NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

NZ sitting on language goldmine

Isaac Davison
By Isaac Davison
Senior Reporter, Health·HeraldUnique(donotuse)·
4 Mar, 2013 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Richard Le Heron said the research outlined a strong case for a national languages policy in New Zealand. Photo / Thinkstock

Richard Le Heron said the research outlined a strong case for a national languages policy in New Zealand. Photo / Thinkstock

Cultural complexity at 'superdiverse' levels but paper shows plans to harness multilingualism sadly lacking.

New Zealand has reached a rare level of diversity with 160 languages spoken by residents, but completely lacks a plan to harness the social and economic benefits of multilingualism, a paper released today says.

The Royal Society of New Zealand paper highlights that over the past two decades New Zealand has become a "superdiverse" country, with a level of cultural complexity far greater than previously experienced.

But unlike countries such as Australia and Britain, which have similar diversity of language, New Zealand does not have a plan to encourage multilingualism, with only a number of disparate policies and practices.

AUT head of languages Dr Sharon Harvey, who contributed to the paper, said: "Although we live in a publicly monolingual country and a bicultural legislative framework, there is a lot more going on in people's homes that isn't publicly acknowledged."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The paper shows a strong language policy can reduce barriers to trade, improve student performance across the curriculum, and influence better health and well-being, particularly among Maori, Pacific and migrant groups.

The costs of a monolingual society were high, such as reduced international trade, weaker integration of immigrants, and the potential decline or loss of indigenous languages.

Royal Society vice-president of the social sciences and humanities Richard Le Heron said the research outlined a strong case for a national languages policy in New Zealand.

Australia's languages policy is nearly 20 years old and its government is pushing for more access to Asian languages in schools.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Britain was considering making every English-speaking child learn a second language from age 7.

In New Zealand, a Labour-led 1992 languages policy discussion paper, "Aoteareo: speaking for ourselves", was dropped by the next National-led government.

Language learning is not mandatory at any level in New Zealand.

An education policy introduced in 2002 placed more emphasis on learning Asian, Pacific and European languages, but this has faded. More primary and intermediate students were studying languages compared with 2000, but fewer secondary school students were learning a language.

Discover more

Lifestyle

NZ toddler speech patterns to be studied

18 Feb 06:00 AM
Lifestyle

Using body language to nail that job

25 Feb 11:09 PM
Opinion

Douglas Pratt: Better to celebrate our differences

28 Feb 08:30 PM
New Zealand|education

Lack of multi-language plan

05 Mar 04:30 PM

Education Minister Hekia Parata's office said that the number of students learning Japanese and Chinese had climbed over the past five years, and the ministry had developed services to support Pacific languages from early childhood centres to high schools.

There was no immediate plan for a shakeup of the education sector's approach to languages.

Dr Harvey said a good first step in a national-level policy would be to focus on Te Reo Maori and Pacific languages, but also encourage Asian language learning with an eye to improved trade connections.

Labour MP Phil Goff felt that New Zealand had a responsibility not only for the Maori language but the Pacific languages spoken by our neighbours.

"For small countries, the majority of their population reside in New Zealand. Letting a language, and therefore a culture, become extinct would be unforgivable."

His Mt Roskill electorate was the most diverse in New Zealand. When he attended the opening of an ANZ bank branch last week, the staff spoke eight languages between them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Goff, who spoke "one and a quarter languages", was concerned immigrants had no encouragement to maintain their mother tongue.

  • Linguistic diversity in New Zealand as a distribution of the average number of languages spoken per person. For example, if a region has an average number of languages spoken per person of 1.5 or greater, one out of two people will be bilingual or multilingual (Area unit data from Statistics NZ, Census 2006, Credits: Dr Paul Behrens, Dr Paul Murrell).
  • Save

      Share this article

    Latest from New Zealand

    New Zealand

    'No respect': Bookstore hit by serial vandal targeting women’s biographies

    24 May 11:21 PM
    New Zealand

    Man charged after two injured in shooting on Karangahape Rd

    24 May 10:51 PM
    New ZealandUpdated

    Parents battling to keep young teen away from older boyfriend resort to legal action

    24 May 10:00 PM

    The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

    sponsored
    Advertisement
    Advertise with NZME.

    Latest from New Zealand

    'No respect': Bookstore hit by serial vandal targeting women’s biographies

    'No respect': Bookstore hit by serial vandal targeting women’s biographies

    24 May 11:21 PM

    The vandal has ripped covers off books about high-profile NZ women.

    Man charged after two injured in shooting on Karangahape Rd

    Man charged after two injured in shooting on Karangahape Rd

    24 May 10:51 PM
    Parents battling to keep young teen away from older boyfriend resort to legal action

    Parents battling to keep young teen away from older boyfriend resort to legal action

    24 May 10:00 PM
    Gazan doctors' 9 children killed in Israel airstrike, 13 dead in Kyiv | NZ Herald News Update

    Gazan doctors' 9 children killed in Israel airstrike, 13 dead in Kyiv | NZ Herald News Update

    Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
    sponsored

    Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

    NZ Herald
    • About NZ Herald
    • Meet the journalists
    • Newsletters
    • Classifieds
    • Help & support
    • Contact us
    • House rules
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Competition terms & conditions
    • Our use of AI
    Subscriber Services
    • NZ Herald e-editions
    • Daily puzzles & quizzes
    • Manage your digital subscription
    • Manage your print subscription
    • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
    • Subscribe to Herald Premium
    • Gift a subscription
    • Subscriber FAQs
    • Subscription terms & conditions
    • Promotions and subscriber benefits
    NZME Network
    • The New Zealand Herald
    • The Northland Age
    • The Northern Advocate
    • Waikato Herald
    • Bay of Plenty Times
    • Rotorua Daily Post
    • Hawke's Bay Today
    • Whanganui Chronicle
    • Viva
    • NZ Listener
    • What the Actual
    • Newstalk ZB
    • BusinessDesk
    • OneRoof
    • Driven CarGuide
    • iHeart Radio
    • Restaurant Hub
    NZME
    • About NZME
    • NZME careers
    • Advertise with NZME
    • Digital self-service advertising
    • Book your classified ad
    • Photo sales
    • NZME Events
    • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
    TOP