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Vagahau Niue L6: Context elaborations

Students are expected to communicate information, ideas, and opinions, and express and respond to personal ideas and opinions in areas of most immediate relevance. The content and language of the communication is targeted beyond the immediate context to include the expression of opinions. Students are expected to understand and produce a variety of text types.

Example 1: Chatting about Polyfest

Tama — Malolō nakai nakai ma Hannah? Fēfē e aoga? Ko e vahega fiha a koe he tau nei?

Hannah — Mafola ma Tama. Mitaki e aoga. Ko au ha he atu hogofulu ma taha, he tau nei. Malolō nakai a koe?

Tama — Fakaaue. Mafola. Eke ha a koe a nā?

Hannah — Ko e taute au he tau ata he Polyfest.

Tama — Mitaki nākai?

Hannah — Homo. Fiafia lahi au. Koli au he matakau koli he aoga (Southern Cross Campus. UM…) Takitaki he taha faiaoga e kau ha mautolu. To fakahū atu e au e tau ata ka fia kitia a koe.

Tama — Ae! Homo ha ia. E. Fakafano mai ma meti. Kelea au he ai nākai maeke ke hoko atu.

Hannah — Hanā. Moua nakai?

Tama — E fakaaue. Mitaki lahi e tau ata. Mitaki ha ia he tau taute. Fakakelea he tagata ne tū mai i tua.

Hannah — Ko e takitaki ha mautolu a ia. Fuluola e tau koli ha mautolu. Ai kitia mitaki e takitaki ha ko ia ne fae hopohopo fano i tua.

Tama — Fai vitiō nakai? Liga maali mitaki ka kitia ha ata vitiō. Ita lahi au he ai hoko atu ke kitia e tau fiafia he tau aoga tokoluga.

Hannah — To hūhū e au ke he faiaoga haaku, ko e fai nākai. Fano ha ne fai au ke tunu he kai.

Tama — E, to liu ke feleveia. Ua nimo e vitiō kia.

Hannah — E, mavehe a.

Tama — Monuina e aho. To feleveia. Koe kia.

Context and text type

Online chat conversation between Tama, a native speaker of vagahau Niue, and Hannah, a year 11 New Zealand learner of the language. They discuss Polyfest photos and admire how vibrant the costumes are. Hannah gives Tama information on where he can get videos of the performances.

Text type

Conversational exchange, informal. Interactive.

Examples showing how the student is:

Communicating information, ideas, and opinions beyond the immediate context

Hannah uses a question to gather information:

  • Moua nakai?

She gives information about her school and performing group:

  • Mitaki e aoga. Ko e nofo au he atu tau hogofulu ma taha, he tau nei.

She explains that she was a member of her school’s dance group performing at Polyfest:

  • Koli au he matakau koli he aoga.

She uses the present perfect tense to refer to completed events; for example, she says:

  •  Ko e taute au he tau ata he Polyfest.

She uses a specific verb pattern to express future intention:

  • To fakahū atu e au e tau ata …

She identifies a person in a photo:

  • Ko e takitaki ha mautolu a ia.

In response to Tama’s request, Hannah says she will ask her teacher about the video:

  • To hūhū e au ke he faiaoga haaku, ko e fai nakai.

Hannah’s hesitation, as signalled by her use of the hesitation marker, Um …, shows she is having to think about what she will say next; in doing so, she reverts to a hesitation marker that is very typical of spoken English.

Expressing and responding to personal ideas and opinions

Hannah expresses her enjoyment of the Polyfest:

  • Fiafia lahi au.

In response to Tama’s question:

  • Mitaki nakai e Polyfest? Hannah gives her opinion: Homo. Fiafia lahi au ke koli he matakau he aoga.

Communicating appropriately in different situations

Hannah behaves appropriately when she replies to Tama’s extended greeting and includes his name in the reply:

  • Mafola ma Tama.

She uses questions to maintain the flow of the conversation:

  • Fia kitia nakai a koe he tau ata haaku?

She also responds to Tama’s questions and extends her reply:

  • Homo. Fiafia lahi au. Koli au he matakau koli he aoga. Takitaki e taha faiaoga he kau ha mautolu.

The value of 'fakalilifu' (showing respect) in 'aga fakamotu' is evident throughout the interaction. For example, after responding to Tama’s questions, Hannah follows up with a polite question that is typical of conversations of this kind:

  • Malolō nakai a koe?

Understanding how language is organised for different purposes

The use of single words, phrases, and short sentences is typical of informal conversational exchanges. For example:

  • Homo; Hanā. Moua nakai?

The interaction illustrates the use of colloquial expressions to voice an opinion, as when Tama says:

  •  Liga maali mitaki ka kitia ha ata vitiō.

As the flow of communication is not interrupted, Hannah, a learner of vagahau Niue, clearly understands what he says.

Transliterations based on English forms, for example, meti (mate) and vitiō (video), are more common in spoken than written language.

The English 'video' is transliterated as vitiō in vagahau Niue. The pronunciation of 'vitiō' is similar to the English, with the 't' being pronounced as [t]. This is an exception to the rule in vagahau Niue, where 't' is normally pronounced as 's' when followed by 'e' and 'i'.

The text illustrates the use of informal language appropriate to a chat conversation:

  • Mafola ma Tama; Eke ha?

The conversation shows the use of formulaic expressions that are culturally appropriate ways of showing respect. For example, when closing a conversation:

  • E mavehe a; Monuina e aho; To feleveia.

Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence

Students could explore examples of language use in conversational texts in vagahau Niue, especially greetings and how conversations are sustained and ended. Students could then compare these with examples from comparable texts in English. What similarities and differences do they notice?

Explore with your students how they could apply their learning to improve their use of conversational vagahau Niue in different text types, contexts, or topics. For example, what language would they use in a talkback show, a phone conversation, an e-mail, or an interactive talk on a particular topic? What levels of language would they use? How would they show respect? How would they indicate that they are searching for a word or words to use in their reply? What strategies would they use to sustain the interaction?

Last updated January 16, 2013



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