Te Whare Matihiko o te Reo

About this research

The project aims to contribute to the intellectual infrastructure of the discipline of te reo Māori revitalisation by collating oral, visual digital and written sources, including a dictionary, thesaurus and repositories of waiata, haka, and narrative recordings. 

The project will answer the following research questions:

• How can mātauranga and tikanga Māori be more easily accessed and applied in contemporary (online) mediums to enhance Māori language learning and teaching and opportunities for Māori communities today?
• What effect and impact does the provision of online resources in and about te reo Māori have on language users and learners and the accessing and application of mātauranga and tikanga Māori?

The Te Whare Matihiko o te Reo project will create an online te reo Māori digital portal (Tomokanga Rauemi Reo Māori (TRRM)) comprising a vast range of te reo Māori and mātauranga created through documentary research, wānanga and interviews. 

This will include: all publications in te reo Māori, resources, radio stations, television programmes, community and iwi initiatives such as Māori language groups, websites, and social media; five programmes of 13 episodes each, to broadcasting standard, that have been based on a gaps analysis of data already available; a collection of waiata and haka that have not been published including lyrics with a detailed explanation of the lyrics, a biography of the composer, audio and video files.  

The construction of TRRM will be informed by research already undertaken, our own research, user requirements and best practice to provide a user-friendly and effective environment of accessible Māori language and mātauranga.

The project will deliver five interrelated digital components:

1. A main portal and advanced search engine;
2. A unpublished collection of waiata and haka;
3. A Māori thesaurus (He Punakupu Taurite);
4. A digital dictionary and app for He Pātaka Kupu (pending approval from Te Taura Whiri)
5. Pending further funding in Years 4 and 5, two series of 13 episodes each of interviews in Māori with native speakers to expand the He Pātaka Mātauranga Series. 

Objectives of the Research

1. To understand how technology and new media can be utilised to revitalise and enable the teaching and learning of endangered and minoritised languages.
2. Source and prepare appropriate sources of te reo Māori media for inclusion in the online portal.
3. Create an online digital te reo Māori language portal.