New Zealand Sign Language News
What's new | Community Facilitator's choice | Events | Messages
Kia ora and welcome to the news page for New Zealand Sign Language. Have your say by contacting us at nzsignlanguage@tki.org.nz.
Look for the regular updates of information and materials relevant to learning New Zealand Sign Language. Also, watch for updates on initiatives and opportunities arising from the new languages strategy as a result of the Curriculum Stocktake report
Note also the curriculum item immediately below and check this regularly for updates.
The New Zealand Curriculum
Explore The New Zealand Curriculum online and link to a range of resources and support materials. The revised curriculum will become mandatory from Feb 2010. Schools are encouraged to begin working towards its implementation. Check out the new section Strategies for Getting Started, and add comments to share your expertise and experiences.
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz
Read the message regarding the status of the new learning area learning languages in the revised New Zealand curriculum.
What's new
Greetings to everyone from Margaret Hardiman and Glenda Koefoed, the Ministry of Education's Senior Advisers for languages. Welcome to the individual community page for New Zealand Sign Language. New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is the language of the Deaf community. It is a language in its own right, with the same ability to communicate information as other languages, and its own vocabulary system and grammar. It is a visual-gestural language, using movement of hands, face, and body to convey messages that are received through the eyes.
More people are using and learning NZSL in the wider community. The curriculum will make the language more widely available to second language learners in early childhood centres and schools, and help teachers to plan appropriate programmes for their students. The curriculum will also provide the basis for assessment for qualifications in the senior secondary school.
New category of websites: User-contributed content
In response to the changing nature of the Internet, TKI will now link to selected social software (Web 2.0) sites. Social software allows users to contribute content and to collaborate with others using blogs, wikis, and other tools. These sites will have the head and shoulders icon to show that they contain user-contributed content. While all sites are still subject to rigorous quality-assurance processes, teachers are advised to evaluate this category of sites carefully for relevance and accuracy, and to consider any privacy and security issues before using them with students.
30-06-2008
The Freedom to Sign is our Freedom of Expression
Check out the resources and support material on this site that was established for New Zealand Sign Language Week. There is a set of video clips to view or download, information about the history of NZSL, and an etiquette guide for hearing people.
http://www.nzsign.co.nz/
19-06-2008
My Future Party!
Try this interactive trilingual classroom resource with your students. Intended for years 7 and 8, the resource scaffolds future thinking as students plan a birthday party for the year 2050. The activity is in New Zealand Sign Language, te reo Māori, and English, and includes teachers' notes.
http://myfuture.nzpost.co.nz/
30-04-2008
2008, International Year of Languages: Languages matter!
The United Nations has declared 2008 to be the International Year of Languages. Read about the UNESCO initiatives to promote multilingualism, and review the planned projects and activities.
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35344&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
01-02-2008
NZ Sign Language in the New Zealand Curriculum
The New Zealand Sign Language curriculum guidelines are now accessible online to assist you in planning your teaching programmes. A PDF version of the guidelines can also be downloaded from the site, which can be accessed from the link in the right-hand menu of this page.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/language/curriculum/nzsl/index_e.php
19-10-2007
Community Facilitator's choice
Have a look at these great resources for teaching and learning languages.
New
Zealand Sign Language Act 2006
Visit the Office for Disability Issues website to find out more about the New Zealand Sign Language Act that officially recognised NZSL as the first or preferred language of Deaf New Zealanders. You can read about the background to the issue and the steps and processes involved in enacting the bill, and access the full text version of the Act and related documents.
http://www.odi.govt.nz/what-we-do/nzsl.html
01-05-2006
New Zealand Sign Language videos
View the seven video clips of New Zealand Sign Language from the Office for Disability Issues. The clips provide information on how the NZSL Bill will promote Deaf people having equal access to the same information as hearing people, and explain government processes and one way to influence making new laws. These are large files and should be downloaded before viewing. Instructions for this are on the web page.
http://www.odi.govt.nz/nzsl-video/index.html
20-03-2006
Deaf Association of New
Zealand
The New Zealand Deaf Association is a nationwide provider of services to
the Deaf. The website contains information about the association and other
resources for the Deaf community, including an online library of articles,
news, information about New Zealand Sign Language, and services available.
http://www.deaf.co.nz/
SLIANZ
Visit this website to learn more about sign language interpreters in New
Zealand. The site provides information about training and about working
with an interpreter. The Sign Language Interpreters’ Code of Practice
and Code of Ethics can be read on the site, and there is also a form to
access the register of Interpreters.
http://www.slianz.org.nz/index.html
Van
Asch Regional Services: New Zealand Sign Language
This page from the van Asch Deaf Education Centre website provides details
for the van Asch support services for teaching and learning New Zealand
Sign Language.
http://www.vanasch.school.nz/serv-signlanguage.htm
New Zealand Sign Language
Teachers Association
Explore this website for NZSL teachers and associated educators, which contains
information about training and tutoring in NZSL, resources, events, competitions,
and captioned movies. There is also a discussion forum for issues relating
to teaching NZSL.
http://www.nzslta.org.nz
Tips for Working with a Sign Language Interpreter (Word 93KB)
Use these Otago University summary notes to help your students understand some of the issues faced by all participants in New Zealand Sign Language communication.
http://www.otago.ac.nz/disabilities/docs/UO_tips.doc
30-09-2006
Regional Facilitators for Years 7–10 Second Language Teaching
and Learning
Regional facilitators have been
contracted by the Ministry of Education to support teachers and schools offering
language programmes to students in Years 7–10.
The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT)
NZALT is a professional association for over 500 teachers of languages (other than English or Māori) from the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Their website includes access to conference details and white papers, information about professional development awards, a news page, and links to the specialist international language associations and advisers within New Zealand.
ESOL Online Professional Readings
Explore these ESOL Online pages for ideas relating to pedagogy and practice for teaching second languages. Check out the collections with material relevant to language teaching in general, including vocabulary, language acquisition, speaking, and listening.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/esol/esolonline/secondary_esol/research_e.php
Assessment
Check out the Assessment community on TKI for support with implementing best assessment practices in your language teaching programme.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/index_e.php
Learning Languages: A Guide for New Zealand Schools
This resource provides information to help schools understand the place of languages within the curriculum. Print copies are available: email orders@thechair.minedu.govt.nz, freephone 0800 660 662.
TKI Kete
Have you ever used "Favourites" or "Bookmarks" to store your favourite websites so you can find them again later? TKI Kete on Te Kete Ipurangi functions in the same way only better! And it's absolutely free! Using the TKI kete function, you can save different types of resources, including websites, in your own space on TKI. This way you can access your favourites from any computer with Internet access. To find out more, click on the link above.
We are currently seeking useful and interesting websites to include as part of this community. If you wish to draw the online editor's attention to a website, please email us.
Events
Events are now listed on the TKI Learning Languages calendar, see right-hand navigation bar.
Messages
Telephone Tutorial
The TKI Team would be happy to provide a tour of the site, via the telephone, at your school staff meetings or planning sessions. Contact us at tutorials@tki.org.nz if you would like to explore this option.