New Zealand Sign Language in the New Zealand Curriculum

Strands:

• Language skills
• Communication functions
• Sociocultural contexts

These describe the learning themes that are common at all levels.

Suggested language focus and examples

These reflect communicative uses of NZSL in everyday and specialised contexts.

Suggested sociocultural contexts

These identify sociolinguistic and cultural content and contexts.

Suggested learning and assessment activities

These are ways of using and reinforcing NZSL in realistic, communicative, language-learning and cultural contexts. They can be used by teachers, peers, and the students themselves to measure the students’ progress in realistic communicative situations and contexts.

A note on the numbered achievement objectives (for example, Level 1: Strands and achievement objectives)

For the eight learning levels for schools presented in the following sections, only the achievement objectives for the Communication Functions strand are numbered.

This is because the achievement objectives for the Language Skills strand are broad, general objectives for skills that the students will learn and practise as they work towards the achievement objectives for the Communication Functions.

The achievement objectives for the Sociocultural Contexts strand provide topics and contexts for the Communication Functions achievement objectives.

In this way, the numbered achievement objectives for the Communication Functions strand cover the achievement objectives for all three strands.