Ta'iala mo le Gagana Sāmoa - Pasifika Education Community

Younger students need a print-rich environment to help them realise that print holds meaning,that thoughts, stories, and speech can be written down, and that writing can be read over and overagain. As emergent readers and writers, students develop concepts about print, such as pageorientation and directionality, and realise that macrons can be guides to pronunciation and meaning.It is critical that teachers encourage students to read and engage them in reading widely and writingin gagana Sāmoa. Reading is a strong foundation for language development. Students’ vocabularywill increase as they have more and more experiences of comprehending written words in variedcontexts of use.Writing helps students to clarify and explore ideas and feelings, to develop knowledge of the language,and to use language more fluently. Writing is also a means of communicating with others.Students should learn to write confidently, clearly, and appropriately in a range of styles, bothformal and informal. They should develop an explicit knowledge of the steps in the writing processand come to understand the conventions of written gagana Sāmoa, for example, the use of macronsand the “t” style (see page 14).Gagana va‘aia: Maimoaina ma le fa‘atinogaVisual language: Viewing and presenting or performingStudents experience the world of visual language in many ways, for example, through traditionalperformances, the arts, signs and symbols, media, and play. Play is important in children’s languagelearning, enabling them to develop their understanding of shape and visual movement. Theircommunication skills grow as they build their repertoire of gesture and expressive body movements.Visual language (including symbolism, imagery, and body language) is an important aspect of language.In traditional Samoan performances and events, for example, body language, gestures, and costumescontribute significantly to the meaning of the words and to the occasion. Students will need guidancein how to view and understand the ways in which these verbal and visual elements interact to produceparticular meanings and effects in traditional performances such as mā‘ulu‘ulu as well as in art formssuch as tatau and in contemporary blends of aganu‘u fa‘asāmoa and New Zealand culture. At the sametime, students should be given opportunities to explore other forms of visual language in which wordsand images combine, for example, in print, drama, and other media, and to present forms that useimages, for example, siapo and faleaītu.47‘O le ālāfua o le Atamai i le Aganu‘uThe Cultural Knowledge strandAganu‘u fa‘asāmoa (which includes the cultural life and customs of the Samoan community in NewZealand as well as in Sāmoa) is expressed through the language in the ways that people think, talk,and act. Learning about aganu‘u fa‘asāmoa is part of learning gagana Sāmoa. For Samoan students,learning gagana Sāmoa is part of their sense of belonging and their identity as Samoan people.For non-Samoan students, learning gagana ma le aganu‘u fa‘asāmoa in New Zealand opens anotherwindow of learning and leads to a deeper understanding of what it means to be part of amulticultural society.In Ta‘iala mo le Gagana Sāmoa: The Gagana Sāmoa Guidelines, cultural learning is specified as aseparate strand to ensure that it receives its due emphasis. However, it is a supporting strand to helpstudents develop the knowledge and skills they need to communicate effectively. Teachers need toensure that they integrate culture into all aspects of teaching and learning when planning their gaganaSāmoa programmes.