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Gagana Sāmoa context elaborations

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Gagana Sāmoa L8: Context elaborations

Students are expected to engage with and respond clearly and critically to a variety of extended texts, including authentic texts (those not created or modified specifically for language learners). They are expected to use the language more variably (flexibly) and with greater effectiveness (fitness for purpose and appropriateness), at times in sustained interactions and extended texts. They are expected to explore the views of others, develop and share personal perspectives, and justify, support, or challenge ideas and opinions in different situations and on matters that are beyond their immediate experience. In all their output, it is expected that students will use their developing knowledge of linguistic and cultural forms to help them create meaning.

Context elaborations are examples for teacher guidance only. They should not be used as assessment tools.

Example 1: Poem (lament)

Galulolo i Sāmoa

30 Setema 2009 i le fitu i le taeao, ae fa ‘alogoina loa le leo mai Rama
Talofa Sāmoa le atunuu pele, ua pōia faamanu i ōfaga
Se tala fa ‘amomoiloto ua logo ai Aotearoa ma ua fa ‘amanu ‘alia ai uma o agaga
Mafui ‘e ma galulolo malolosi ua tafi esea ai a ‘ai ma fano ai le faitau selau o tagata.

Talofa i le Atu-Aleipata, Faleālili, Siumu e agai mai i Safata ma Lefaga
Sa lilo i manatu, o le ā āfea e le to ‘asā o le moana o outou afioaga
Le matalasi o tou siosiomaga, sa fai ma mata ‘aga i le tele o tausaga
Le sami tioata ma le oneone sinasina, ua fai nei ma tu ‘ugamau o le tele o agaga

Sāmoa ia aua nei tatou fesiligia pe fa ‘aseā i le mamana o ana galuega
O le tatou olaga ua uma ona i ai ona aulape ma vaevaega
Ia noa ona tu’uaia o se mala ae o se tofotofoga i o tatou tagata
Faꞌamausalī ai lagona e i ai le taimi e ave fa ‘agaoi ai o tatou agaga

E ui lava ina ua matagitaumuaina le tatou sā Sāmoa i lenei tausaga
Ia aua lava nei galo ua nā o se fuga o le vao o tatou olaga
Ae ia tatou fa ‘atuatua pea ma loto tetele
E leai sē tasi e taumāsina ma le finagalo o le Silisili Ese
Auā o le ti ‘a e le seua o le tā foi e le agaia lona finagalo
E fa ‘i le moto e tau foi le pula, o Ia e aumai ma toe aveese i so ‘o se aso.

– Rasela Lafaele-Uili

Context and text type

A lament for the loss of loved ones in Sāmoa following the tsunami of September 2009.

Text type

Poem. Receptive.

Observations a student might make concerning:

Information, ideas, and opinions communicated in the text

The poet uses descriptive expressions to convey information:

  • Le matalasi o tou siosiomaga, sa fai ma mata ‘aga i le tele o tausaga … Le sami tioata ma le oneone sinasina, ua fai nei ma tu ‘ugamau o le tele o agaga.

She gives factual information, for example:

  • Talofa i le Atu-Aleipata, Faleālili, Siumu e agai mai i Safata ma Lefaga.

She expresses emotions by connecting the story of the tragedy in Sāmoa to her personal feelings:

  • Se tala fa ‘amomoiloto ua logo ai Aotearoa ma ua fa ‘amanu ‘alia ai uma o agaga.

She uses a command to indicate action that is needed:

  • Ae ia tatou fa ‘atuatua pea ma loto tetele.

She expresses sympathy by the way in which she uses the word Talofa:

  • Talofa Sāmoa le atunuu pele …

She offers hope to others:

  • O le tatou olaga ua uma ona i ai ona aulape ma vaevaega … E fa ‘i le moto e tau foi le pula, o Ia e aumai mo toe aveese i so ‘o se aso.

How the poet explores the views of others

The poet offers a personal response to the news of the devastation in Sāmoa. As she explores her own feelings, and through the advice she offers, readers are challenged to consider their own responses.

She offers opportunities to challenge and explore Christian views of self and others:

  • Sāmoa ia aua nei tatou fesiligia pe fa ‘ase? i le mamana o ana galuega
    O le tatou olaga ua uma ona i ai ona aulape ma vaevaega
    Ae ia tatou fa ‘atuatua pea ma loto tetele

How the poet develops and shares personal perspectives

The poet uses metaphors to expand ideas, for example:

  • Le sami tioata ma le oneone sinasina ua fai nei ma tuugamau … O le ti ‘a e le seua o le tā e le agaia lona finagalo.

She offers a course of action:

  • Fa ‘amausalī ai lagona e i ai le taimi e ave fa ‘agaoi ai o tatou agaga.

She expresses hope for the future:

  • E ui lava ina ua matagitaumuaina le tatou sā Sāmoa i lenei tausaga … Ia aua lava nei galo ua nā o se fuga o le vao o tatou olaga.

She shares a personal view:

  • E leai se tasi e taumāsina ma le Silisili Ese.

How the writer justifies their own ideas and opinions

The poet extends an argument to justify an opinion:

  • Sāmoa ia aua nei tatou fesiligia pe fa ‘aseā i le mamana o ana galuega … Fa ‘amausalī ai lagona e i ai le taimi e ave fa ‘agaoi ai o tatou agaga …

She justifies the advice she is giving by stating a known truth:

  • Fa ‘amausalī ai lagona e i ai le taimi e ave fa ‘agaoi ai o tatou agaga.

The poem illustrates the use of figurative language, for example, metaphor, to sustain a point of view:

  • Le sami tioata ma le oneone sinasina, ua fai nei ma tu ‘ugamau o le tele o agaga.

How the writer supports or challenges the ideas and opinions of others

The writer’s advice to be strong in the Christian faith either supports or challenges the reader or hearer, depending on their own personal beliefs:

  • Ae ia tatou fa ‘atuatua pea ma loto tetele … E leai sē tasi e taumāsina ma le finagalo o le Silisili Ese.

Through the advice she offers, the poet offers a challenge to those who suffered from the devastation caused by the tsunami:

  • E ui lava ina ua matagitaumuaina le tatou sā Sāmoa i lenei tausaga … Ae ia tatou fa ‘atuatua pea ma loto tetele.

How linguistic meaning is conveyed across languages

In this context, the greeting Talofa conveys sympathy:

  • Talofa Sāmoa le atunuu pele, ua pō ‘ia faamanu i ōfaga.

Greetings in other languages can also convey different meanings depending on the context. For example, the English 'hello' can be used as an exclamation expressing surprise.

Metaphor is a common feature of poetry across languages. An example from this poem is:

  • ua poia faamanu i ofaga

Setema is a transliteration of the English 'September'.

The poet’s use of 'Aotearoa', the te reo Māori term for New Zealand, creates a link with New Zealand readers.

The use of moana (sea, ocean) connects with other Pacific cultures that use the same word.

How language is used in the text to express cultural meanings

The poet uses a story from the Bible to convey the kind of grief she is experiencing. The story is well known to Sāmoan people because it is often recounted at funerals. The use of the story intensifies the description of the grief of those in New Zealand who mourn the loss of people and land in Sāmoa and places this grief in a cultural context.

The term 'Silisili Ese' is used instead of 'Atua' is to place greater emphasis on the power of God.

The last two lines of the poem echo the language that an orator would use when offering a gift to express sympathy to the family of a deceased person, or that a church minister would use during a funeral service:

  • Auā o le ti ‘a e le seua o le tā foi e le agaia lona finagalo … E fa ‘i le moto e tau foi le pula, o Ia e aumai ma toe aveese i so ‘o se aso.

Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence

Students could explore how people express grief and sympathy in different situations, how these sentiments are conveyed in different text types, and the particular linguistic and cultural features of such texts. They could compare these texts with comparable texts in English, and in other languages known to students.

Students could investigate the more common forms of poetry in gagana Sāmoa and compare these with their counterparts in English and other known languages. What similarities and differences in terms of form and purpose can students observe?

Last updated October 3, 2013



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