Promoting the MAori language to non-MAori: evaluating the New Zealand government's approach

New Zealand's two main government MAori language planning agencies, the MAori Language Commission and the Ministry of MAori Development, have engaged for some time in language planning targeting the attitudes and behaviours of non-MAori New Zealanders towards the MAori language. This activity is undertaken on the basis that the attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers exert an important influence on the health of minority languages. To date, however, there has been little evaluation of the effectiveness of these agencies in this area of language planning. The present article examines the official policy and relevant policy initiatives undertaken by the MAori Language Commission and the Ministry of MAori Development to promote positive attitudes and behaviours towards the MAori language among non-MAori New Zealanders. It goes on to evaluate the effectiveness of these agencies in this area, focusing both on aspects internal to the organisations and external responses to relevant policy initiatives. Based on this combined analysis, the article discusses points for improvement and potentially effective future directions for this kind of language planning in New Zealand.