About this resource
This page provides the draft Learning Languages - New Zealand Sign Language Learning Area. This is now available for wider feedback and familiarisation. The current Learning Languages curriculum remains in effect until 1 January 2028 and can be found here The New Zealand Curriculum – Learning Languages.
Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tihei uriuri, tihei nakonako. Your voice and my voice are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on, and our hopes be fulfilled. |
Purpose Statement
The Learning Languages learning area equips students with the linguistic, cultural, and sociolinguistic knowledge that enables them to communicate within their own cultural communities (heritage language learners) and across different cultures (additional language learners). It fosters intercultural understanding and appreciation for diverse worldviews.
Through the study of an additional language, students are taught how to interpret meaning and adapt their communication to suit different audiences and situations. As students learn how to speak, write, read, listen, sign, and interact in their target language, they start to communicate more authentically and purposefully in increasingly complex contexts.
The Learning Languages learning area exposes students to new ways of thinking about themselves and their world and can increase their understanding of their first languages. It can also contribute to the vitality of a language and strengthen cultural connections.
As students progress through the Learning Languages curriculum, they deepen their understanding of the cultural and social contexts in which languages are used and begin to recognise that language reflects and upholds the values, stories, and practices of different communities and cultures. By learning how to communicate in an additional language, students are empowered to engage confidently with others and contribute meaningfully to our diverse society and increasingly interconnected world.
Learning area structure
The Learning Languages teaching sequence lays out the knowledge and practices to be taught during Novice and Emergent. In Learning Languages teaching is structured around two strands:
- Linguistic knowledge focuses on how language works. It develops student understanding of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and spelling.
- Cultural and sociolinguistic knowledge focuses on how language is shaped by culture and context. It develops student understanding of cultural practices, values, beliefs, and social norms, and supports the development of intercultural communicative competence.
Students learn through five modes of communication:
- signing, watching, and interacting in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
- listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interacting in all other languages.
The curriculum supports 13 languages: Te Reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), Gagana Sāmoa, Gagana Tokelau, Lea Faka-Tonga, Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani, Vagahau Niue, French, German, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Korean. These are grouped into five categories: Te Reo Māori, NZSL, Pacific Languages, Asian Languages, and European Languages.
Students may begin learning a language at different year levels and with varied prior knowledge. The curriculum supports flexible entry points through the following sequences: Novice 1, Novice 2, Emergent 1, and Emergent 2.
These sequences, organised through strands and elements, set out what is to be taught. Their enactment is shaped by teachers, who design learning in response to their learners, adjusting the order and emphasis, and adding contexts as appropriate.
New Zealand Sign Language introduction
Learning New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) during the Novice and Emergent sequences supports students to communicate visually, connect with Deaf culture, and contribute to a more inclusive society. As an official language and valued taonga of New Zealand, NZSL affirms the identity of Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Māori Turi communities and fosters respectful engagement amongst diverse learners.
In Novice 1 and 2, teachers introduce essential knowledge to establish etiquette for NZSL classrooms, where students use their face, hands, and body to convey meaning rather than voice. Teachers support students to use the five foundational parameters to correctly form each sign, including Māori concept signs for Māori Turi. These parameters underpin signed greetings, basic introductions, politeness conventions appropriate to Deaf culture, and one-to-one signed conversations. Teachers create a safe and respectful learning environment where students begin to understand NZSL as a visual language shaped by culture and community.
In Emergent 1 and 2, students enhance their understanding of Deaf culture as signed interactions develop from one-to-one and small group conversations to larger group presentations. This allows them to develop confidence and fluency in their use of more complex NZSL signs and Māori concept signs across a wider range of contexts. Students develop further understanding of politeness conventions, such as turn-taking and pacing. Students also become more aware of sign variations that exist across regions.
The Learning Languages area prepares students with the knowledge and practices to access related curriculum subjects for Years 11–13, such as New Zealand Sign Language.
| Word or phrase |
Description |
Additional language learner |
Someone who is learning a new language in addition to the one(s) they already know. |
Age-related variations |
Also known as intergenerational shifts. NZSL has sign variations that have developed over time. Older and younger generations may prefer different signs for some common concepts. |
ASL |
American Sign Language. |
Asymmetrical signing |
With two-handed signs, the dominant hand moves more than the other hand (the base hand). |
Auslan |
Australian Sign Language. |
Base hand |
The less active hand used when signing. |
BSL |
British Sign Language. |
Classifiers |
The visual appearance, placement, movement, and/or handling of objects and things. Descriptive classifiers indicate things such as shape, size, texture, and arrangement. Proform classifiers indicate things such as people, animals, and vehicles. |
CODA |
An acronym for Child of Deaf Adults. CODAs are hearing or Deaf and are raised by one or more Deaf parents or guardians. |
Communication |
Process of sharing information, ideas, thoughts, or feelings. Refers to all modes of communication: signing, watching, and interacting in NZSL and listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interacting in all other languages. |
Cultural communities |
Groups of people who share common cultural traits such as language, traditions, beliefs, values, customs (tikanga), heritage, and stories that shape their identity. |
Deaf (capitalised) |
A group of people who share a distinct identity and use NZSL as their first language. |
deaf (lowercase) |
A general term for audiological deafness, referring to any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound. |
Deaf culture |
The shared beliefs, values, history, whakapapa, behaviours, traditions, and tikanga of the Deaf community, which includes Māori Turi. |
Deaf etiquette |
Respectful and visual communication practices such as making eye contact, facing the person, maintaining a clear line of sight, and gaining attention appropriately. |
Deaf Deaf World |
A concept for educational events where hearing individuals are immersed in the experience of being Deaf in a hearing world. Participants engage in simulated experiences where all communication must be done in NZSL, allowing them to practise their signing and understand the challenges Deaf people face in daily life. |
Dominant hand |
The most active hand used when signing. |
Fingerspelling |
A two-handed fingerspelling system to represent the alphabet, primarily used for proper nouns, to describe unknown signs, or for subjects and objects that may not have a sign. |
Five foundational parameters |
The five key parameters which make up each sign: handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual signals (NMS). |
Flashing lights |
Switching the lights on and off in quick succession to gain a Deaf person’s attention. |
Flutter waves |
Small flutter-like waves made with the hand in or near the line of sight of a Deaf person to gain their attention. |
Formulaic utterances |
Commonly used signed expressions and non-manual signals that serve specific social or communicative functions and follow a fixed pattern. |
Glossing |
A way of representing signs and non-manual signals (NMS) in writing. It uses capital letters to represent signs, while NMS are represented on a line above the capital letters.
|
Handshape |
The shape of a sign. |
Headshake |
The most common non-manual signal (NMS). |
Heritage language learner |
Someone who is raised in a home where a language other than the dominant societal language is used. They may understand, use, or feel connected to that language, even if they don’t use it all the time or know it perfectly. |
Intercultural understanding |
The ability to recognise and respect cultural diversity. |
Language families |
Groups of languages that share a common ancestral origin. |
List buoys |
Using numeral handshapes (e.g. ONE, TWO, THREE) to organise information or keep a list of items, activities, or story events in order. |
Location/use of space |
Where the sign is articulated, either on the body or in the signing space. |
Māori concept signs |
Signs in NZSL that express Māori cultural concepts, ideas, and words. |
Māori Turi |
A person who has whakapapa Māori and is Deaf. Many Māori Turi attest to being Māori first and foremost. |
Mouthing |
The voiceless pronunciation of a spoken word while producing a sign simultaneously. |
Movement |
The direction, speed, repetition, and manner that convey meaning in signing. |
Name signs |
A name given to someone by a Deaf person. It is not culturally appropriate for people to give themselves a name sign or for hearing people to give name signs. |
Non-manual signals (NMS) |
Grammatical meaning made via facial expressions and movements of various body parts, such as the chin and shoulders. |
NZSL |
New Zealand Sign Language. |
NZSL classroom |
An educational environment where NZSL is the primary language of instruction for Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) students. |
NZSL Dictionary |
The official validated resource containing more than 4,500 commonly used NZSL signs. |
NZSL Share |
A platform for NZSL users to share new, updated, or evolving signs not yet in the NZSL Dictionary. |
NZSL vocabulary |
The specific signs, handshapes, facial expressions, and body movements that make up NZSL. |
One-handed signs |
Signs where only one hand is used. |
Orientation |
The way the palms of the hands are facing at the start of a sign. |
Pointing signs |
A single finger is used to point in NZSL. For Māori Turi, an open hand with fingers together and/or upright palm with fingers together is used to point. |
Productive skills |
The ability to sign, speak, write, interact, and present. |
Receptive skills |
The ability to understand signed, spoken, or written language. |
Referential/role shifting |
A technique to report direct speech. Signers take on the role of the speaker and can represent multiple characters with the direction of the body and eye gaze. This allows not only a shift in roles but also a shift in who is being addressed. |
Referents |
The person, place, or thing a sign is referring to. |
Shoulder taps |
Tapping on the shoulder to gain a Deaf person’s attention. |
Sign variations across regions |
Different signs used by different groups in different regions of Aotearoa New Zealand, similar to iwi dialects. |
Sociolinguistic knowledge |
The understanding of how social factors (e.g. age, gender, race, class, location) influence language use and how language shapes social identity and relationships. |
Spatial referencing |
The use of physical space around the person signing to indicate relationships between people, objects, or concepts. |
Stomping/stamping |
Stomping or stamping on the ground to gain a Deaf person’s attention. |
Stress patterns |
Expressed through facial and body movements (elements such as speed, size, and force of signed movements) which give certain signs or parts of signs more emphasis. |
Symmetrical signing |
With two-handed signs, both hands do an equal amount of work in shaping a sign. |
Table taps |
Tapping or banging on the table to gain a Deaf person’s attention. |
Target language |
The language a student is learning. |
Text |
Signed, written, spoken, or visual materials that students use to understand and practise the target language (e.g. passages, dialogues, recordings, posters, menus). |
Turi Māori |
A Deaf person who has whakapapa Māori. |
Turn-taking |
The act of determining who signs when, involving visual cues like eye contact, handshape, and body language to signal the end of a turn and the start of the next person’s turn. |
Two-handed signs |
Signs where two hands are used. |
Visual noise |
The chaotic elements in a visual environment that disrupt concentration and cognitive processes. |
Visual prompts |
Facial expressions, body language, eye contact, and use of space to convey meaning, grammar, and emotion in NZSL. |
Visual-gestural |
The way that the hands, body, and facial expressions (including lip patterns) express meaning and how the eyes perceive meaning. |
Vitality of a language |
How strong and actively used a language is within a community. |
Voice off |
Instruction for leaving your voice at the door (not speaking). |
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