{"id":316219,"date":"2026-03-06T16:11:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316219\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T16:11:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:11:23","slug":"english-doesnt-need-protecting-in-new-zealand-but-other-languages-do-university-of-waikato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316219\/","title":{"rendered":"English doesn\u2019t need protecting in New Zealand \u2013 but other languages do :: University of Waikato"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Getty Images<\/a>
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Sidney Wong<\/a>, University of Otago<\/a>; Andreea S. Calude<\/a>, University of Waikato<\/a>, and Jesin James<\/a>, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone tuning into political debates about the recently introduced English Language Bill<\/a> might be led to think New Zealand\u2019s most widely spoken tongue is endangered.<\/p>\n

The bill, which forms part of a coalition deal<\/a> between the New Zealand First and National parties and aims to make English an official language in Aotearoa, has been widely criticised<\/a> as unnecessary.<\/p>\n

One opposition MP branded it an \u201canswer to a problem that does not exist\u201d.<\/p>\n

Indeed, English is spoken by more than 4.75 million New Zealanders<\/a> \u2013 96% of the population \u2013 and dominates the nation\u2019s television, radio, classrooms and workplaces.<\/p>\n

One reason for designating languages \u201cofficial\u201d is to protect and support minority or marginalised languages, often those under threat. Can we really say the same of English?<\/p>\n

NZ\u2019s de facto language<\/p>\n

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO<\/a>) assesses \u201cendangered\u201d languages using six factors beyond the number of speakers, including their use in media, education and published resources. By these measures, English in Aotearoa is clearly not in peril.<\/p>\n

One exception is technology designed for our variety of English: New Zealand English. Most digital tools work best with American or British accents, while the New Zealand accent is often poorly recognised<\/a> or represented<\/a>. However, the Bill does not make reference to such tools being included.<\/p>\n

Most countries explicitly designate official languages in their constitutions, but not all do. Australia, for example, has no official language. Nor do Japan, Mexico or Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

Some countries recognise several official languages, such as Singapore and South Africa, while others, such as Iran and Russia, designate just one.<\/p>\n

English is an official (de jure) language in 58 countries<\/a>, including Canada, Hong Kong and Pakistan. <\/p>\n

But it has no official status in Great Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries where it is clearly a dominant language. In these places, it functions instead as a de facto national language. It is not by chance that it reached this status in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s Immigration Restriction Act 1899<\/a> long required migrants not of British or Irish ancestry to complete an application form \u201cin any European language\u201d \u2013 in practice, usually English. Versions of what was effectively an English language test remained in place until 1971.<\/p>\n

Given that English is today, as it was then, New Zealand\u2019s default language, inscribing it in the country\u2019s constitution would have little practical effect.<\/p>\n

What really needs protecting<\/p>\n

A key purpose of official language policies is to reverse language \u201cshift\u201d \u2013 when people abandon one language in favour of a more dominant one.<\/p>\n

This is a major threat to heritage languages \u2013 those typically learned at home rather than at school, and which have a non-dominant status. Associated with migrant communities, heritage languages have been spoken in Aotearoa since non-M\u0101ori began arriving on its shores.<\/p>\n

Today, the country is home to more than 160 heritage language communities<\/a>. Many, however, have experienced a familiar pattern of language shift. One example is Cantonese, spoken by 54,417 people in New Zealand, according to the 2023 Census.<\/p>\n

In a 1993 survey of Tongan, Greek and Chinese communities<\/a>, Cantonese-speaking families experienced advanced rates of language shift over three generations. By the third generation, only a quarter of families maintained any fluency in Cantonese.<\/p>\n

Motivated to assimilate with Anglophone New Zealand, Dutch migrants who arrived in New Zealand during the 1950s lost their language altogether<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best way to support a language is to encourage people to use it. Today, efforts to revitalise and maintain heritage languages<\/a> often rely on community groups that run voluntary language classes or organise language weeks.<\/p>\n

Digital spaces offer another opportunity. While most people now use digital tools every day, these are usually designed for English \u2013 typically American or British English. In fact, significant technology development exists for fewer than 100 of the world\u2019s more than 7000 languages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, most of New Zealand\u2019s heritage languages remain under-served online.<\/p>\n

This creates a digital equity gap for younger generations, who can\u2019t engage with their heritage languages on the digital platforms they typically use.<\/p>\n

Language is an intrinsic part of identity and culture, and the maintenance of languages leads to better wellbeing outcomes as well as cognitive and professional benefits.<\/p>\n

Currently, Aotearoa has no overarching national strategy for languages or language learning<\/a>. Instead, policy exists in separate areas \u2013 including strategies for Pacific languages and te reo M\u0101ori \u2013 without a single framework covering the country\u2019s full linguistic landscape.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, language should be treated as a social investment. The new bill\u2019s hasty introduction is a missed opportunity to fully understand Aotearoa\u2019s linguistic needs.\"The<\/p>\n

Sidney Wong<\/a>, PhD Candidate in Linguistics (Canterbury) and Research Fellow, University of Otago<\/a>; Andreea S. Calude<\/a>, Associate Professor in Linguistics, University of Waikato<\/a>, and Jesin James<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Engineering, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau<\/a><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Getty Images Sidney Wong, University of Otago; Andreea S. Calude, University of Waikato, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-316219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}