New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 2018, 24(1), 70-76 BILINGUALISM IN NEW ZEALAND: A FIELD OF MISCONCEPTIONS Blake Turnbull Kyoto University Introduction Despite having two official languages (te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language), with English as the de facto dominant language, New Zealand is rarely considered to be a multilingual, or even bilingual, society. Research on bilingualism in New Zealand has traditionally focused on speakers of English and te reo Māori (see, for example, Durie, 1997; Hill, 2017; May, 2005). In a special issue of the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (2005, volume 8, issue 5), which focused specifically on bilingual education in New Zealand, two thirds of the articles centered on bilingual speakers of Māori and English. But what of the other diverse levels of bilingualism, multilingualism, and multiculturalism that exist widespread throughout the country? What of the 1,001,787 foreign-born residents, making up a quarter (25.2%) of the country’s population (up from 22.9% in 2006 and 19.5% in 2001) according to the 2013 national census (Stats NZ, 2013a), many of whom bring with them unique sets of language experiences that only add to the culture and diversity of New Zealand’s society? What of the emergent bi- and multilingual speakers who function as a result of New Zealand’s changing migration patterns and associated increasing ‘superdiversity’, or “the substantial increase in the diversity of ethnic, minority and immigrant groups in a city or country” (Chen, 2015, p. 53). This all bears some important questions: exactly how bilingual is New Zealand? How many bilingual speakers are there? What languages or language varieties do bilinguals in New Zealand speak? And what does it mean to be bilingual in New Zealand? This paper aims to address the main question, How bilingual is New Zealand? It will begin with an overview of what it means to be bilingual, before addressing the past and current state of bilingualism and multilingualism in a specifically New Zealand context as a result of recent trends towards an increasingly superdiverse society. What is the Bilingual Speaker? The concept of ‘bilingualism’ and what it means to be bilingual has received much attention. Past definitions of bilingualism have been broad, spanning the entire length of the bilingual continuum. At the maximalist end of the scope, scholars have defined bilingualism as “a native-like control of two languages” (Bloomfield, 1985, p. 56). However, some voices, including Hakuta (1986), have expressed concern over 71 Bilingualism in New Zealand suchextreme positions, suggesting that “very few people who would generally be considered bilingual have anything resembling native-like control over both languages” (p. 4). Dewaele, Housen, and Wei (2003) agree, suggesting that the ‘perfect’ bilingual most likely does not exist, and that even the ‘balanced’ bilingual is rare. They refer to various forms of “‘imperfect’ and ‘unstable’ forms of bilingualism in which one language takes over from the other(s) on at least some occasions and for some instances of language use” (p. 1). Some scholars of the past have defined bilingualism within a more reasoned and moderate scope, although definitions are also somewhat lacking. Haugen (1953), for example, explains bilingualism to be when “the speaker of one language can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language” (p. 7). And at the far minimalist end of the bilingual continuum, Diebold (1961) refers to the term incipient bilingualism, or “the initial stages of language contact” (p. 103). His definition refers to the state in which a bilingual speaker has one highly developed language (often their first), and one in the early stages of development. This allows those with knowledge of even a few phrases or words in another language to be included within the bilingual category, blurring the barrier between a competent speaker of two languages, and a tourist with a phrase book. Mackey (1987) broadly defines bilingualism as “the knowledge and use of two or more languages” (p. 700), emphasising the knowledge of languages as opposed to the level of proficiency that must be attained in each. In contrast, Grosjean (1989) defines bilingual speakers as those “who use two or more languages in their everyday lives” (p. 4), emphasising the regular use of two or more languages, rather than proficiency. However, recognising that bilingualism is difficult to define in relation to only one factor, some scholars have favoured more inclusive terms. The term emergent bilingual, for example, was popularised by García (2009), who broadly used it in reference to “students who are in the beginning stages of moving along a bilingual continuum” (p. 397, chapter 2, note 2); in other words, those in the process of acquiring a language other than their first. Turnbull (2016) extended the term to specifically include foreign language learners within its framework, redefining emergent bilinguals as “any person who is actively in the process of acquiring knowledge of a second language and developing bilingual languaging skills for use in a given situation relevant to their individual needs to learn the TL [target language]” (p. 3). Taking all of these past definitions into consideration, the definition of bilingualism in a specifically New Zealand context that I will use throughout this paper is the active knowledge and use of a language other than English in situations relevant to the individual needs of the speaker. Bilingualism in New Zealand When it comes to bilingualism in New Zealand, the most widely studied and referenced form of bilingualism is that of English and te reo Māori. Studies related to 72 Turnbull English-Māori bilingualism have investigated matters from an educational perspective, including Māori-medium education (e.g., May & Hill, 2005; May, Hill, & Tiakiwai, 2004), as well as the strategies used to maintain and support te reo Māori throughout New Zealand (including Te Kōhanga Reo programmes at the preschool level, Kura Kaupapa Māori programmes at the elementary level, Whārekura programmes at the secondary level, and Whāre Wananga programmes at the tertiary level) (see García, 2009; May, 2004). However, despite this, relatively little regard is offered for the other diverse minority languages and language varieties spoken by bi/multilinguals throughout the country. Although research on Māori-medium education in New Zealand has been abundant, research on similar forms of immersion bilingual education in the same contexts has not been due to the lack of such provision. In 2016, it was reported that 18,444 students were enrolled in Māorimedium education at 279 schools throughout New Zealand, where at least 51% of the curriculum was taught through the medium of te reo Māori (Education Counts, 2017). However, there have been fewer efforts to support the bilingual education of Pasifika bilingual speakers who make up a large portion of the population (May, 2006, 2012), nor of any other minority language or language variety, for that matter. De Bres (2015) identifies a hierarchy of minority languages in New Zealand, in which she claims te reo Māori to be at the top, followed by New Zealand Sign language, Pacific languages, and ending with other migrant languages at the bottom. She suggests that little connection between the various language communities occurs, with the language groups operating more in isolation from one another than in cooperation towards a common interest. It may be the case that, because there is little relationship between the minority languages in New Zealand, a lack of recognition that these languages are spoken throughout society has arisen. Whilst te reo Māori remains the largest minority language, it must also be acknowledged that Māori is not the only language with which bilingual speakers are engaging in New Zealand. The reality is that te reo Māori comprises only a small portion of the overall percentage of languages used throughout the country. Over 190 languages were reported to be spoken in New Zealand according to the most recent 2013 national census results, although only 37 of those languages were spoken by more than 0.1% of the population. The most widely spoken language, with 3,819,969 reported speakers, was English, and the least commonly spoken languages, with only three reported speakers each, were the North Germanic (undefined), Baltic (undefined), Mon-Khmer (undefined), Viet-Muong (unclassified), Micronesian (undefined), Cushitic (undefined), Chadic (unclassified), and Artificial (unclassified) languages. According to the 2013 census, 737,910 people (18.6% of the total population) reported the ability to speak more than one language throughout New Zealand (Stats NZ, 2013b); up from 671,658 people (17.5%) in 2006, and from 562,113 people (15.8%) in 2001. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 60.4% of those people were foreign born, compared to just 39.6% who were born in New Zealand; shedding more light on the reality of changing migration patterns as a result of the increasing superdiverse New Zealand society. The most commonly spoken language other than English was te reo 73 Bilingualism in New Zealand Māori (3.7% of the population), followed by Samoan (2.2%), Hindi (1.7%), Northern Chinese (including Mandarin) (1.3%), and French (1.2%) – largely coinciding with the five largest ethnic groups in the country: New Zealand European, Māori, Chinese, Samoan, and Indian. Although we understand English and te reo Māori to be the two most commonly spoken languages throughout New Zealand, that is certainly not to say they are the only ones; nor are they the only languages being learnt. Statistics requested and obtained directly from NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications Authority) – the government crown entity in charge of organising and maintaining educational assessment and qualification standards nationwide – show that 13 different foreign languages were being studied at 429 schools nationwide by 12,201 students as a mainstream subject involving 14 or more credits in 2016, a three percent increase from 11,848 students in 2015. Based on Garcia’s (2009) concept of the emergent bilingual, and Turnbull’s (2016) re-framing of the term to include foreign language learners within its scope, we understand that those students who are actively studying a foreign language at New Zealand secondary (and, indeed, tertiary) institutions are, in their own right, bilingual speakers of the target languages – a fact that, even today, is rarely recognised by bilingual scholars and educators, not only in New Zealand, but in a worldwide context too. This is perhaps because, as Grosjean (1989) alludes to, many bilinguals, particularly those at the beginning stages of the bilingual continuum such as foreign language learners, tend to evaluate and criticise their own language competencies as being inadequate and unworthy of a ‘bilingual’ status. I believe this to be the case not only from the perspective of foreign language learners themselves, but from the majority of the general public, and from a large portion of the academic community too, who continue to perpetuate the erroneous notion that a bilingual speaker is one with native like fluency in both languages (also see Grosjean, 2010). In viewing foreign language learners as emergent bilinguals, we uncover an entirely new field of bilinguals with a distinctive set of languaging skills yet to be widely recognised in New Zealand. It is important that we also work to acknowledge and support these emergent bilinguals alongside those already functioning in society, not only because they possess a unique set of language skills with which they can express themselves as whole individuals, but because of the potential benefits they may provide for New Zealand’s future society and economy by conducting business and relations on an international stage. The General Manager of the 2013 national census, Sarah Minson, is reported as having said “there are more ethnicities in New Zealand than there are countries in the world” (Stats NZ, 2013c, para. 3). New Zealand is a society formed on the basis of multiculturalism and, by default, multilingualism. It has become a superdiverse society (Chen, 2015) and yet, little support is offered for the minority languages and language varieties other than English and te reo Māori. For example, although the option is given for almost all NCEA secondary school examinations to be issued and completed through the medium of te reo Māori as well as English (see NZQA, n.d.), and for the national census to be completed in both languages too, little regard is offered for the array of other languages spoken throughout New Zealand beyond the 74 Turnbull scope of English-Māori speakers. NZQA may consider offering NCEA examinations in a more diverse array of languages to ensure that we are truly testing students’ knowledge of the content and not only their English language skills. Likewise, Statistics New Zealand might consider offering the national census in more languages to ensure that the most accurate data is being collected and not impeded due to the potential language proficiency restrictions of the respondents. It is important that New Zealand works to support the linguistic rights of all bilingual and emergent bilingual citizens, particularly those who are already functionally bi/multilingual as a result of New Zealand’s changing migration patterns and associated superdiversity. Conclusion To address the main question ‘How bilingual is New Zealand?’, we must first consider what it means to be bilingual. Taking a neutral position on bilingualism, one that neither sets undemanding nor unattainable standards of proficiency or frequency of use, but rather focuses on the active attainment and/or employment of both languages relevant to the everyday needs of an individual’s life, we see New Zealand as becoming an increasingly bilingual (and indeed, in some cases, multilingual) superdiverse nation due to the influx of foreign-born immigrants who bring with them a diverse array of language experiences, associated intermarriage, and the increasing number of emergent bilinguals studying foreign languages, thus adding to the ever-growing bilingual mix of New Zealand’s society. To put an exact number on this is difficult, however, especially given the fact that many of the bilinguals who would fall into this category may not view themselves as being bilingual at all. Nevertheless, it is clear that a range of bilingual activity is occurring throughout the country on a regular basis, and there should therefore be greater awareness that bilingualism in New Zealand is so much more than the relationship between English and te reo Māori alone. New Zealand may be conceptually different to other bilingual nations, such as South Africa, in which 12 languages currently hold an official status and are used regularly (despite the increasingly dominant role of English as the de facto language in the public domain), and where the majority of the population is considered to be at least bilingual, if not, multilingual. The lack of a relationship between minority language groups in New Zealand (see de Bres, 2015), alongside the predominantly English monolingual (with some, albeit still limited, accommodation to te reo Māori) policy environment, has largely determined the relatively lower levels of acknowledgement for other minority languages. However, New Zealand is a nation full of unique bilinguals in their own right. These bilingual speakers may not speak the same two languages, or two languages of the same language family; but the fact remains that bilingual activity other than English and te reo Māori occurs in all areas of the country on a daily basis. This must be taken into consideration as bilingual education policy makers in New Zealand review the ‘bilingual education’ and ‘bilingual nature’ of New Zealand’s superdiverse society. Such a society, with an ever-increasing 75 Bilingualism in New Zealand ethnic and linguistic diversity, results in a greater responsibility to make sure that the linguistic needs and, indeed, the linguistic rights of all citizens are attended to. 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