EIT is to host Ngāti Kahungunu’s inaugural language symposium, Te Reo ki Tua – an event that will bring together leading authorities to brainstorm stratagems for promoting the Māori language.

The language symposium is a new initiative developed in line with a Ngāti Kahungunu strategy aimed at revitalising te reo Māori by 2027.

The two-day symposium will be staged at EIT’s Te Ūranga Waka on Thursday, April 14 and Friday, April 15.  It will include two international speakers as well as a notable line-up of New Zealand-based experts in linguistics and Māori language.

In a keynote address, Professor of Linguistics and Endangered Languages at the University of Adelaide and Australian Research Council Discovery Fellow Dr Ghil’ad Zuckermann will explore the relationship between reclaiming language and social well-being.

Keynote speaker Professor Rawinia Higgins of Te Whare o Te Reo Mauriora will talk about developing a blueprint for revitalising te reo Māori through legislation.

Other speakers will consider challenges associated with teaching second language learners and raising bilingual children, identifying tribal dialectal variations, the role of the language in modern-day society and the proposed Māori language bill, which could change the way in which Māori language revitalisation funds sourced from Government are managed.

The discourse will also extend to consider efforts by the indigenous people of Hawaii to retain their language and wider efforts to save endangered languages, focusing in particular on the regeneration of Hebrew as a vernacular language.

With free entry to all, the symposium starts at 9am each day and concludes around 3pm.