Big Ideas are derived from the Learning Area essence statement and capture the essence of a subject, ensuring coherence rather than fragmentation of learning. At the subject level, they inform the Significant Learning – learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in relation to a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes and also includes level-appropriate contexts students should encounter in senior secondary education.

The Significant Learning is collated into a Learning Matrix and progresses across Curriculum Levels 6-8. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover all the 'not to be missed' learning in a subject. There is no prescribed order to the Learning Matrix within each level. A programme of learning might begin with a context that is relevant to the local area of the school or an idea that students are particularly interested in. This topic or context has to relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas. The Learning Matrix is designed so that educators have the freedom to create courses that are both flexible and coherent.

Learning languages is about communicating with people across cultures

Learning an additional language allows students to engage in effective communication across cultures. As they do so, they begin to expand their own world and to open up a whole range of new possibilities for personal development and pathways.

The ability to communicate in an additional language is a rewarding experience. It makes it possible for learners to establish relationships with people from other cultures within and outside of Aotearoa. It enables them to read, understand, and produce texts in order to participate in, and reflect on, the discourses of other societies, and to travel, study, and work in other countries.

Proficiency in communication to meet a range of needs is the main goal of all language learning. While this draws from the knowledge of the linguistic building blocks of a language, the primary focus is the communicative, not the linguistic accuracy.

Ultimately, communication in an additional language is the future-focused prerequisite for intercultural understanding and global citizenship.

Every language expresses meaning through unique spoken, written, and visual forms

Languages create and represent meaning by employing unique systems of linguistic building blocks – be they oral features, vocabulary, grammar and syntax, or punctuation – that give rise to endless possibilities for expression and exchange. They are also repositories of the historical and cultural aspects of the language.

Students who learn Japanese get to explore its unique linguistic workings by comparing and contrasting it with their own language. They learn how speakers adjust their language when negotiating meaning in different contexts and for different purposes, and how different types of text are organised. This helps them, over time, to communicate with greater clarity, creativity, and confidence.

Japanese belongs to a different language family than English or te reo Māori and has developed in different historical and social contexts. The resulting linguistic differences will give learners the opportunity to reflect back on their first language(s) and to develop an awareness that languages can make meaning in a variety of ways not encountered in European or Pacific languages. Most obviously, this includes script, but also word order and sentence structure, and the importance of registers of language to express respect or recognise social status. There are, however, similarities, as well. Those provide another opportunity to include not just English but also te reo Māori as the first language reference point in additional language learning. By exploring both the similarities and differences learners will build an increasing understanding of how linguistic elements work together as they develop their linguistic proficiency in Japanese.

Language, culture, and identity are inextricably linked

Language and culture continuously evolve together, influencing one another in the process. Language encodes culture and provides the means through which culture is shared and passed from one generation to the next – contributing to a sense of personal, community, and national identity.

Learning an additional language gives learners the richest possible access to another culture because it enables them to communicate with the people that live it and allows them to explore the authentic spoken and written expressions of it. In that way, they gain an understanding of that culture which provides a strong foundation for intercultural respect and acceptance as well as an appreciation for the diversity that all cultures encompass.

Equally, learners gain an insight into how their own 'cultural lens' shapes their perceptions and ways of doing things. This helps to deconstruct cultural stereotypes and moves language learners away from automatically defaulting to the dominant culture, honouring tangata whenua and the multicultural nature of modern Aotearoa and welcoming the rich knowledge each individual brings to the learning environment.

Learning more than one language encourages diverse ways of thinking

"Another language opens up a whole new window on the world. It might be small and difficult to see through at first, but it gives you a different perspective, and it might make you realise that your first window could do with a bit of polishing and even enlarging."

(Hone Tuwhare, Die deutsche Sprache und ich, NZCTE, Goethe-Institut, circa 1997)

Language and thought are intricately intertwined and impact one another. Our language(s) can direct our thoughts and influence our perspectives without us always being aware of it. Therefore, engaging with another language gives us new metacognitive tools to think about how language functions.

Learning an additional language allows students to compare and contrast their own languages and thinking with those of other cultures, gaining a deeper insight into how languages function. This equips them with the tools necessary to navigate between them.

Furthermore, the ability to critically examine diverse cultural and personal points of view, which is facilitated by developing proficiency in another language, is an invaluable skill in our increasingly diverse and globally connected world.

Language learning is an empowering process that requires risk-taking and fosters resilience and perseverance

Acquiring an additional language, much like learning to play an instrument, is a process that requires regular commitment, practice, and repetition. It fosters perseverance and allows students to take ownership of their own learning.

Language learning also builds resilience because learners continually negotiate situations with emerging communicative competence and take the risk of being misunderstood. This encourages them to reframe 'mistakes' as rich opportunities for learning and development. It will give them the confidence to seek out opportunities to use the target language outside of the classroom where language learning truly flourishes.

Students are made aware of the hidden processes of language acquisition and gain some insight into the most helpful strategies for progression. This can include pattern recognition, trial and error, techniques to memorise vocabulary, and effective use of tools like dictionaries, verb conjugators, and digital translators. Learners are encouraged to find modes of learning that work best for them and to begin thinking like a linguist.