and who now reside in the Manukau region. The second cohort, a smaller sample whose data is used as a control, is comprised of people of the same tribal ancestry who reside in Northland, their heritage lands. The data was gathered through questionnaires and individual interviews. This study focuses on the effects that urbanization has had on language shift and attitudes to te reo Maori. It addresses language proficiency, the domains where the Maori language continues to be spoken, and the motivations that lie behind this. The findings show that urbanization has had a major effect on language use but only minor differences in language attitudes and even less in language proficiency.