Call for NZ government to support Samoan language
Updated
A group promoting the Samoan language in New Zealand is warning Pacific languages in the country will die without government support. Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, national president of FAGASA, wants the New Zealand government to support efforts underway in Pacific communities to preserve their languages.Samoan is regarded as a relatively strong language in New Zealand, but the latest census figures showed a four percent drop in the number of Samoan speakers.
Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speaker: Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, national president of the Samoan language association in New Zealand, FAGASA
- Listen:
- Windows Media
HUNKIN: FAGASA, which is in Samoan, which in English is the organisation of teachers and parents who are the maintenance for the teaching of the Samoan language in New Zealand. It was set up over 20 years ago by a number of teachers, including myself in Wellington, and with some in Auckland, and we decided at that stage that not only were we going to help our youngsters to learn English, but that we were also concerned that we didn't want the Samoan language to be lost in New Zealand.
HILL: Is there any danger that Samoan will be lost, I think it's the third most spoken language after English and Maori?
HUNKIN: That's right but it is now registering on a downward trend in the number of speakers; particularly those who are born in New Zealand. And it's four per cent loss, and that's something which is quite sizeable from our point of view.
HILL: Is that something that you see as inevitable living in an English speaking country like New Zealand though, as the generations come and go gradually the languages from back home that Grandma and Grandpa spoke will just sort of naturally fall into disuse?
HUNKIN: Inevitable in that sense, but not inevitable if you're determined that the culture that that language serves and has served for thousands of years in the Pacific is an important one. So in a sense what we're seeing if the lingua franca, which is English, which is a very, very powerful language does have a very huge and powerful effect on languages such as Samoan and other Pacific languages, but that the system here can also accommodate and make sure that Samoan and other Pacific languages are looked after well and looked after for the sake of New Zealand citizens who are of Pacific background.
HILL: Now is this something that you want the Pacific Island communities to take care of or do you want the government to step in, and if so what role would the government play and why should the government support minority languages?
HUNKIN: Both sides and let me explain, the community of course need to use their languages because there is a very short phrase that I adopted and I think it's used elsewhere in the world, we either use it or we lose it. So the community has to say we want our languages to be used, we want it to be retained, we want it to be valued and we want it to be taught where our children go to school in a bilingual classroom. The government has a big responsibility to play on the other hand in ensuring that the people's languages are looked after by funding them, by making sure that there is a proper policy, a language policy which spells out what needs to be done and also guides and sets up programs for Education Ministry for instance.
HILL: Well that's Samoan but what about other languages like Cook Islands Maori, Niuean, Tokelau, they're in an even worse picture?
HUNKIN: I'm talking about the whole lot, sorry I'm not just talking about the Samoan language now Bruce, I'm talking about the whole lot of languages but Samoan happens to be the one that has been if you like at the forefront of pushing this over the last 20 years or so years. And I'm now saying that because all the other languages like you said; Cook Island, Maori, Niue and Tokelauan are in a worse plight, that the government has to step up almost immediately and start to formulate a policy that will ensure they do not die completely from these shores, because if it doesn't happen soon then they will disappear very rapidly.
