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Connections

Given its cross-curricular nature, learning languages links readily to much of what students are learning in other subjects – and opens up many pathways to further learning. Teachers should make some of these links explicit so that students can see a bigger purpose in their daily learning and so that they will feel encouraged to continue.

Te Marautanga o Aotearoa has a central focus on learning a language, te reo Māori.

Connections between learning languages and other curriculum areas

English

In learning languages, students learn to use a language to make meaning, developing the skills of listening, reading, writing, speaking, presenting, and producing. They learn how language is expressed in a variety of text forms.

In English, students make meaning through listening, reading, and viewing, and create meaning through speaking, writing, and presenting. They come to understand how English works in a variety of text forms.

English and learning languages teachers could compare the types of texts they use in class, such as emails, poems, blogs, and short stories, so that they can make deliberate links for the students when discussing appropriate language choices, structures, purposes, and audiences. Texts about different countries and cultures could be shared across classes.

The arts

In learning languages, students explore the beliefs and cultures of another society through language and, as they do so, come to understand more about themselves and others.

In the arts, students use movement, sound, and image to make sense of the world and their own identities.

Students could:

  • explore traditional dance from the culture of the target language, and compare it with contemporary dance (for example, can-can vs hiphop)
  • improvise or role-play in the target language, using traditional stories or fictional events; role play using puppets or watch or perform a scene from a story
  • enjoy and explore songs or music in different languages, expressing preferences and discussing lyrics.

Social sciences

In learning languages, students explore different beliefs and cultures in the world around them and, in the process, come to understand more about themselves and others.

In social sciences, students explore how societies work, and how they can participate as informed and responsible citizens.

Students could:

  • produce a comparison study of the local area and a comparable area in the target country/ies using pictures, maps, videos, and internet sites – corresponding with a school if possible
  • explore themes of change and continuity in the target country; for example, working as a historian, using artefacts, paintings, and old and modern photographs to present their understandings of a cultural aspect of a country where the target language is spoken
  • compare the New Zealand lifestyle with life in the target country, exploring communities, ways of life, environments, pastimes, climate, tourism, homes, transport, and so on.

Mathematics and statistics

In learning languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language in such a way that others can understand them.

In mathematics and statistics, students learn to express relationships between quantities, space, and data in ways that help them to make sense of the world around them, and in ways that covey meaning to others.

Students could:

  • plan travel to and around the target country using timetables in the 24-hour clock, and measuring/estimating distance
  • role play a shopping trip, calculating purchases in different currencies.

Te reo Māori

In learning languages, students explore the beliefs and cultures of societies in which the target language is spoken. As they do so, they come to understand more about themselves and others.

In te reo Māori, students learn to express themselves using speech, body language, and written language, and to use their language to express their own uniqueness and heritage.

Teachers of te reo Māori and learning languages could compare a variety of types of texts, such as waiata, speeches, and short stories, so that they can make deliberate links for the students when they discuss appropriate language choices, structures, purposes, and audiences.

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Last updated March 26, 2013



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