Textbooks for the teaching of te reo Māori : Time for change?

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Introduction
Language revitalisation efforts have played a primary role in many communities, most of all in the educational arena.Since the 1980s, when Māori initiatives to revitalise the Māori language began in earnest, some of these included: Te Kōhanga Reo (Māori immersion language nest for preschoolers), Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori immersion primary schools), Wharekura (Māori immersion secondary schools), Māori tertiary institutions and Māori departments within mainstream universities.
Te reo Māori has been an official language of Aotearoa/New Zealand since 1987 (Māori Language Act 1987), but over three quarters of Māori students currently attend schools where the main language of instruction is English.The early 1980s saw the beginning of an attempt to achieve consistency in New Zealand language documentation within the context of the emerging New Zealand Curriculum Framework (Johnson 2000).All of the language syllabuses and curriculum documents that have been released by the New Zealand Ministry of Education (formerly Department of Education) from 1987 onwards claim to be communicative in orientation (Ministry of Education, 1993).Widely accepted are Littlewood's (1981) and Nunan's (1991) descriptions of a communicative approach as an emphasis on learning to communicate by interacting in the target language in authentic contexts.
In 2003, work began on a curriculum guidelines document relating to the teaching of te reo Māori in English-medium schools, but the final version was not made available until 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2007).With over two thirds of Māori children attending Englishmedium schools in Aotearoa, curriculum design, textbook design and instructed language learning must play a significant role in the revitalisation agenda.

A brief account of early 18th-century approaches to teaching additional languages to more recent developments in teaching additional languages
In the 18th century and throughout much of the early part of the 19th century, languages no longer used for day-to-day interaction, such as Latin, were taught in European universities, largely as an intellectual exercise.The focus was on memorising long lists of vocabulary and grammatical rules and the translation of culturally and/or historically significant texts.This approach was adapted for use in schools initially in 1783 by Johann Meidinger (Howatt & Widdowson 2004) where it was characterised by an emphasis on the translation of model sentences constructed to exhibit particular grammatical rules.Labelled by its critics as "grammar translation" (Howatt & Widdowson 2004, 152), this method was prevalent during the heyday of European colonialism and U.S. expansionism (NeSmith 2011).
By the late 1800s, grammar translation was already being challenged by linguists who advocated a focus on the language of spoken day-to-day interaction and the avoidance of translation exercises.In the 1960s, that challenge had been formalised in the development of the structural syllabus (Sturrock 2003), which emphasised progressive exposure to individual sentences that exemplified particular grammatical rules, and audio-lingual methodology (see critique by Rivers 1964), which emphasised the importance of repetition and accuracy.The first was influenced largely by the development of linguistic structuralism 1 ; the second by the development of behaviourist psychology 2 .
The impact of challenges to both behaviourist psychology and linguistic structuralism was felt by the 1970s, as well as the emergence of second language acquisition research; these were beginning to have an impact on language teaching, undermining confidence in both the structural syllabus design concept and audio-lingual methodology.
New approaches to the concept of culture (Lévi-Strauss 1955), the emerging development of concepts of communicative competence (Hymes 1971), communicative language teaching (Littlewood 1981) and new approaches to language proficiency (Bachman & Palmer 1996), and testing and assessment (Elder & Wigglesworth 1996) all led to a range of new, more inclusive and more meaning-oriented approaches to syllabus design (Wilkins 1973).These methodologies involved encouraging language learners to engage in genuine interactive communication in the classroom (Willis 1990).
Research now suggests that an effective approach, whatever context learners are in (whether "immersion" or "mainstream"), is an approach based on what is referred to as "communicative language teaching" (Howatt 1984;Littlewood 1981;Nunan 1991).Communicative language teaching (CLT) is part of an overall communicative movement in language teaching, which is itself part of a general movement toward student-centred (as opposed to teacher-directed) education that began around the mid 1960s.Communicative language teaching is also teaching that encourages learners to engage in meaningful communication in the target language as they learn, in which communication has a function over and above that of language learning itself.The communication in which they are involved during the process of language learning should have personal, social and cultural meaning.

Varying opinions about the usefulness of textbooks
In the teaching and learning of second or additional languages, textbooks are used extensively (Hutchinson & Torres 1994).Some critics have commented on the dangers of using textbooks; for example, the fact that they may actually take the place of the curriculum (Fullan 1991), may be inflexible (Allwright 1981), may make false claims and have serious design flaws and practical shortcomings (Sheldon 1988) and, in general, may lack authenticity and fail to provide adequate coverage of the language (Cathcart 1989;Yule, Mathis & Hopkins 1992).Other critics have pointed out that there are a number of potential advantages associated with the use of textbooks, including the fact that they can reduce a teacher's workload (Brewster & Ellis 2002), provide ideas about what to teach and how to teach (Harmer 1998), and assist with innovation and support teachers through periods of change (Hutchinson & Torres 1994).
The three textbooks analysed here, Te Rangatahi (The New Net; Waititi 1970) 3 , Te Kākano (The Seed;2001), and Te Mātāpuna (The Source; 1995) were evaluated in order of extent of use according to teacher/participant responses to the questionnaire-based survey.

Te Rangatahi 1
Te Rangatahi: Elementary 1 was written by Hoani Waititi, a secondary school teacher of te reo Māori, at the request of a number of people interested in the teaching and learning of the language.It has been revised once, in 1970, and reprinted many times since then.
The textbook is 132 pages long and is divided into eight chapters: Ko Tamahae Mā (Tamahae and others), Kei te Aha a Tamahae Mā? (What are Tamahae and others doing?), Te Kāinga (The home), Te Kura (The school), Te pāmu a Hata (Hata's Farm), Te Hī ika (Fishing), Te Pikitia (The pictures/movies), and Te Tāone (The town).There is no teacher's guide or supplementary materials.Each chapter is introduced by a dialogue, a passage or a story accompanied by an English translation,except in the case of the first chapter, which is introduced by a series of phrases (with English translations) and sentences grouped in relation to shared meanings.

Te Kākano
Te Kākano (The Seed) is the first (introductory level) of four textbooks in the Whanake (Development) series 4 that was "designed for adult and teenage learners of Māori" (He kupu whakataki/Preface; Moorfield 2001).It has been reprinted several times and was revised in 2001.It begins with prefatory material, including an outline and explanation of the chapters (Ngā wehewehenga me ngā whakamārama).It has an appendix that includes a reference guide on the uses of the particles ā and ō, and a dictionary/index of all of the vocabulary used in this textbook and in supplementary audiotapes.Each of the ten chapters begins with a dialogue 5 , followed by explanations and examples of the target structures and new words (with some diagrams and maps), listening and speaking activities, a writing activity and a final speaking activity.In recent years, the complete series, together with a number of supplementary resources, has become readily available through a website.

Te Mātāpuna
Te Mātāpuna (The Source) is the first of five volumes 6 of the series Te Ia Reo (The Current of Language) written by Ian and Shirley Cormack and first published by New House Publishers in 1995 (Cormack & Cormack 1995a, 1995b).Although it has been reprinted several times since then, it has not been revised.Each volume includes a student's book, a teacher's guide, a workbook and a range of supplementary resources.Although the series is intended primarily for secondary school students in Years 9-13 (generally aged from 13 to 17), the authors note on the back cover of the textbook that it can also be used with senior primary school students and with adults in tertiary institutions.
Te Mātāpuna is 176 pages long and is divided into five main chapters, each with a different theme: Taku Whānau (My Family), Taku Rōpū Ako (My Class), Taku Kāinga (My Home), Ngā Wāhanga o te Tinana (Parts of the Body), Te Haere ki te Tāone (Moving to the City/Town).There are, in addition, two revision and extension chapters.Each chapter includes the following two subheadings: Hei mahi (Activities) and Te Whakamārama (Explanations) and covers a number-often a large number-of language points.

Analysis of textbooks
Each textbook was analysed in terms of focus points developed by Wang (2007) and NeSmith (2011), based on literature on textbook evaluation, and were adapted from Coleman (1985) and Cunningsworth (1995).The focus points are outlined below.

Focus points
1. Language content.Ensure there is a variety of genres, such as recounting and instruction, or sufficient text types, including songs, stories, letters or emails.The language content needs to be consistent with the relevant curriculum guidelines document, and the language content should be situationally appropriate and adequately contextualised.
According to Yeh (2005), some of the problems with existing textbooks relate to the misuse, inappropriate use and inconsistent use of language, and a focus on grammar rather than communication.
2. Tasks and activities.These need to be interesting, varied and balanced in terms of skills, providing authentic language in a real context and activities that have a genuine communicative intent, such as pair work, group work, surveys, questionnaires, making lists, comparing items, role-playing, and identifying facts and figures, to name a few.The tasks also need to be interesting, imaginative and innovative.
3. Quality and relevance of the illustrations.The illustrations should support the language and the culture, and help to convey meaning; illustrations are alive and not static, and there should be a gender balance.Newton (1985, 21) observes: "While pictures in textbooks can aid comprehension of the text and encourage reading, pictures themselves have to be 'read'.The use of an inappropriate illustrative style may neither facilitate comprehension nor encourage textbook use." 4. Approach/methodology.There needs to be clear and appropriate guidance in relation to the lesson staging, use of resources and teaching methodologies, such as introducing new language and testing the understanding of new language.There also needs to be an indication of timeframes for the activities included.
5. Cultural content.The culture needs to be culturally appropriate and integrated with the language, and not taught as a separate topic.
6. Interest level.The materials need to be of relevance and interest to the learners.7. Quality and quantity of supplementary resources.These resources need to support the learning objectives and need to be consistent with the relevant curriculum guidelines document.
Each of the authors integrated cultural content well throughout their textbooks, but as only two of the textbooks had supplementary resources, a decision based on the observations above was made to investigate only focus points 1-4 and 6 for this article.The "interest" component was incorporated into the tasks and activities analysis.

Te Rangatahi 1
Te Rangatahi begins on the first page, as follows: E pēhea and koe?
How are you?(one person) E pēhea and kōrua?
How are you?(two people) E pēhea and koutou?
How are you?(more than two) E pai ana.

Haere mai!
Welcome! Come here!Nau mai! Welcome!Haere rā! Goodbye!Cheerio! (to person/s leaving) E noho rā! Goodbye!Cheerio! (to person/s staying) Hei konei rā! Hei konā rā! Goodbye!Cheerio! (to person/s staying) (Waititi 1970) Although the list above contains material from which a number of mini-dialogues involving encounters between two or more people could be constructed, the next section of the chapter is made up of five monologues in which people (each one illustrated) from the same family introduce themselves.In these, there is minimal use of the language already introduced, and a wide range of further vocabulary and constructions, including ā and ō possessives, is added to the mix.Two examples are shown here: (Waititi 1970, 1) 7 (Waititi 1970, 2) 8   While these monologues are not accompanied by translation, they are followed by some translated segments (e.g.au, ahau = I, me; koe = you; singular) along with some further translated sentences that are not included in the monologues (e.g.Ko wai au? = Who am I?; Ko Tamahe koe = You're Tamahae).This type of presentation is continued throughout the book, the primary principle guiding linguistic selection appearing to be topic relevance, and the only means of conveying the meaning of newly introduced language being translation (which should be avoided, as previously mentioned) and with illustration sometimes playing a minor role.

Te Kākano
Te Kākano is characterised by a range of problems relating to the language introduced in terms of selection, grading, presentation, revision and integration (focus points 1 and 4).Thus, for example, the dialogue with which the first chapter begins is preceded by an explanation in English and includes all of the language, as indicated in Table 1.The dialogue is included below: This dialogue contains a wide range of lexical and grammatical constructions selected and organised in a way that makes it extremely difficult to introduce them to learners without translation and memorisation.Thus, for example, although it would be possible to introduce the formulaic greetings Kia ora, (Hello/Good day), Tēnā koe (Greetings to one person) and Tēnā koutou, (Greetings to you-more than two persons) using gestures and illustrations to signal meaning, this is almost impossible in other cases.For example, whereas Kei te pēhea koutou?(How are you?-morethan two persons) is included, there is nothing to contrast it with in order to bring out the meaning of koutou (more than two).Similarly, as there is only one wellbeing response in the dialogue (Kei te pai/Well), it would make no sense to attempt to use illustrations to signal the meaning in this case.It also makes little sense in terms of language pedagogy (i.e.deciding what can be feasibly and effectively taught) to include so much linguistic variety in the first unit of an introductory textbook.It is certainly the case that the dialogue is in one sense authentic, in that it includes some things that would typically be said during a meeting of the type indicated.However, all texts need to be accessible, situationally appropriate and adequately contextualised to the level of the learners.In this case, the assumption must be that the authors expect that teachers will use translation (which should be avoided) as a primary strategy to introduce new language.

Te Mātāpuna
Te Mātāpuna, as with the previous textbook, appears to be characterised by a number of problems relating to overall content, and the selection, grading and presentation of that content (focus point 4).Thus, for example, in the very first text segment, and before the learners have had an opportunity to come to terms with some more simple and straightforward aspects of the language, there is considerable complexity in terms of vocabulary and structure introduced (see Table 2).The summary of teaching points for this chapter in the Teachers' Guide (Cormack & Cormack 1995b, 31) is made up of a list of 14 items and it is noted that "[the] opening passage contains most of the anga (structures) and kupu (vocabulary) that are used in this chapter".Teachers are advised that they have a choice of three basic timings for the use of the passage-at the beginning of the chapter (for pronunciation practice), when the structures and vocabulary have been "absorbed" by the students, and/or at the end of the chapter.Doing the first of these will result in a situation in which students' initial approach to the text will be essentially meaning-free.Doing the second and third means that contextualisation (focus point 1) effectively plays a secondary role, the students' initial encounter with new language being via decontextualised chunks.

Te Rangatahi
There is little variety in the exercise types included in Te Rangatahi 1, with gap filling and translation dominating throughout (focus point 2).Although the second edition of the book appeared in 1970 at a time when communicative activities were beginning to emerge, such as pair work, group work, surveys, making lists and comparing items, there is little account of this, and no account was taken of differing learning styles or interests.

Te Kākano
Te Kākano includes a variety of exercises-listening exercises, writing exercises, reading exercises and speaking exercises-all of which occur towards the end of chapters.In general, as with Te Rangatahi, there is an absence of genuinely communicative activities, such as surveys, interactive activities, making lists and comparing items.Frequent recourse is made to English in introducing and explaining activities.

Te Mātāpuna
Most of the tasks and activities in Te Mātāpuna are directly relevant to the main teaching points.However, although references are made in the Teachers' Guide to learning styles (Cormack & Cormack 1995b, 16-17), little account of different learning styles or proficiency levels appears to have been taken into consideration in the design of these tasks and activities.Although there are some listening exercises and activities involving pair-work, and although many of the activities are likely to be of interest to the students, few of them are genuinely communicatively oriented.Even in the two revision chapters, these are largely comprised of traditional exercises, such as gap filling, sentence completion and answering text-based questions.

Te Rangatahi
The illustrations in Te Rangatahi 1 are black-and-white line drawings reminiscent of the type typically occurring in children's books of the 1950s and 1960s.They serve largely to set scenes and/or introduce topics but do little to support meaning.Thus, for example, the following illustration accompanies a text in which two boys set out to fish on a warm day in which the sea is calm, and one of them, in a hurry, lowers the anchor and starts to fish.Neither the lowering of the anchor nor the fishing are evident in the illustration and, as Newton (1985, 21) observes: "While pictures in textbooks can aid comprehension of the text and encourage reading, pictures themselves have to be 'read'.The use of an inappropriate illustrative style may neither facilitate comprehension nor encourage textbook use." (focus point 3).(Waititi 1970, 67) Te Kākano The illustrations in Te Kākano are in black and white and are generally of cartoon style, except for the occasional use of maps and tables and the inclusion, in four chapters, of photographs of real people in the context of events such as having a meal, shopping, having a conversation on the phone, and visiting a marae 10 .Introductory dialogues in which newly introduced language appears are generally unsupported by illustrations that help to convey meaning.

Te Mātāpuna
In Te Mātāpuna, the authors have attempted to incorporate a balance of gender and age in the illustrations.They are, however, largely made up of sketches that lack realism and dynamism.Even so, they do often provide support for conveying the meaning of newly introduced language, something that is in line with the claim in the Teachers' Guide (Cormack & Cormack 1995b, 5) that "[w]e have made every effort in the students' books to use pictures to carry meaning".

Te Rangatahi
Te Rangatahi, in common with the others analysed, involves a curious mixture of aspects of grammar translation (Larsen-Freeman 1986) and aspects of audio-lingualism.
Translation is used to introduce new language (concept introduction) and check on comprehension/understanding (concept checking), and translation exercises occur frequently throughout the book.Where the exercises do not involve translation, they generally involve lists of sentences or incomplete sentences that are not linked thematically, which the students are expected to manipulate in a limited number of ways (e.g. by filling gaps or answering questions).

Te Kākano
The overall approach of Te Kākano is a very traditional one, with translation playing a significant role throughout.The fact that new language appears to be selected largely on the basis of topic or situational relevance and the author's perception of usefulness, little consideration has been given to other pedagogic considerations such as the problems likely to result from introducing a wide range of new vocabulary and structures at the same time and without clear support (in terms of, for example, a range of visual aids) for meaning transmission.Indeed, the author insists that the stage at which new language is introduced is not related to "difficulty of the form" (Moorfield 2001, xi).

Te Mātāpuna
The authors do attempt to design materials in a way that encourages an approach that is consistent with communicative language teaching, as are many other aspects of the recommendations made in the Teachers' Guide (Cormack & Cormack 1995b).Despite this, the material included in the introductory sections of each chapter contains a considerable amount of unfamiliar language (both structures and vocabulary) rather than introducing unfamiliar language gradually.The content is not designed in a way that introduces new language in the context of familiar language or that promotes inferencing; these text segments provide no genuine meaning revealing function.Instead, students are exposed to chunks of language contained in the text (accompanied by illustrations) separately.The end result is a book that, while making some genuine attempt to move in the direction of communicative language teaching and to include some useful and interesting pair work activities, remains largely locked into an audio-lingual type of methodology.

Lessons to be learnt
In the textbooks analysed, it appears that very little, if any, consideration has been given to pedagogic considerations such as, for example, how much language and which type learners are likely to be able to cope with in the initial stages of language learning, and how the meaning of that language can be conveyed (concept introduction) and checked (concept checking) without recourse to translation.
The problems here relate not only to the amount of new language introduced at a single point and the lack of textual authenticity, but also to lesson shaping (a pedagogic factor).These problems could be avoided if chapters were divided into smaller units, with unfamiliar language being introduced more gradually.Consolidation and practice involving fewer language points could then take place at intervals that are more regular.
This could involve a comic-style text format in which each segment of text is accompanied by a picture as it is introduced, and preteaching vocabulary rather than introducing new structures in contexts in which the vocabulary included in marker sentences is also new.New structures should be introduced more gradually and, when some language is familiar to students, new and familiar language should be carefully integrated so as to encourage inferencing.It is also useful to differentiate between the type of text that is appropriate when new language is being introduced and the type which is appropriate during the practice stage of lessons.
All texts need to be accessible and appropriate to the level of the learners.This can be achieved by careful selection, grading and presentation of that content.Texts also need to serve as genuine meaning revealing function, sentences need to be linked thematically, and illustrations that are real and dynamic need to be included to help convey meaning.
There should also be some guidance on how teachers should make use of the dialogues and monologues included in the book.The design of tasks and activities needs to take into account the different learning styles and proficiency levels.Furthermore, activities need to be genuinely communicative, including pair and group work, and be focused on conveying real information for genuine purposes.Textbooks should be consistent with the approach recommended in the relevant curriculum guidelines document, include culturally relevant material and interesting photographic material, and if designed for higher level students, should include reading and writing skills-development strategies.

Conclusion
While textbooks can never provide all that is required, and while they need to be used with care and in the context of effective lesson planning, they can, as Hutchinson and Torres (1994) observe, assist with innovation and support teachers through periods of change.
What is surprising, however, in view of the major developments that have taken place in second language teaching, such as new approaches to the concept of culture (Lévi-Strauss 1955), the emerging development of concepts of communicative competence (Hymes 1971), communicative language teaching (Littlewood 1981) and new approaches to language proficiency (Bachman & Palmer 1996) and testing and assessment (Elder & Wigglesworth 1996), is the fact that textbooks that have not been revised for over 40 years are still being used.What is equally surprising is the fact that none of the textbooks analysed reflect in any thorough way any of those major research-based developments that were already widely known at the time of their first publication or later revision.In addition, they fail to reflect any of the recommendations purported in the curriculum guidelines documents, that is, to echo a communicatively oriented approach.

Table 2
Language included in the first text segment of Te Mātāpuna