Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori
Māori Language Proficiency Examination System

Public Sector Māori Language Proficiency Examination (PSM)

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Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori | Benefits of Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori | About the examinations | Examination dates

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Download the PSM Handbook pdf.
Download the LFE Handbook pdf.
Download the TSM Handbook pdf.

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) was established under the Māori Language Act 1987. This Act also affirms the official status of the Māori language.

One of the key roles of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is to promote and support the use of Māori language as a living language and ordinary means of communication. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori recognises that public sector organisations have an important contribution to make toward achieving this goal.

Since the late 1980s the Government Māori Language Allowance Scheme (GMLAS) has provided an incentive for public servants to improve their Māori language proficiency. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is responsible for assessing government employees under this scheme.

A new assessment regime has been developed to increase the validity, reliability and appropriateness of the testing system. This page outlines three new developments:

• the new Māori language proficiency examination system - Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori


• the revamped Public Sector Māori Language Proficiency Examination (PSM)


• a new test - the Level Finder Examination (LFE)

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Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori

Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori is the new Māori language proficiency examination system developed by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in conjunction with local and international specialists in Māori language and language testing. The system comprises a general Māori language knowledge test, a set of sector-related Māori language proficiency tests and a proficiency test framework.

The framework identifies five progressive levels of Māori language proficiency. Each sector-related proficiency test fits within one of these levels.

The Level Finder Examination (LFE) is a test of Māori language knowledge and provides candidates with an overall assessment of their general Māori language ability.

The Public Sector Māori (PSM) is designed specifically for candidates who use Māori language in the public sector workplace.

The Teaching Sector Māori (TSM) is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who use Māori in the teaching sector including: teachers; teacher aides; kaiārahi reo; lecturers; and principals at all levels of the education system.

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Benefits of Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori

Organisations, schools and individuals can benefit from the new assessment system. Organisations and schools will have an accurate assessment of their Māori language capability. Individuals are able to measure and monitor their Māori language development. There is no limit to how many times a candidate can sit the tests.

Public Sector Māori (PSM)

Public sector employees who were tested under the GMLAS prior to July 2002 are invited to resit the examinations to update their results.

Under the Government's Māori Language Strategy, government agencies are required to develop Māori language plans. Agencies will find that the LFE and PSM tests are useful tools in the development and review of those plans. Results and feedback from the examinations can be helpful in designing appropriate professional development plans for employees.

More information on developing Māori Language Policies can be found here at:  How to Develop Your Māori Language Policies and Plans.

Teaching Sector Māori (TSM)

There is a substantial body of research which tells us that:

1. the language proficiency of teachers impacts significantly on the language of learners, and

2. the language of learners is linked to their cognitive development.

The TSM will provide the education sector with a useful tool that can provide important information to improve the quality of education for learners in Māori-medium settings.

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Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori comprises two stages:

Stage 1 (approx. 1 hour) Level Finder examination (LFE)
Stage 2 (approx. 2 hours) A sector specific examination (for example, PSM)

The LFE consists of vocabulary, grammar, dictation and self-assessment tasks. The LFE will measure whether a candidate's language ability is at a level appropriate to cope well with the PSM examination. Candidates for the PSM who have not been tested previously will be required to sit the LFE as a prerequisite.

The PSM is designed for Public Sector workers and assesses the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The main aim of the PSM is to test these skills through a range of everyday public sector tasks.

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Dates for 2008

The TSM can be administered on request for schools or regions with sufficient numbers (minimum of four). Please contact the Examinations Officer (contact details below) if you are interested in running an administration of the TSM.

The LFE, and PSM examinations will be held in Wellington on Friday 7 March 2008. Registrations close two weeks prior to the examination dates. The venue for the exams will be confirmed closer to the date.

Examination dates and venues are subject to change.

Private administrations

If your organisation has ten or more people interested in sitting either the LFE or a minimum of three people interested in the PSM and the date above does not suit, another option you may consider is for these exams to be delivered privately for your staff.

There are additional costs involved with running a private administration. In addition to the candidate registration fees, the other costs for administering each exam include: a $250 + GST examiner’s fee (1-25 candidates requires only one examiner to attend; 26 and over requires additional examiners); any travel costs involved for the examiner; and venue hire.

The exams can be delivered at any time during the year to suit your needs. To help keep costs down, we advise running just one administration for all candidates, rather than getting them to sit the exams individually as the additional costs detailed above are per administration.

Exam fees

LFE $100.00 (+ GST) per candidate

PSM $150.00 (+ GST) per candidate

TSM $150.00 (+ GST) per candidate

Further information

Candidate handbooks for each of the exams are available for prospective candidates and can be downloaded from this page (see above). For further information, contact:

The Examinations Officer

Ph. 04 474 2340

office@haemata.co.nz

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