Gagana Sāmoa L7: Example 3
Example 3: Preparing for exams
Lota — Suga o a mai? Ga a mai le suega o le Numela?
Jane — Oka! Fiu e mafaufau isi mea sa fai i le aoga. Matua faigata tele lava le suega. Laki ae pasi. Ae a lau suega Numela?
Lota — Faapega foi au, makua gimo uma mea sa a ‘o agapo. Makua pogisa lava lau vaai i isi fesili ga iai. Akogu ua maua lelei lava ai au i le faakamala ma le le saugi lelei.
Jane — Ia pau lava le mea fai faalelei le su ‘ega o le gagana Sāmoa taeao, aua a misi loa ua le alu ile tausaga sefulu kolu! Fai mai le faiaoga a le pasi le level 2 o le Sāmoan, e le mafai ona alu i le level 3! O le sao lea?
Lota — Sao oe, pau ga o le makaupu e maukigoa ai le Excellence. Ou ke lelei lava ile kusikusi, kaukala ma le kaliiga o fesili. Na o le presentation lava o loo fai ai siga ou popole oga ou ke makamuli e kaukala i luma o kagaka e koakele. O a vaega o le suega ua uma oga e kapega iai?
Jane — Ua uma ona ou tapena i tusitusiga ae faigata tele ia te au ona faaaoga upu faaaloalo ma alagaupu. Ua ou taumafai ina ia aua nei umi au tusitusiga, ae ia lelei manatu ma le faalautelega o manatu taitasi. Ia manino foi ni mau e lagolago ai manatu taitasi. O le taliga o fesili ou te popole tele iai. O a ni metotia o e faaaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
Lota — Mea muamua, faalogo lelei i le kaimi e faikau ai le kala ae aua eke kusikusi. Faikau loga 2, kusi gi au notes i lalo ma kaumafai e malamalama i le auku o le kala. A iai se avagoa, faikau muamua fesili oga e kaumafai lea e faalogo i gai kali e kau fekaui ma fesili i le kaimi e faikau ai. O le isi mea kaua, kali uma fesili – kusa lava pe eke le maukigoa – kusi i lalo se kali. Eke le iloa lava le laki!
Jane — Faafetai tele mo lau fesoasoani. Fa soifua ma aua le moe umi nei tei ua e tuai i le suega.
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Context and text type
A phone conversation between Lota (a native speaker) and Jane (a learner of gagana Sāmoa) about their upcoming school exams.
Text type
Conversation, informal. Interactive.
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Examples showing how the student is:
Communicating information, ideas, and opinions through increasingly extended and varied texts
Jane uses conversational features to communicate her ideas, for example, short sentences:
- Oka! Laki ae pasi. Ae a lau suega Numela?
Jane demonstrates her ability to produce extended text when, for example, she communicates detailed information about how she is planning to improve the quality of her writing:
- Ua ou taumafai ina ia aua nei umi au tusitusiga, ae ia lelei manatu ma le faalautelega o manatu taitasi. Ia manino foi ni mau e lagolago ai manatu taitasi.
She uses a compound sentence with a subordinate clause to communicate an opinion:
- Fai mai le faiaoga a le pasi le level 2 o le Sāmoan, e le mafai ona alu i le level 3!
She uses a variety of sentence patterns, for example:
- Ua uma ona ou … Ua ou taumafai ina ia … Ia manino foi ni mau e … O a ni metotia o e faaaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
Beginning to explore the views of others
Jane asks Lota for guidance on comprehension strategies:
- O a ni metotia o e faaaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
Jane provides supporting evidence (from the teacher) about who will be eligible to take gagana Sāmoa level 3:
- Fai mai le faiaoga a le pasi le level 2 o le Sāmoan, e le mafai ona alu i le level 3!
As they explore each other’s views, Lota and Jane construct new knowledge. They give and gain information, opinions, and advice that they each find useful. Jane acknowledges this when she thanks Lota:
- Faafetai tele mo lau fesoasoani.
Beginning to develop and share personal perspectives
Jane shares the difficulties she encountered in her exam:
- Fiu e mafaufau isi mea sa fai i le aoga. Matua faigata tele lava le suega. Laki ae pasi.
She has ideas on how to improve her writing skills in the gagana Sāmoa exam:
- Ua ou taumafai ina ia aua nei umi au tusitusiga, ae ia lelei manatu ma le faalautelega o manatu taitasi.
Beginning to justify own ideas and opinions
Jane provides her views on the preparation needed for the written exam and highlights possible areas where she needs guidance:
- Ua uma ona ou tapena i tusitusiga ae faigata tele ia te au ona faaaoga upu faaaloalo ma alagaupu … O a ni metotia o e faaaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
Jane uses teacher evidence to justify her view about the importance of passing the gagana Sāmoa exam:
- Ia pau lava le mea fai faalelei le su ‘ega o le gagana Sāmoa taeao, aua a misi loa ua le alu ile tausaga sefulu kolu!
Beginning to support or challenge the ideas and opinions of others
Jane encourages Lota to do well in the exam. She supports the policy of allowing only those who pass level 2 to take level 3:
- Ia pau lava le mea fai faalelei le su’ega o le gagana Sāmoa taeao, aua a misi loa ua le alu ile tausaga sefulu kolu!
She asks Lota to confirm the teacher’s policy:
She shows her support for Lota’s advice by thanking him:
- Fa ‘afetai tele mo lau fesoasoani. She has clearly found the discussion useful.
Jane then gives Lota advice that he may find challenging:
- Fa soifua ma aua le moe umi nei tei ua e tuai i le suega.
Beginning to engage in sustained interactions and produce extended texts
The interaction consists of a combination of short and long sentences, for example:
- Oka! Matua faigata tele lava le suega; Laki ae pasi; Ae a lau suega Numela? Ua ou taumafai ina ia aua nei umi au tusitusiga, ae ia lelei manatu ma le faalautelega o manatu taitasi. Ia manino foi ni mau e lagolago ai manatu taitasi.
Jane sustains the interaction by asking Lota questions that invite a response:
- Ae a lau suega Numela? O a ni metotia o e faaaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
She also responds to Lota’s questions, for example:
- O a vaega o le suega ua uma oga e kapega iai?
The topic of the conversation is clearly of high interest to Jane and Lota for they both have plenty to say. For example, Jane talks about her preparation and difficulties, then asks Lota a question so that he can contribute to the conversation:
- Ua uma ona ou tapena i tusitusiga ae faigata tele ia te au ona faaaoga upu faaaloalo ma alagaupu. Ua ou taumafai ina ia aua nei umi au tusitusiga, ae ia lelei manatu ma le faalautelega o manatu taitasi. Ia manino foi ni mau e lagolago ai manatu taitasi. O le taliga o fesili ou te popole tele iai. O a ni metotia o e faaogaina mo lea vaega e aoga mo au?
Interpreting ways in which the language is organised in different texts and for different purposes
The interaction illustrates features of informal conversation, for example, short sentences and one word response:
The phone conversation is informal in tone, for example, when Lota uses a colloquial phrase:
- … makua gimo uma mea sa a’o agapo. Makua pogisa lava lau vaai … Oka!
This is an extract from a phone conversation, so the conventional openings and closings do not appear.
The interaction includes use of both the formal 't' and everyday 'k' styles of communication. For example:
Ok a! Fiu e mafaufau isi mea sa fai i le aoga. Matua faigata tele lava le suega. Laki ae pasi.
Faapega foi au, makua gimo uma mea sa a’o agapo. Makua pogisa lava lau vaai i isi fesili ga iai.
When Jane and Lota refer to achievement standard levels and types of passes, they use the English words, as when Jane says:
- Fai mai le faiaoga a le pasi le level 2 o le Sāmoan, e le mafai ona alu i le level 3!
Lota also uses English words when he refers to the exams; for example, le Excellence; Na o le presentation lava. Because NCEA has such a high profile in New Zealand secondary education, technical terms specific to NCEA have made their way into gagana Sāmoa and other languages, especially their spoken forms.
As this extract is from a phone conversation, features of spoken language such as pronunciation, intonation, rhythm patterns, delivery speed, audibility, and stress patterns contribute to the overall effectiveness of the communication and must be considered.
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Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence
Students could explore how the issues raised could be presented (in gagana Sāmoa) using different text types, for example, speech, video presentation, debate, radio talkback, poem, or online chat. What language, conventions or protocols would students need to know and use/observe when creating such texts? What levels of language would they use? What resources and stimulus material could they use? What comparisons and connections can they make with equivalent texts in English (and in their own languages and cultures)?
Establish a relationship with a school in Sāmoa or elsewhere in New Zealand and set up an online chatroom where students can use gagana Sāmoa to discuss matters that are relevant to them.
Last updated March 27, 2013
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