What is New Zealand Sign Language about?
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: New Zealand Sign Language
- Description: New Zealand Sign Language Subject Expert Group members discuss their experiences in the Review of Achievement Standards
- Video Duration: 8 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/842070989
- Transcript: In conversation with Nirvana Graham Bryanna O'Regan Paula Haworth English transcript below: The biggest change that the teachers see is the new New Zealand Sign Language Level 1 home on the website. Wow! Everything is there in one place - Achievement Standards
In conversation with
Nirvana Graham
Bryanna O'Regan
Paula Haworth
English transcript below:
The biggest change that the teachers see is the new New Zealand Sign Language Level 1 home on the website. Wow! Everything is there in one place - Achievement Standards, tools, resources, guides for the teacher. And also the new NZSL vocab with signs, structure and grammar, all included is fantastic. Before, we didn’t have that. But now we do and it is fantastic!
The big change for me I think is that before we had four internal standards. But now we have two internal standards and two external standards. This means the pressure is taken off us and passed on to NZQA.
That’s true. For me, having everything there in one website. Before we had TKI there, and NZQA here, and NCEA there. But now it’s all included into one NCEA website. This makes it easier for all the teachers to access the resources they need.
Also, the new website is fantastic with all the resources, New Zealand Sign Language vocab and grammar which allows the teacher to acquire the curriculum and be confident in teaching the class. Hope to see more teachers have the opportunity to teach New Zealand Sign Language throughout New Zealand.
True.
The students will find NCEA a bit different. Previously, we have had the four standards - the students filmed themselves, and there was the one receptive task. Now they will still have the two tasks being filmed and the other assessments will involve receptive skills and the ability to respond. So it is testing their receptive and expressive skills. We will be able to assess whether they have the ability to acquire and express information in New Zealand Sign Language. I think this will be a good opportunity for students to learn that it’s not only about expressing information, but it goes both ways. That’s why I see the students' experience will be different.
Yes, I agree. The introduction of technology will make it different for external exams when students need to watch and answer questions.
The exciting part about being part of the SEG is that we have experienced teachers and people from other organisations all come together from AUT, Deaf Aotearoa, Ko Taku Reo to discuss and share perspectives. Unpacking all the Big Ideas, and sharing our perspectives around a better programme for NCEA New Zealand Sign Language. This is really valuable being able to share perspectives, learn from one another and work together.
It’s great to have a variety of different cultures involved such as Pacific and Māori representation involved, and parents too. Because while we are focusing on teaching the students, it is important to be open-minded and think about what is best for all the students. That’s the positive part. But the negative part of SEG is that there is none.
Mātauranga Māori is important to have included in the NCEA programme. It’s great to see the connection there. Mātaurangi Māori helps bring Western World teaching and knowledge and Te Ao Māori teaching together as equals. This is important for Māori Deaf students. This is spot on. I am so happy to see that.
Yeah, I agree with that. I want to see all the students in Aotearoa develop a stronger sense of identity, resilience and confidence. It’s really important.
All of the Big Ideas for New Zealand Sign Language to come out of the Whakataukī. My language, and your language, is an expression of identity. I think it is really important to be able to draw from the Whakataukī.
The Learning Matrix with Levels 1 to 3 helps guide the teacher with their planning of the programme. This is really great.
The Learning Matrix also helps the teacher to help the students with their pathway to the future. Maybe the student wants to become an interpreter, or communicate in the classroom with other students? There are other jobs out there for them, so it is important to be aware that there are other jobs out there for them.
New Zealand Sign Language NCEA is important because we need to see New Zealand Sign Language grow and flourish, not diminish and die. We want to see it grow and flourish like other languages here in New Zealand. Those things are important to Deaf people and the Deaf Community, and for hearing people to learn successfully.
It is important for Deaf children to be able to access the curriculum, information, world knowledge about what is happening, really needs to be available in New Zealand Sign Language so that Deaf Children can access the information they need. I would also encourage teachers to go to the Deaf events in the community, go to NZSL and Deaf spaces and be immersed in our culture and language. This will inform your teaching of the language. It's important to be connected to the culture to be able to teach the language effectively. Going to Deaf events will help fill those gaps for your teaching.
Following up with what you just said, the Learning Matrix had a lot of focus on language but nothing on culture. But now the new one has both - language and culture. You can’t really have Sign Language on its own without the culture. It’s a whole thing with the culture, the grammar, and language features. It will be really good to see more people learn New Zealand Sign Language in the future.
Yes, because New Zealand Sign Language is an official language so there you go.
Te reo Māori transcript below:
Ko te panonitanga nui katoa e kitea nei e ngā kaiako ko te kāinga hou o te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa Taumata 1 i te paetukutuku. Ānana! Kei reira ngā mea katoa i te wāhi kotahi - Ko ngā Paerewa Paetae, ko ngā taputapu, ngā rauemi, ngā tohutohu mā ngā kaiako. Waihoki ko te huinga kupu hou o NZSL me ngā rotarota, te whakatakotoranga me te wetewete reo, kei roto ngā mea katoa, anō te pai. I mua, ehara taua mea i a mātou. Engari kē kei a mātou ināianei, ā, anō te pai!
Ki tōku, ko te panonitanga nui māku ko tēnei i mua, kei a mātou ngā paerewa ā-roto e whā. Engari ināianei kei a mātou ngā paerewa ā-roto e rua me ngā paerewa ā-waho e rua. Me te aha, kua hīkina te pēhitanga i a mātou, ā, kua tukuna ki NZQA.
He tika tērā. Mōku ake, ko te tū o te katoa i reira, i te paetukutuku kotahi. I mua, i korā ko te TKI, i konei ko te NZQA, i konā ko te NZCA. Engari ināianei, kei roto ngā mea katoa i te paetukutuku kotahi o NCEA. Me te aha he māmā ake te uru atu a ngā kaiako ki ngā rauemi e hiahia ana rātou.
Waihoki, anō te pai o te paetukutuku hou me ngā rauemi, te huinga kupu o te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa me te wetewete reo e āhei ai te kaiako kia whiwhi i te marautanga, kia tū māia hoki nōna ka whakaako i te karaehe. Ko te tūmanako kia nui ake ngā kaiako ka whai āheinga ki te whakaako i te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa puta noa i Aotearoa.
Tika.
Mā ngā ākonga e kite ngā āhua rerekētanga i roto i NCEA. I mua, kei a mātou ngā paerewa e whā - i whakaahua ngā ākonga i a rātou anō, ā, kotahi anake te ngohe torohū. Ināianei, kei a rātou tonu ngā ngohe e rua e whakahuatia nei, ā, kei roto i ērā atu aromatawai ko ngā pūkenga torohū me te āheinga ki te urupare. Nō reira, e whakamātautauria ana ō rātou pūkenga torohū, pūkenga whakaputa hoki. Ka taea e mātou te aromatawai mēnā e āhei ana rātou ki te whiwhi me te whakaputa i ngā kōrero ki te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa. Ki tōku, he āheinga pai tēnei kia ākona ai e ngā ākonga ko tēnei, ehara i te mea mō te whakaputa kōrero anake, engari kē ko ngā mea e rua. Nā whai anō, ki tōku, e rerekē ai te wheako o ngā ākonga.
Āe, tautoko. Nā te whakaurunga o te hangarau e rerekē ai ngā whakamātautau ā-waho i te wā me mate ngā ākonga ki te mātakitaki me te whakautu pātai.
Ko te wāhanga whakaihihi o te noho i roto i te SEG ko te mea ka huihui katoa ngā kaiako tautōhito me ngā tāngata mai i ērā atu whakahaere, arā, i AUT, i Deaf Aotearoa, i Ko Taku Reo ki te kōrerorero me te tiritiri i ngā tirohanga. Te wetewete i ngā Whakaaro Nui, me te tiritiri i ō mātou tirohanga mō tētahi hōtaka pai ake mō te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa i runga i te NCEA. He tino whai tikanga te āheinga ki te tiritiri i ngā tirohanga, ki te ako, tētahi ki tētahi, me te mahi tahi.
He mea whakahirahira te whakaurunga o te whānuitanga o ngā ahurea rerekē pēnei i ngā māngai o te Hunga Moutere, ngāi Maori me ngā mātua ano hoki. Nā te mea, i a mātou e arotahi ana ki te whakaako i ngā ākonga, he mea nui kia tuwhera te hinengaro, kia whakaarotia anō hoki he aha ngā mea pai rawa atu mō ngā ākonga katoa. Koinā te wāhanga ngākaupai. Engari korekore ana he wāhanga whakahē o te SEG.
He mea whai tikanga ko te whakaurunga o te Mātauranga Māori ki roto i te hōtaka NCEA. He pai rawa te kite i te hononga i reira. E āwhina ana te Mātauranga Māori ki te tāpiripiri i te akoranga me te mātauranga o te Ao Uru ki te akoranga o Te Ao Māori i runga i te mana ōrite. He mea nui tēnei mō ngā ākonga Māori e turi ana. Mārekereke ana! Harikoa te ngākau e pērā nā.
Āe, tautoko. Ko taku hiahia kia kite i te pakari haere o te tuakiri, o te manawaroa me te māia o ngā tauira katoa i Aotearoa. He mea tino whai tikanga.
Te putanga o ngā Whakaaro Nui mō te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa i te Whakataukī. Ko tōku reo, me tōu reo, he whakapuakitanga o te tuakiri. Ki a au he mea whakahirahira kia taea te whakawhirinaki ki te Whakataukī.
E āwhina ana te Poukapa Akoranga o ngā wāhanga 1 ki te 3 ki te ārahi i te kaiako ki te whakamahere i te hōtaka. He pai rawa atu tēnei.
E āwhina ana hoki te Poukapa Akoranga i te kaiako ki te āwhina i ngā ākonga ki tō rātou ara ki anamata. E hiahia ana pea te ākonga kia tū hei kaiwhakamāori, ki te whakawhiti kōrero rānei ki ētahi atu ākonga i roto i te akomanga? He momo mahi kē atu mā rātou kei waho rā, me te aha he mea nui te noho ohooho ki aua mahi kē atu.
He mea nui te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa nā te mea e hiahia ana mātou kia kite i te tupu me te whakapuāwaitanga o te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa, kaua ko te mimiti haere me te mate rawa. E hiahia ana mātou kia kite i te tupu me te whakapuāwaitanga o tērā pēnei i ērā atu reo i konei, i Aotearoa. He mea whai tikanga aua mea ki ngā tāngata Turi me te Hapori Turi, ā, ki ngā tāngata whai rongo hoki kia ako pai ai rātou.
He mea nui te whai urunga a ngā tamariki Turi ki te marautanga, ki ngā pārongo, me ngā mātauranga ā-ao kia mōhiotia ai e aha ana te aha, me noho tino wātea ki te Reo Rotarota kia taea ai e ngā Tamariki Turi te uru ki ngā pārongo e hiahia ana rātou. Ko tāku, he akiaki i ngā kaiako ki te haere ki ngā taiopenga Turi i roto i te hapori, ki te haere ki NZSL me ngā wāhi Turi kia rumakina ai i roto i tō mātou ahurea me tō mātou reo. Mā reira e whāngaitia ai tāu whakaako i te reo. Kia pūmau ai te whakaako i te reo me whai hononga ki te ahurea. Mā te haere ki ngā taiopenga Turi e āwhina ai kia whakakīia ngā āputa i tāu whakaako.
Kia āpiti atu ki tāu i kī ai, i roto i te Poukapa Akoranga he nui te arotahi ki te reo, engari kē mō te ahurea, pākorehā. Engari kei roto i te mea hou ko ngā mea e rua - ko te reo me te ahurea. Ehara i te mea ka taea e te Reo Rotarota te noho takitahi me te korenga o te ahurea. He mea tūtahi, kei roto ko te ahurea, te wetewete reo, me ngā āhuatanga o te reo. Ka tino pai kia nui ake ngā tāngata e ako ai i te Reo Rotarota ki anamata.
Āe, nā te mea he reo whai mana te Reo Rotarota o Aotearoa, koia rā.
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: What is New Zealand Sign Language about?
- Description: What is New Zealand Sign Language about?
- Video Duration: 11 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/843742903
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the What is New Zealand Sign Language about? section.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the What is New Zealand Sign Language about? section.
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
What is New Zealand Sign Language?
New Zealand Sign Language is the dynamic, visual-gestural language of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. As a valued taonga and official language of Aotearoa New Zealand, "NZSL is an integral part of the Deaf community’s realisation of both mana and Deaf culture. NZSL is critical to New Zealand as a whole and part of what makes Aotearoa unique."
Minister's Foreword - Office for Disability Issues (odi.govt.nz)
Sign language has been used for over a century among Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Aotearoa New Zealand, but only since the mid-1980s has it been documented, named as New Zealand Sign Language, and used more publicly. New Zealand Sign Language is used as a primary language by Deaf and Hard of Hearing people and as an additional language by hearing people connected with the community, such as those who have Deaf family members and those who work or socialise with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people regularly.
"Research tells us that while New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is now more recognised and accepted by society, the numbers of Deaf people learning and using the language are decreasing (McKee, 2017). This means that NZSL — one of New Zealand’s official languages — is considered a threatened language." (NZSL Board, New Zealand Sign Language Strategy, 2018-2023).
Providing opportunities for people to learn New Zealand Sign Language as a second language means there can be a wider community of peers for first language users of New Zealand Sign Language. This subject allows second language learners to explore pathways related to New Zealand Sign Language and the Deaf community in all areas of society.
What is New Zealand Sign Language about?
By engaging with this subject, students develop the ability to communicate in New Zealand Sign Language and connect meaningfully with people in different communities around the world.
Languages and cultures play a key role in developing personal, group, national, and global identities. Through New Zealand Sign Language, students learn how to engage with the world around them in appropriate ways and become global citizens. As students acquire the skills of both communicative and intercultural competence, they reflect simultaneously on their own personal identities and explore their own culture(s) from a new perspective.
Students are encouraged to use their own cultural kete to enrich their learning of New Zealand Sign Language. Students will discover and make connections to the rich history, customs, beliefs, and cultures that are part of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in Aotearoa New Zealand. Students also have opportunities to make linguistic and cultural connections with Māori and Pacific cultures. By engaging in New Zealand Sign Language, students learn that each language has its own way of expressing meaning, and that each has intrinsic value and special significance and mana for its users.
Language learning is both an individual and collaborative process. Students are encouraged to foster rangatiratanga by taking ownership of their language learning. Students will work together in highly collaborative environments with fellow language learners towards the common goal of language acquisition.
By engaging in New Zealand Sign Language, students gain skills and knowledge that can lead to, and support, a wide range of pathways. The ability to communicate in more than one language helps students stand out. Students with the knowledge of an additional language demonstrate that they are committed to their learning and are interested in the world beyond their own. This is a considerable advantage and enhances employability in any career. For Deaf and Hard of Hearing students of New Zealand Sign Language, using and advancing knowledge of their language and culture enables them to affirm their sense of identity, participate in daily interactions, and access information.
Skills and knowledge gained in New Zealand Sign Language include:
- cultural competencies and global awareness
- communicative capabilities and interactive strategies
- understanding structure in thinking and communication
- enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills
- an appreciation of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives
- an additional context to embed and enhance literacy and numeracy competencies.
Learning New Zealand Sign Language allows hearing students to communicate with their Deaf and Hard of Hearing peers and participate in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. They can develop an appreciation of Deaf culture and enable society to become more inclusive of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. By increasing the numbers of New Zealand Sign Language users, teachers and students can participate in strengthening, revitalising, and protecting New Zealand Sign Language, as well as contributing to worldwide linguistic diversity.
Whether being used straight out of school or to enhance tertiary study, the transferable skills, cultural knowledge, and linguistic strategies learnt while engaging in New Zealand Sign Language will continue to support and enhance the life pathways for students long after school.
The Learning Area's whakatauākī is:
Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.
Your language and my language are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.
The Learning Languages whakatauākī came from Tāmaki Makaurau through Rewa Paewai of Auckland College of Education, gifted by the late Tuteira Brightwell Pohatu of Ngāti Porou.
The Learning Languages whakatauākī brings to life the why and how of language learning. The second part of the whakatauākī provides a metaphor for the experience of language learning. Like the movement from Te Kore (nothingness) to Te Pō (darkness and night) then finally to Te Ao (light and life), language learning brings students on a similar journey.
As in the Māori creation story, learners have an initial incomprehension of the language. This is also the state where unlimited potential exists. When students begin their language learning process, they face all the challenges that are involved with language learning. And finally, through resilience, perseverance, and guidance, students gain a sense of clarity, meaning, linguistic proficiency, and cultural understanding.
Communication is a vital aspect of human connection. Language helps us to share our ideas, build relationships, and create communities. There are inextricable connections between language, culture, and identity. Languages carry within them cultural values and practices that have developed over time, including cultural protocols such as tikanga.
The vitality of a language impacts the vitality of a culture and vice versa. In the context of New Zealand Sign language, the descendants referred to in the whakatauākī are the current and future generations of New Zealand Sign Language users. The identity of the ancestors lives on through the continued use of their language by their descendants.
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
What is New Zealand Sign Language?
New Zealand Sign Language is the dynamic, visual-gestural language of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. As a valued taonga and official language of Aotearoa New Zealand, "NZSL is an integral part of the Deaf community’s realisation of both mana and Deaf culture. NZSL is critical to New Zealand as a whole and part of what makes Aotearoa unique."
Minister's Foreword - Office for Disability Issues (odi.govt.nz)
Sign language has been used for over a century among Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Aotearoa New Zealand, but only since the mid-1980s has it been documented, named as New Zealand Sign Language, and used more publicly. New Zealand Sign Language is used as a primary language by Deaf and Hard of Hearing people and as an additional language by hearing people connected with the community, such as those who have Deaf family members and those who work or socialise with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people regularly.
"Research tells us that while New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is now more recognised and accepted by society, the numbers of Deaf people learning and using the language are decreasing (McKee, 2017). This means that NZSL — one of New Zealand’s official languages — is considered a threatened language." (NZSL Board, New Zealand Sign Language Strategy, 2018-2023).
Providing opportunities for people to learn New Zealand Sign Language as a second language means there can be a wider community of peers for first language users of New Zealand Sign Language. This subject allows second language learners to explore pathways related to New Zealand Sign Language and the Deaf community in all areas of society.
What is New Zealand Sign Language about?
By engaging with this subject, students develop the ability to communicate in New Zealand Sign Language and connect meaningfully with people in different communities around the world.
Languages and cultures play a key role in developing personal, group, national, and global identities. Through New Zealand Sign Language, students learn how to engage with the world around them in appropriate ways and become global citizens. As students acquire the skills of both communicative and intercultural competence, they reflect simultaneously on their own personal identities and explore their own culture(s) from a new perspective.
Students are encouraged to use their own cultural kete to enrich their learning of New Zealand Sign Language. Students will discover and make connections to the rich history, customs, beliefs, and cultures that are part of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in Aotearoa New Zealand. Students also have opportunities to make linguistic and cultural connections with Māori and Pacific cultures. By engaging in New Zealand Sign Language, students learn that each language has its own way of expressing meaning, and that each has intrinsic value and special significance and mana for its users.
Language learning is both an individual and collaborative process. Students are encouraged to foster rangatiratanga by taking ownership of their language learning. Students will work together in highly collaborative environments with fellow language learners towards the common goal of language acquisition.
By engaging in New Zealand Sign Language, students gain skills and knowledge that can lead to, and support, a wide range of pathways. The ability to communicate in more than one language helps students stand out. Students with the knowledge of an additional language demonstrate that they are committed to their learning and are interested in the world beyond their own. This is a considerable advantage and enhances employability in any career. For Deaf and Hard of Hearing students of New Zealand Sign Language, using and advancing knowledge of their language and culture enables them to affirm their sense of identity, participate in daily interactions, and access information.
Skills and knowledge gained in New Zealand Sign Language include:
- cultural competencies and global awareness
- communicative capabilities and interactive strategies
- understanding structure in thinking and communication
- enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills
- an appreciation of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives
- an additional context to embed and enhance literacy and numeracy competencies.
Learning New Zealand Sign Language allows hearing students to communicate with their Deaf and Hard of Hearing peers and participate in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. They can develop an appreciation of Deaf culture and enable society to become more inclusive of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. By increasing the numbers of New Zealand Sign Language users, teachers and students can participate in strengthening, revitalising, and protecting New Zealand Sign Language, as well as contributing to worldwide linguistic diversity.
Whether being used straight out of school or to enhance tertiary study, the transferable skills, cultural knowledge, and linguistic strategies learnt while engaging in New Zealand Sign Language will continue to support and enhance the life pathways for students long after school.
The Learning Area's whakatauākī is:
Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.
Your language and my language are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.
The Learning Languages whakatauākī came from Tāmaki Makaurau through Rewa Paewai of Auckland College of Education, gifted by the late Tuteira Brightwell Pohatu of Ngāti Porou.
The Learning Languages whakatauākī brings to life the why and how of language learning. The second part of the whakatauākī provides a metaphor for the experience of language learning. Like the movement from Te Kore (nothingness) to Te Pō (darkness and night) then finally to Te Ao (light and life), language learning brings students on a similar journey.
As in the Māori creation story, learners have an initial incomprehension of the language. This is also the state where unlimited potential exists. When students begin their language learning process, they face all the challenges that are involved with language learning. And finally, through resilience, perseverance, and guidance, students gain a sense of clarity, meaning, linguistic proficiency, and cultural understanding.
Communication is a vital aspect of human connection. Language helps us to share our ideas, build relationships, and create communities. There are inextricable connections between language, culture, and identity. Languages carry within them cultural values and practices that have developed over time, including cultural protocols such as tikanga.
The vitality of a language impacts the vitality of a culture and vice versa. In the context of New Zealand Sign language, the descendants referred to in the whakatauākī are the current and future generations of New Zealand Sign Language users. The identity of the ancestors lives on through the continued use of their language by their descendants.
Big Ideas and Significant Learning
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Big Ideas and Significant Learning
- Description: NZSL Big Ideas and Significant Learning
- Video Duration: 15 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/842368560
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Big Ideas and Significant Learning section.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Big Ideas and Significant Learning section.
This section outlines the meaning of, and connection between, the subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning, which together form the Learning Matrix. It then explains each Learning Languages Big Idea.
The Learning Languages Learning Area curriculum, including its whakatauākī, informs this subject’s Significant Learning — learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes. It also includes level-appropriate contexts students should encounter in their education.
The subject’s Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 6, and indicative learning for Levels 7 and 8. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover 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 context or topic must relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas.
There are six Big Ideas in New Zealand Sign Language. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa.
This section outlines the meaning of, and connection between, the subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning, which together form the Learning Matrix. It then explains each Learning Languages Big Idea.
The Learning Languages Learning Area curriculum, including its whakatauākī, informs this subject’s Significant Learning — learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes. It also includes level-appropriate contexts students should encounter in their education.
The subject’s Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 6, and indicative learning for Levels 7 and 8. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover 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 context or topic must relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas.
There are six Big Ideas in New Zealand Sign Language. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa.
Big Idea Body:
It is important to embrace Deaf culture and support the development of a positive teaching and learning environment so that New Zealand Sign Language can thrive and be sustained. As more people learn the language, all domains of society will become more accessible to New Zealand Sign Language users and support the wellbeing of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.
Students will learn what is impacting the sustainability and vitality of New Zealand Sign Language. They will explore ways in which they can contribute to its ongoing vitality for the good of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.
Learning a language contributes to its ongoing vitality and integrity and the wellbeing of the community in which it is used
It is important to embrace Deaf culture and support the development of a positive teaching and learning environment so that New Zealand Sign Language can thrive and be sustained. As more people learn the language, all domains of society will become more accessible to New Zealand Sign Language users and support the wellbeing of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.
Students will learn what is impacting the sustainability and vitality of New Zealand Sign Language. They will explore ways in which they can contribute to its ongoing vitality for the good of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.
Big Idea Body:
Learning New Zealand Sign Language allows students to participate and engage in effective communication within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. As they do so, they begin to expand their own world and open up new pathways and a range of possibilities for personal development.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and hearing children of Deaf and Hard of Hearing parents can gain awareness of their first language by studying New Zealand Sign Language. This will strengthen their sense of belonging in the New Zealand Sign Language community.
Proficiency in communication is the main goal of all language learning. Learning New Zealand Sign Language enables the language to be used in all domains of society and helps to promote social equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing New Zealand Sign Language users.
The ability to communicate in more than one language is the prerequisite for intercultural understanding and global citizenship.
Learning languages is about connecting and communicating within and across cultures and communities
Learning New Zealand Sign Language allows students to participate and engage in effective communication within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. As they do so, they begin to expand their own world and open up new pathways and a range of possibilities for personal development.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and hearing children of Deaf and Hard of Hearing parents can gain awareness of their first language by studying New Zealand Sign Language. This will strengthen their sense of belonging in the New Zealand Sign Language community.
Proficiency in communication is the main goal of all language learning. Learning New Zealand Sign Language enables the language to be used in all domains of society and helps to promote social equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing New Zealand Sign Language users.
The ability to communicate in more than one language is the prerequisite for intercultural understanding and global citizenship.
Big Idea Body:
Languages create and represent meaning by employing unique systems of linguistic building blocks.
"NZSL has a distinct vocabulary and grammar that has developed in the deaf community. Signs express concepts, and grammatical and expressive meaning is conveyed by movements of the face, head and upper body. A fingerspelled alphabet is used mainly for proper nouns and terms that have no equivalent sign." Story: New Zealand Sign Language (Te Ara)
Students who learn New Zealand Sign Language also explore its unique linguistic workings by comparing and contrasting them with other languages. New Zealand Sign Language is a daughter language of British Sign Language (BSL) which was brought to Aotearoa New Zealand by British immigrants. It is the sister language of Australian Sign Language (Auslan). New Zealand Sign Language has evolved over time and has developed its own signs as well as borrowing signs from other languages such as American Sign Language.
New Zealand Sign Language is the natural language of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Sign Language reflects the culture of Aotearoa New Zealand and increasingly includes signs for Māori concepts as the language grows and more opportunities become available for Māori deaf people to engage. The signs for these Māori concepts can only be found in New Zealand Sign Language.
Languages express meaning through unique forms of communication
Languages create and represent meaning by employing unique systems of linguistic building blocks.
"NZSL has a distinct vocabulary and grammar that has developed in the deaf community. Signs express concepts, and grammatical and expressive meaning is conveyed by movements of the face, head and upper body. A fingerspelled alphabet is used mainly for proper nouns and terms that have no equivalent sign." Story: New Zealand Sign Language (Te Ara)
Students who learn New Zealand Sign Language also explore its unique linguistic workings by comparing and contrasting them with other languages. New Zealand Sign Language is a daughter language of British Sign Language (BSL) which was brought to Aotearoa New Zealand by British immigrants. It is the sister language of Australian Sign Language (Auslan). New Zealand Sign Language has evolved over time and has developed its own signs as well as borrowing signs from other languages such as American Sign Language.
New Zealand Sign Language is the natural language of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Sign Language reflects the culture of Aotearoa New Zealand and increasingly includes signs for Māori concepts as the language grows and more opportunities become available for Māori deaf people to engage. The signs for these Māori concepts can only be found in New Zealand Sign Language.
Big Idea Body:
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.
There are Deaf and Hard of Hearing domains such as Deaf schools, Deaf clubs, Deaf sports, New Zealand Sign Language teaching organisations, and Deaf Aotearoa that support intergenerational transmission of New Zealand Sign Language amongst the Deaf community. For the majority of students, New Zealand Sign Language is not transmitted between generations — students need to be connected to the community of users.
Learning New Zealand Sign Language helps to promote awareness and appreciation of the language as valid, recognised, and valued by the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.
For students who have a strong connection with New Zealand Sign Language users, through family or peers, learning New Zealand Sign Language empowers them to engage with the culture, values, and practices of Deaf culture and participate more confidently within them. For students who belong to the hearing world, learning New Zealand Sign Language helps them to gain an insight into their own cultural lens and shapes their ways of knowing, doing, and being.
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.
There are Deaf and Hard of Hearing domains such as Deaf schools, Deaf clubs, Deaf sports, New Zealand Sign Language teaching organisations, and Deaf Aotearoa that support intergenerational transmission of New Zealand Sign Language amongst the Deaf community. For the majority of students, New Zealand Sign Language is not transmitted between generations — students need to be connected to the community of users.
Learning New Zealand Sign Language helps to promote awareness and appreciation of the language as valid, recognised, and valued by the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.
For students who have a strong connection with New Zealand Sign Language users, through family or peers, learning New Zealand Sign Language empowers them to engage with the culture, values, and practices of Deaf culture and participate more confidently within them. For students who belong to the hearing world, learning New Zealand Sign Language helps them to gain an insight into their own cultural lens and shapes their ways of knowing, doing, and being.
Big Idea Body:
"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).
As the quote above indicates, 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 languages as systems.
Learning more than one language allows students to compare and contrast languages and ways of thinking across cultures, gaining a deeper insight into how languages convey ideas. Students are able to reflect on and improve their skills in New Zealand Sign Language as well as other languages including te reo Māori, English, and heritage languages.
Furthermore, the ability to critically examine diverse cultural and personal points of view, which is facilitated by developing proficiency in more than one language, is an invaluable skill in our increasingly diverse and globally connected world.
Learning languages encourages diverse ways of thinking, doing, and being
"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).
As the quote above indicates, 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 languages as systems.
Learning more than one language allows students to compare and contrast languages and ways of thinking across cultures, gaining a deeper insight into how languages convey ideas. Students are able to reflect on and improve their skills in New Zealand Sign Language as well as other languages including te reo Māori, English, and heritage languages.
Furthermore, the ability to critically examine diverse cultural and personal points of view, which is facilitated by developing proficiency in more than one language, is an invaluable skill in our increasingly diverse and globally connected world.
Big Idea Body:
Acquiring linguistic skills in New Zealand Sign Language is a process that involves regular commitment, practice, and repetition. It fosters perseverance and allows students to take ownership of their own learning, as well as connecting with and contributing to the communities in which the language is used.
Language learning also builds resilience as students continually negotiate situations with emerging communicative competence and take the risk of being misunderstood.
This encourages students to reframe "mistakes" as rich opportunities for learning and development. It will give them the confidence to seek out opportunities to use New Zealand Sign Language outside of the classroom.
As this Big Idea focuses on awareness of the hidden processes of language acquisition, it also refers to the ways in which students gain insight into the strategies they can employ to progress their linguistic development. This can include pattern recognition, trial and error, techniques to memorise vocabulary, and effective use of tools such as dictionaries. Students are encouraged to find modes of learning that work best for them and to begin thinking like a linguist.
Language learning is an empowering process that involves risk-taking and fosters resilience and perseverance
Acquiring linguistic skills in New Zealand Sign Language is a process that involves regular commitment, practice, and repetition. It fosters perseverance and allows students to take ownership of their own learning, as well as connecting with and contributing to the communities in which the language is used.
Language learning also builds resilience as students continually negotiate situations with emerging communicative competence and take the risk of being misunderstood.
This encourages students to reframe "mistakes" as rich opportunities for learning and development. It will give them the confidence to seek out opportunities to use New Zealand Sign Language outside of the classroom.
As this Big Idea focuses on awareness of the hidden processes of language acquisition, it also refers to the ways in which students gain insight into the strategies they can employ to progress their linguistic development. This can include pattern recognition, trial and error, techniques to memorise vocabulary, and effective use of tools such as dictionaries. Students are encouraged to find modes of learning that work best for them and to begin thinking like a linguist.
Key Competencies in New Zealand Sign Language
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Key Competencies in New Zealand Sign Language
- Description: Key Competencies in New Zealand Sign Language
- Video Duration: 8 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/842369181
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Key Competencies in New Zealand Sign Language section.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Key Competencies in New Zealand Sign Language section.
Developing Key Competencies through New Zealand Sign Language
Learning a language is inherently about developing and fine-tuning linguistic skills and extending the ability to relate to and interact appropriately with others in more than one cultural setting. The language learning process itself requires students to manage self, to participate, and to contribute. The new ways of thinking about the world they will be exposed to will encourage them to think about their place in it and how they can use those skills to participate in and contribute to their communities and the wider world.
Thinking
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- understand rules, recognise patterns, and use their problem-solving abilities to make meaning with a developing set of linguistic skills
- evaluate and choose from a range of vocabulary, structures, and communicative strategies, including culturally appropriate ways of using Sign Language, to engage with different audiences, sometimes having to think on their feet to improvise and adapt for different contexts and purposes
- explore and reflect on the many ways language, culture, and thinking influence each other
- compare language(s), culture(s), and ways of thinking, and critically reflect on their assumptions and identities in a way that fosters cultural belonging, intercultural understanding, and global citizenship.
Using Language, symbols, and texts
This competency is at the core of language learning. Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- develop increased proficiency in using language, symbols, and texts effectively to communicate information, opinions, and ideas, not just in the language they are learning, but also in the other language(s) they use or speak
- recognise how choices of language, symbols, or text work together and affect people’s understanding of and responses to communications, and how they work together differently in different languages
- think about the type of language that is appropriate to use in a range of different contexts and formats and for different purposes and audiences
- expand their ability to express themselves in increasingly independent and imaginative ways and improvise and adapt in a range of communicative situations.
Relating to others
As communication and understanding are prerequisites of relating to others and the very essence of what language learning is about, students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- hone their receptive skills, recognise different points of view, negotiate, and share ideas
- explore how New Zealand Sign Language, Deaf culture, and identity are interrelated and thereby develop the ability to relate to people from other cultures with more empathy and insight
- develop an appreciation of their own diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in the wider world and in a multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand
- experience how a curious, open-minded, and respectful engagement with the values, traditions, beliefs, and practices of Deaf culture can lead to insights into their own identity and offer opportunities for self-development.
Managing self
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- be encouraged to take ownership of their own learning process and find ways of learning and practising which work for them
- use their understanding of how language acquisition works, for example, lots of input, lots of output practice, making mistakes as part of the process, and so on, to actively engage in the practice necessary to make steady progress
- build on their own strengths and address their own identified learning needs and meet their own learning goals
- participate actively and responsibly in group activities.
Participating and contributing
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- develop communicative skills to increase their ability to contribute to the classroom, school, and community
- recognise the need to contribute to language maintenance which will raise the official and threatened language's status and normalise its use
- be encouraged to take risks, learn from mistakes, and take responsibility for initiating and maintaining communication — through this they will gain confidence to participate and contribute in and outside of the classroom with the skills they have
- mature as local and global citizens by getting to know and engaging with Deaf world views and the local, regional, and global Deaf community across virtual and face-to-face Deaf spaces
- recognise the interconnected nature of societies and communities in the world and Aotearoa New Zealand and be encouraged to think of their place in and responsibility to them.
Key Competencies
This section of New Zealand Curriculum online offers specific guidance to school leaders and teachers on integrating the Key Competencies into the daily activities of the school and its Teaching and Learning Programmes.
Developing Key Competencies through New Zealand Sign Language
Learning a language is inherently about developing and fine-tuning linguistic skills and extending the ability to relate to and interact appropriately with others in more than one cultural setting. The language learning process itself requires students to manage self, to participate, and to contribute. The new ways of thinking about the world they will be exposed to will encourage them to think about their place in it and how they can use those skills to participate in and contribute to their communities and the wider world.
Thinking
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- understand rules, recognise patterns, and use their problem-solving abilities to make meaning with a developing set of linguistic skills
- evaluate and choose from a range of vocabulary, structures, and communicative strategies, including culturally appropriate ways of using Sign Language, to engage with different audiences, sometimes having to think on their feet to improvise and adapt for different contexts and purposes
- explore and reflect on the many ways language, culture, and thinking influence each other
- compare language(s), culture(s), and ways of thinking, and critically reflect on their assumptions and identities in a way that fosters cultural belonging, intercultural understanding, and global citizenship.
Using Language, symbols, and texts
This competency is at the core of language learning. Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- develop increased proficiency in using language, symbols, and texts effectively to communicate information, opinions, and ideas, not just in the language they are learning, but also in the other language(s) they use or speak
- recognise how choices of language, symbols, or text work together and affect people’s understanding of and responses to communications, and how they work together differently in different languages
- think about the type of language that is appropriate to use in a range of different contexts and formats and for different purposes and audiences
- expand their ability to express themselves in increasingly independent and imaginative ways and improvise and adapt in a range of communicative situations.
Relating to others
As communication and understanding are prerequisites of relating to others and the very essence of what language learning is about, students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- hone their receptive skills, recognise different points of view, negotiate, and share ideas
- explore how New Zealand Sign Language, Deaf culture, and identity are interrelated and thereby develop the ability to relate to people from other cultures with more empathy and insight
- develop an appreciation of their own diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in the wider world and in a multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand
- experience how a curious, open-minded, and respectful engagement with the values, traditions, beliefs, and practices of Deaf culture can lead to insights into their own identity and offer opportunities for self-development.
Managing self
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- be encouraged to take ownership of their own learning process and find ways of learning and practising which work for them
- use their understanding of how language acquisition works, for example, lots of input, lots of output practice, making mistakes as part of the process, and so on, to actively engage in the practice necessary to make steady progress
- build on their own strengths and address their own identified learning needs and meet their own learning goals
- participate actively and responsibly in group activities.
Participating and contributing
Students of New Zealand Sign Language will:
- develop communicative skills to increase their ability to contribute to the classroom, school, and community
- recognise the need to contribute to language maintenance which will raise the official and threatened language's status and normalise its use
- be encouraged to take risks, learn from mistakes, and take responsibility for initiating and maintaining communication — through this they will gain confidence to participate and contribute in and outside of the classroom with the skills they have
- mature as local and global citizens by getting to know and engaging with Deaf world views and the local, regional, and global Deaf community across virtual and face-to-face Deaf spaces
- recognise the interconnected nature of societies and communities in the world and Aotearoa New Zealand and be encouraged to think of their place in and responsibility to them.
Key Competencies
This section of New Zealand Curriculum online offers specific guidance to school leaders and teachers on integrating the Key Competencies into the daily activities of the school and its Teaching and Learning Programmes.
Connections
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Connections
- Description: NZSL Connections
- Video Duration: 8 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/842370599
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Connections section.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Connections section.
New Zealand Sign Language is an official and threatened language of Aotearoa New Zealand. For the purposes of supporting teachers and students, New Zealand Sign Language is connected to all Learning Areas of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Students in Learning Languages are all connected through their exploration of language and culture. Subjects in the Learning Area include:
New Zealand Sign Language
Asian Languages
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Korean
- Japanese
European Languages
- French
- German
- Spanish
Pacific Languages
- Lea Faka-Tonga
- Te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani
- Gagana Sāmoa
- Gagana Tokelau
- Vagahau Niue
New Zealand Sign Language is also connected to subjects outside of the Learning Languages Learning Area and across levels. This includes the Learning Areas and subjects of:
The Arts
Dance — shared exploration and comparison of different genres and styles of Dance across cultures and communities. For example, New Zealand Sign Language is a visual-gestural language and shares similarities with the circular and gestural nature of Te Ao Haka.
Visual Arts — shared topics include exploring visual expressions of creativity. For example, Deaf storytelling and Deaf literature. Stories shape our culture and enrich our society. Students can explore their ideas and experiment with a wide range of creative mediums.
English
English — languages and English provide opportunities to develop productive and receptive skills. English, like language learning, provides training in critical thinking, analytical skills, grammar, and organising and expressing ideas.
Health and Physical Education
Food and Nutrition — shared topics include exploration of cultural and staple foods, lifestyles, and celebrations across cultures.
Health — shared topics include discussing the complex interconnections between the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of people’s lives.
Physical Education — shared topics include discussions about popular sports in Deaf culture, key sports personalities, and events.
Social Sciences
Geography — shared topics include exploration of regions and significant geographical features. Students also explore the relationship between people, culture, and their environments.
History — shared concepts include developing insight into the forces that have shaped our world and ourselves. Additional shared topics include studying different cultures, regions, indigenous histories, and languages.
Media Studies — shared topics and skills include exploring different cultural forms and expressions, and developing analytical thinking alongside communicative skills.
Pacific Studies — shared concepts include exploring the importance of revitalising and sustaining language and culture. Students can develop an understanding of the inextricable link between language, culture, and identity.
Social Studies — shared topics include exploration of identities, cultures, and diverse bodies of knowledge. Students can explore experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Pacific region and make connections with the wider world.
Tourism — shared topics include describing and comparing the social and cultural aspects of tourism.
Technology
Computer Science — shared explorations include how computer science can support learning languages and translation. Students also develop insight into the digital tools that have shaped our access to assistive technologies, learning languages and information on other cultures.
Digital Technologies — shared explorations include how digital technologies can assist with learning languages, translation, and sharing culture, for example, the New Zealand Sign Language online dictionary. Students also develop insight into the relationship between language, culture, and technology.
New Zealand Sign Language is an official and threatened language of Aotearoa New Zealand. For the purposes of supporting teachers and students, New Zealand Sign Language is connected to all Learning Areas of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Students in Learning Languages are all connected through their exploration of language and culture. Subjects in the Learning Area include:
New Zealand Sign Language
Asian Languages
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Korean
- Japanese
European Languages
- French
- German
- Spanish
Pacific Languages
- Lea Faka-Tonga
- Te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani
- Gagana Sāmoa
- Gagana Tokelau
- Vagahau Niue
New Zealand Sign Language is also connected to subjects outside of the Learning Languages Learning Area and across levels. This includes the Learning Areas and subjects of:
The Arts
Dance — shared exploration and comparison of different genres and styles of Dance across cultures and communities. For example, New Zealand Sign Language is a visual-gestural language and shares similarities with the circular and gestural nature of Te Ao Haka.
Visual Arts — shared topics include exploring visual expressions of creativity. For example, Deaf storytelling and Deaf literature. Stories shape our culture and enrich our society. Students can explore their ideas and experiment with a wide range of creative mediums.
English
English — languages and English provide opportunities to develop productive and receptive skills. English, like language learning, provides training in critical thinking, analytical skills, grammar, and organising and expressing ideas.
Health and Physical Education
Food and Nutrition — shared topics include exploration of cultural and staple foods, lifestyles, and celebrations across cultures.
Health — shared topics include discussing the complex interconnections between the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of people’s lives.
Physical Education — shared topics include discussions about popular sports in Deaf culture, key sports personalities, and events.
Social Sciences
Geography — shared topics include exploration of regions and significant geographical features. Students also explore the relationship between people, culture, and their environments.
History — shared concepts include developing insight into the forces that have shaped our world and ourselves. Additional shared topics include studying different cultures, regions, indigenous histories, and languages.
Media Studies — shared topics and skills include exploring different cultural forms and expressions, and developing analytical thinking alongside communicative skills.
Pacific Studies — shared concepts include exploring the importance of revitalising and sustaining language and culture. Students can develop an understanding of the inextricable link between language, culture, and identity.
Social Studies — shared topics include exploration of identities, cultures, and diverse bodies of knowledge. Students can explore experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Pacific region and make connections with the wider world.
Tourism — shared topics include describing and comparing the social and cultural aspects of tourism.
Technology
Computer Science — shared explorations include how computer science can support learning languages and translation. Students also develop insight into the digital tools that have shaped our access to assistive technologies, learning languages and information on other cultures.
Digital Technologies — shared explorations include how digital technologies can assist with learning languages, translation, and sharing culture, for example, the New Zealand Sign Language online dictionary. Students also develop insight into the relationship between language, culture, and technology.
Learning Pathway
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Pathways
- Description: NZSL Pathways
- Video Duration: 4 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/842371482
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Pathways section.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Pathways section.
Students of New Zealand Sign Language gain knowledge and skills that enrich and support every aspect of their journey through life, including diverse pathways. No matter what students choose to do beyond school, learning a language provides a space for students to understand who they want to be, to explore their interests and aspirations, and to potentially ignite a passion for a pathway.
To employers, the knowledge of an additional language shows resilience, a commitment to learning, and an openness to understanding different cultures and perspectives. Proficiency in New Zealand Sign Language is increasingly sought for work related to advocacy, education, journalism, health, and government.
Studying New Zealand Sign Language enhances students’ understanding of Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture and supports them to navigate diverse societies.
Students of New Zealand Sign Language gain knowledge and skills that enrich and support every aspect of their journey through life, including diverse pathways. No matter what students choose to do beyond school, learning a language provides a space for students to understand who they want to be, to explore their interests and aspirations, and to potentially ignite a passion for a pathway.
To employers, the knowledge of an additional language shows resilience, a commitment to learning, and an openness to understanding different cultures and perspectives. Proficiency in New Zealand Sign Language is increasingly sought for work related to advocacy, education, journalism, health, and government.
Studying New Zealand Sign Language enhances students’ understanding of Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture and supports them to navigate diverse societies.
Introduction to Sample Course Outlines
Sample Course Outlines are intended to help teachers and schools understand the new NCEA Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards. An example of how a year-long New Zealand Sign Language course could be constructed using the new Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards is provided here. It is indicative only and does not mandate any particular context or approach.
Sample Course Outlines are intended to help teachers and schools understand the new NCEA Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards. An example of how a year-long New Zealand Sign Language course could be constructed using the new Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards is provided here. It is indicative only and does not mandate any particular context or approach.
Assessment Matrix
Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
- Description: First part of CoA for internally assessed standards
- Video Duration: 2 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/840676588
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the first part of the Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the first part of the Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards.
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Gathering Evidence and Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
- Description: Remainder of CoA for internally assessed standards
- Video Duration: 4 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/840678082
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the remainder of the Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the remainder of the Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards, covering Gathering Evidence and Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence.
Conditions of Assessment
These Conditions provide guidelines for assessment against internally assessed Achievement Standards. Guidance is provided on:
- specific requirements for all assessments against this Standard
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic.
Assessors must be familiar with guidance on assessment practice in learning centres, including enforcing timeframes and deadlines. The NZQA website offers resources that would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
The learning centre’s Assessment Policy and Conditions of Assessment must be consistent with NZQA’s Assessment Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess. This link includes guidance for managing internal moderation and the collection of evidence.
Gathering Evidence
Internal assessment provides considerable flexibility in the collection of evidence. Evidence can be collected in different ways to suit a range of teaching and learning styles, and a range of contexts of teaching and learning. Care needs to be taken to allow students opportunities to present their best evidence against the Standard(s) that are free from unnecessary constraints.
It is recommended that the design of assessment reflects and reinforces the ways students have been learning. Collection of evidence for the internally assessed Standards could include, but is not restricted to, an extended task, an investigation, digital evidence (such as recorded interviews, blogs, photographs, or film), or a portfolio of evidence.
Effective assessment should suit the nature of the learning being assessed, provide opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students, and be valid and fair.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
Authenticity of student evidence needs to be assured regardless of the method of collecting evidence. This must be in line with the learning centre’s policy and NZQA’s Assessment Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess.
Ensure that the student’s evidence is individually identifiable and represents the student’s own work. This includes evidence submitted as part of a group assessment and evidence produced outside of class time or assessor supervision. For example, an investigation carried out over several sessions could include assessor observations, meeting with the student at a set milestone, or student’s use of a journal or photographic entries to record progress.
Conditions of Assessment
These Conditions provide guidelines for assessment against internally assessed Achievement Standards. Guidance is provided on:
- specific requirements for all assessments against this Standard
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic.
Assessors must be familiar with guidance on assessment practice in learning centres, including enforcing timeframes and deadlines. The NZQA website offers resources that would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
The learning centre’s Assessment Policy and Conditions of Assessment must be consistent with NZQA’s Assessment Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess. This link includes guidance for managing internal moderation and the collection of evidence.
Gathering Evidence
Internal assessment provides considerable flexibility in the collection of evidence. Evidence can be collected in different ways to suit a range of teaching and learning styles, and a range of contexts of teaching and learning. Care needs to be taken to allow students opportunities to present their best evidence against the Standard(s) that are free from unnecessary constraints.
It is recommended that the design of assessment reflects and reinforces the ways students have been learning. Collection of evidence for the internally assessed Standards could include, but is not restricted to, an extended task, an investigation, digital evidence (such as recorded interviews, blogs, photographs, or film), or a portfolio of evidence.
Effective assessment should suit the nature of the learning being assessed, provide opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students, and be valid and fair.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
Authenticity of student evidence needs to be assured regardless of the method of collecting evidence. This must be in line with the learning centre’s policy and NZQA’s Assessment Rules for Schools with Consent to Assess.
Ensure that the student’s evidence is individually identifiable and represents the student’s own work. This includes evidence submitted as part of a group assessment and evidence produced outside of class time or assessor supervision. For example, an investigation carried out over several sessions could include assessor observations, meeting with the student at a set milestone, or student’s use of a journal or photographic entries to record progress.
The evidence submitted for this Achievement Standard may not also be submitted for AS 92356 (1.2) Communicate in New Zealand Sign Language in relation to a cultural context.
Assessor involvement during the assessment event is limited to providing general feedback to students after the first interaction, if students are collecting multiple interactions for assessment.
Any feedback provided must not interfere with the authenticity requirements for collecting further evidence.
Submissions should consist of one or more interactions in New Zealand Sign Language and must take place in real time. Selection of evidence for submission is to be carried out by the student.
Students may work in pairs or a group. If students are working in a group, it is essential that each student contributes enough appropriate language to meet the requirements of this Standard. Assessors may assist students in selecting a suitable partner or partners.
Each signed interaction submitted as evidence must:
- be a single video recording without any edits
- allow for each student to be identified clearly.
Assessors may:
- provide images or objects which can be used to prompt conversation, as long as they don't include examples of New Zealand Sign Language.
- if multiple interactions are submitted, provide general feedback to students after their first interaction, but must not scaffold students' preparation for further interaction opportunities.
Students may:
- refer to prompts given by the assessor.
Students may not:
- practise the exact task with their partner(s) prior to the assessment
- rote-learn exchanges or script role plays
- be provided with any scaffolding, instruction, teaching, or other forms of guidance during the assessment
- use New Zealand Sign Language notes, resources, or dictionaries during the assessment.
[ Video Resource ]
- Title: Achievement Standard 1.2 Conditions of Assessment
- Description: NZSL AS 1.2 Conditions of Assessment
- Video Duration: 3 minutes
- Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/840691426
- Transcript: This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Conditions of Assessment for Achievement Standard 1.2.
This video is a translation in New Zealand Sign Language of the Conditions of Assessment for Achievement Standard 1.2.
The evidence submitted for this Achievement Standard may not also be submitted for AS 92355 (1.1) Interact in New Zealand Sign Language to share and respond to information, ideas, and opinions.
Submissions should consist of one student-generated piece of work to communicate in New Zealand Sign Language in relation to a cultural context. Selection of evidence for submission is to be carried out by the student.
The submission may consist of evidence involving one or more people, but students will be assessed individually. Where a collaborative approach to collecting evidence is used, assessors must ensure that each student has met the requirements of the Standard individually.
Assessor involvement during the assessment event is limited to providing students with feedback on the technical aspects of their work only, for example, formatting, design, visual, and image quality. Assessors must not provide feedback on student language.
Assessors must ensure that students are only assessed based on the quality of language.
Students may not:
- copy language from any source
- use any digital language tools (for example, translators) other than dictionaries
- have anyone else point out errors, edit, or correct their work before handing it in for assessment.