English, Maori and minority languages

New Zealand is one of the world's most monolingual nations. English is the first language of 95 per cent of the 3.4 million population – and the only language of 90 per cent, most of whom are of British descent. English dominates all public domains – media, education, government, law – despite efforts to increase the use of the language of the indigenous Maori people (cf. Benton 1987).

Maori are the largest minority group, constituting about 12 per cent of the population. Maori (a Polynesian language) has gained increasing official recognition, although the change appears too late to reverse a century of neglect and opposition which has brought it to the edge of extinction as a language of everyday interaction. Now less than 25 per cent of Maori people (and still fewer younger Maori) can speak their language fluently (Benton 1979a). Even in isolated rural areas it has virtually been replaced by English (Benton 1979b). Maori is therefore following the typical pattern of an indigenous tongue overwhelmed by an imperial language, and has reached a point from which few languages have recovered. Nevertheless, language revival efforts are underway, with bilingual schooling the most promising initiative (Hirsh 1987). While Maori may eventually be lost as an everyday tongue, it may survive as the language of formal speech events in Maori culture.