Cook Islands Māori L8: Example 2
Example 2: 'Akata'unga'ia koe kia kite 'i te reo
Miss Taina — Pōpongi e Michael, ‘ea ‘a to ‘ou manamanatā?
Michael — Pōpongi e Miss Taina. ‘E Miss, tē ‘inangaro nei au ‘i te ‘āpi ‘i ‘i te reo Māori Kūki ‘Airani nō te mēa ‘e tere tōku ka aere ki Rarotonga ‘ā tēia mata ‘iti ki mua. Tē ‘inangaro katoa nei au ‘i te ‘anga ‘anga ki roto ‘i te ngā ‘i o te au tūroto.
Miss Taina — Aaaa meitaki, ‘ea ‘a tā ‘au ka inangaro kia kite koe? Te au tūroto oki, tei a rātou te pāngika moni.
Michael — Ok rā e Miss, ‘inangaro au kia kite ‘i te au tuatua ‘aka ‘ārāvei ‘anga, te au kupu ‘ei tauturu ‘iāku me ‘aere au ki kō ‘i te toa, ki te mākete, ‘ē tē vai atūra
Miss Taina — Ok rā, kua pāpū iākoe? ‘Akapē ‘ea tō ‘ou ngā metua, kua kite rāua i tā ‘au parani? ꞌEi a ‘a koe kaimoumou ‘i tōku taime?
Michael — Kāre e Miss. ‘Āpi ‘i ‘ia āu. ‘Akapāpū atu nei au ē kāre koe ē kaimoumou ‘i tō ‘ou taime. Nōku te ‘inangaro ‘ināra kā turu pakari rāua.
Miss Taina — Ok rā, kāre e kino tē ‘akamata nei tāua. ‘E manako meitaki tikāi tō ‘ou. Ko tē rēira tā ‘au ‘anga ‘anga ka ‘inangaro ‘i te rave? I ‘nā aere ki mua.
Michael — ‘E tano ei. Tūmeke rāi koe e Miss.
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Context and text type
Michael, a learner of Cook Islands Maori, is discussing language and identity and possible career opportunities with his teacher, Miss Taina.
Text type
Conversation, semi-formal. Interactive.
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Examples showing how the student is:
Communicating information, ideas, and opinions through extended and varied texts
Michael uses formulaic phrases to express an idea, for example:
Michael responds to questions from his teacher and communicates his ideas and opinions through extended text:
- Pōpongi e Miss Taina. E Miss te ‘inangaro nei au ‘i te ‘āpi ‘i ‘i te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani nō te mea ‘e tere tōku ka ‘aere ki Rarotonga ‘a tēia mata ‘iti ki mua. Tē ‘inangaro katoa nei au ‘i te ‘anga ‘anga ki roto ‘i te ngā ‘i ‘o te au tūroto.
He uses a mix of simple and compound sentences to convey his opinions about learning Cook Islands Māori:
- ‘Āpi ‘i ‘ia āu. ‘E Miss te ‘inangaro nei au ‘i te ‘āpi ‘i i te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani no te mea ‘e tere tōku ka ‘aere ki Rarotonga ‘ā tēia mata ‘iti ki mua.
Michael is able to vary sentence structure; for example, this sentence pattern is different from others that he uses:
- Nōku te ‘inangaro ‘inā rā ka turu pakari rāua.
Exploring the views of others
As Michael interacts with the teacher and responds to her questions, he explores his views and clarifies his beliefs about the decisions he has made:
- nō te mea ‘e tere tōku ka ‘aere ki Rarotonga ‘ā tēia mata ‘iti ki mua. Te ‘inangaro katoa nei au ‘i te ‘anga ‘anga ki roto ‘i te ngā ‘i o te au tūroto.
The students who read or listen to this interaction will be exploring their own views as they hear what the teacher and Michael have to say. They will be relating the information, ideas, and beliefs that they hear to their own prior knowledge, understandings, and beliefs.
Developing and sharing personal perspectives
Michael shares his views about wanting to travel and work in the tourism industry:
- … nō te mea ‘e tere tōku ka ‘aere ki Rarotonga ‘ā tēia mata ‘iti ki mua. Tē ‘inangaro katoa nei au ‘i te ‘anga ‘anga ki roto ‘i te ngāꞌi ‘o te au tūroto.
Michael shares information about what he needs to do to improve his language knowledge, for example, learn vocabulary and phrases:
- ‘inangaro au kia kite ‘i te au tuatua ‘aka ‘ārāvei ‘anga, te au kupu ‘ei tauturu ‘iāku me ‘aere au ki kō ‘i te toa, ki te mākete, ‘ē tē vai atūra.
Justifying own ideas and opinions
Michael justifies his decision to learn the language:
- … ‘ei tauturu ‘iāku me ‘aere au ki kō ‘i te toa, ki te mākete, ‘ē tē vai atūra.
He reassures his teacher that her time will not be wasted on teaching him the language:
- ‘Akapāpū atu nei au ē kāre koe ē kaimoumou ‘i tōꞌou taime.
Supporting or challenging the ideas and opinions of others
Michael disagrees with his teacher’s view that his career choice may be a waste of time:
- Kāre e Miss. In this way he challenges her ideas.
Michael acknowledges his teacher’s advice:
- ‘Āpi ‘i ‘ia āu. In this way, he recognises that his teacher supports his thinking even if she challenges some of his ideas.
Michael supports his teacher’s views:
- 'E tano ei. Tūmeke rāi koe ē Miss.
Engaging in sustained interactions and producing extended texts
Michael responds to his teacher’s questions. These questions maintain a focus on the topic and assist in sustaining the interaction:
- Ok rā kua pāpū iākoe? Ko tē rēira tā ‘au ‘anga ‘anga ka inangaro ‘i te rave?
Michael produces extended text in response to his teacher’s interest and questions:
- Pōpongi e Miss Taina. E Miss, te ‘inangaro nei au ‘i te ‘āpi ‘i ‘i te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani nō te mea ‘e tere tōku ka ‘aere ki Rarotonga ‘ā tēia mata ‘iti ki mua. Tē ‘inangaro katoa nei au ‘i te ‘anga ‘anga ki roto ‘i te ngā ‘i ‘o te au tūroto.
Exploring how linguistic meaning is conveyed across languages
Michael responds to his teacher’s formulaic greeting in a socially appropriate way:
- Pōpongi e Miss Taina. Formulaic greetings are found across languages.
While the teacher–student relationship can be formal, the language in this interaction indicates a more relaxed, quite close relationship; for example:
- ‘E tano ei; Tūmeke rāi koe ē Miss.
Michael uses the familiar expression 'Ok rā'. Although 'OK' is English in origin, many Cook Islands people use it in conversation instead of 'Ae' (Yes). It has become structurally embedded in te reo Māori Kūki ꞌĀirani through the addition of 'rā'.
'OK' is transliterated in Cook Islands Māori as ‘ōkē. This is then abbreviated to Ok in the written form of spoken text. Abbreviating words is a phenomenon found across languages.
Other words in the text transliterated from the English include 'pāngika' (bank), 'moni' (money), and 'taime' (time). English speaking students will find that, when they encounter words transliterated from the English, they can often guess the meaning. Similarly, students who know other Polynesian languages will be be able to guess the meanings of words that are similar in form to the word in their own language. For example, a speaker of Māori will recognise that aere is related to 'haere'.
Analysing how the use of the target language expresses cultural meaning
The use of a 'bank' metaphor expresses the reliance of the Cook Islands on tourism for capital:
- Te au tūroto ‘oki, tei a rātou te pāngika moni.
The use of formulaic expressions of encouragement to support Michael’s future endeavour is an expression of aro ‘a in te peu Kūki ‘Āirani:
Although the relationship between Miss Taina and Michael is semi-formal, Michael demonstrates tā ‘aka ‘aka when he addresses her:
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Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence
Students could explore how people express relationships (for example, through levels of language), and 'aro ‘a' (interest, encouragement, compassion) in different contexts and text types in te reo Māori Kūki ꞌĀirani. They could relate their findings to how relationships are expressed in comparable text types and contexts in English and other known languages.
How might students use the knowledge they have gained to interact more knowledgeably with other speakers of Cook Islands Māori and to make meaning from oral, written, and visual texts in the language?
Last updated October 3, 2013
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