Kua whakatūhia e Te Tari Māori o Te Whare

Wānanga o Manawatu tētahi pātengi raraunga

rorohiko, kua tapaia te ingoa, ko Toi te Kupu. Ko

tāna, he whakakao, he whakamārama i ngā rauemi reo

Māori kua oti te tā, kua oti te whakaputa. Ka whai

wāhi atu ko ngā tūmomo rauemi katoa mō te ako i te

reo, mō te ako mā roto i te reo rānei, arā, ko ngā rauemi

ā-tuhi, ā-rongo, ā-ātaata hoki. Mā te pātengi raraunga

rorohiko nei e rapua ai ngā rauemi e tino hāngai ana

ki tā te ākonga, tā te kaiako rānei e hiahia ana, ā, ka

kitea atu ko ōna whakamārama katoa e pā ana ki te

āhua me te taumata o te reo, te kaupapa o te rauemi,

ōna whakaahua, ōna painga, ōna aha noa atu. Ka kitea

hoki ko ngā wāhi he korekore, he ruarua rānei ngā

rauemi, me te āhua ki te kounga o te rauemi. Ka

kōrerohia ēnei āhuatanga i tēnei tuhinga.

The Toi te Kupu database has been developed by

the Department of Māori Studies at Massey

University, in order to comprehensively describe and

catalogue published Māori language resource

materials. The research team has taken the view that

anything published in the Māori language is a resource

that can be used in the learning, teaching and fostering

of the language. This would include materials

designed for both educational and recreational

purposes, whether they be in print form, audio, visual,

or any combination of these. In addition to providing

the Māori language community with a tool that enables

them to search for particular resource material, the

database also provides information about the types of

resource materials, the range of levels, themes,

contexts and curriculum areas that are not catered for.

In this article preliminary findings from stage two of

the Toi te Kupu research programme are presented,

which show very clearly that there is a dearth of quality

Māori language material available to the Māori

language community. There are also a significant

number of resources which show inferior quality in a

number of ways such as poor sentence structure,

inconsistent and incorrect use of the macron,

inconsistent orthography, poor translation, and

inappropriate illustrations. There is also a very limited

coverage of the content and various levels prescribed

in the National Curriculum Statements. Factors which

contribute to the design of quality Māori language

resource material are considered and finally, the

contribution that the Toi te Kupu database can make

to the co-ordination, utilisation, and quality control of

Māori language resource material, is discussed. The

Toi te Kupu database can be found on the web at:

www.toitekupu.org.nz