Samoan language in decline

School is replacing the home and church as the main place to learn the Samoan language, a Victoria University Masters student has found.

"English is creeping into the Samoan churches, as there is an assumption that New Zealand born Samoans won't understand Samoan—and many don't," says Salainaoloa Wilson, who recently submitted her MA thesis in Pacific Studies, through Victoria's Va'aomanu Pasifika programme.

"My research found fewer young people are learning the language at home because many Samoan parents work long hours as they work multiple jobs or do shift work."

Ms Wilson's research explored the perceptions of a group of Wellington-based Samoan students, their Samoan teachers, and their parents about the place of the Samoan language in New Zealand today.

"I was interested in the subject after looking at census data which showed language loss was occurring, and that this seemed to be more prevalent amongst the New Zealand-born Samoan population."

In 1996 48 percent of New Zealand-born Samoans reported being able to hold a conversation in Samoan, but in 2006 this dropped to 44 percent.

"This might not sound significant, but because New Zealand has the biggest Samoan population outside of Samoa this is quite a worrying statistic.

"Even in Samoa, there is more of a bilingual focus because English is the preferred language in education, commerce and, to some extent, government. Nowadays you can often hear English being spoken when you walk down the street in Apia - and even in more isolated regions.

"Although all groups I interviewed said they valued the Samoan language very highly as inextricably linked to the Samoan culture, identity and sense of belonging, and for communicating and showing respect - to elders especially, but also to all Samoan people - the youth did not consider the language useful, particularly for being able to find work."

Ms Wilson also noted that there were gaps in the availability of Samoan language curriculum in the education system, at primary school level in particular.

"We have a'oga 'amata, our Samoan pre-schools, but then there are generally no language classes available until secondary school, and even then there are still not many schools offering Samoan as a subject.

"My research found one of the biggest issues to be the shortage of qualified Samoan language teachers."