Cook Islands Māori at USP
Dr Akevai Nicholas
Cohort 1: 2017 -2021
ꞌE aꞌa teia?
This page is documenting and supporting the Cook Islands Māori language papers in the "Diploma in Pacific vernacular languages (Cook Islands Māori). This qualification is run by the University of the South Pacific and our first cohort started in semester 2 2017.
USP established Pacific Vernacular Language program with two goals in mind.
For fluent speakers the aim is to increase their linguistic skills and awareness and improve their language teaching skills.
For language learners the aim is to acquire and improve their language skills as well as gaining an understanding of the linguistics of their language the the region more broadly.
The overarching goal of the program is to combat the marginalization of Indigenous and smaller languages in the region - which is one of the most linguistically diverse in the world.
We currently offer five Cook islands Māori courses.
CM111 Cook Islands Māori 1
CM211 Cook Islands Māori 2
CM212 Teaching Cook Islands Māori 1
CM311 Cook Islands Māori Texts and Translation
CM331 Cook Islands Māori Research Methods and Ethics
Students can include these courses in a certificate, diploma, BA or BEd.
We also offer conversational classes for beginners.
In 2021 we gave a presentation at Recognizing Relationships The 7th International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC)
Cohort 1
Our first cohort of about 20 fluent speakers of Māori completed CM111 Cook Islands Māori 1 in 2018 and CM211 in January 2019 at the Cook Islands Campus of USP. CM 212 "Teaching Cook Islands Māori" in 2020. In 2021 under covid affected conditions we completed the last two courses. CM331 Cook Islands Research Methods and CM311 Texts and Translation.
Most of this group are school teachers along with a few public servants and language enthusiasts. Everyone in this group is committed to supporting the revitalisation of Cook Islands Māori, a language that is, sadly, endangered even in the homeland.
From the fist instantiation CM211 onwards the students have been required to produce an e-portfolio of their work. There were 18 students enrolled in 2019 and these are their portfolios:
Next Steps
2023-01-16
Since 2020 several groups of students (who hail from a range of backgrounds and language experience) have taken CM111.
NEW COHORT STARTING - S2 2023
We are running the full diploma again as of semester 2 2023. (CM101 starts Jan 2024) Email cook.islands@usp.ac.fj for more details.