Editing Language revitalization (section)

==== New Zealand ====
{{Further|Māori language revival}}
One of the best cases of relative success in language revitalization is the case of [[Māori language|Maori]], also known as {{lang|mi|te reo Māori}}. It is the ancestral tongue of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand and a vehicle for prose narrative, sung poetry, and genealogical recital.<ref name=senft>{{cite book |last=Senft |first=Gunter |title=Endangered Austronesian and Australian Aboriginal Languages |year=2010 |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |location=Canberra |isbn=9780858836235 |pages=185–192}}</ref> The history of the Maori people is taught in Maori in sacred learning houses through oral transmission. Even after Maori became a written language, the oral tradition was preserved.<ref name=senft />

Once European colonization began, many laws were enacted in order to promote the use of English over Maori among indigenous people.<ref name=senft /> The Education Ordinance Act of 1847 mandated school instruction in English and established boarding schools to speed up assimilation of Maori youths into European culture. The Native School Act of 1858 forbade Māori from being spoken in schools.

During the 1970s, a group of young Maori people, the [[Ngā Tamatoa]], successfully campaigned for Maori to be taught in schools.<ref name=senft /> Also, Kōhanga Reo, Māori language preschools, called language nests, were established.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Leanne |last1=Hinton |first2=Kenneth |last2=Hale |title=The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice |year=2001 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |location=San Diego |isbn=0-12-349353-6 |page=119}}</ref> The emphasis was on teaching children the language at a young age, a very effective strategy for language learning. The Maori Language Commission was formed in 1987, leading to a number of national reforms aimed at revitalizing Maori.<ref name=senft /> They include media programmes broadcast in Maori, undergraduate college programmes taught in Maori, and an annual Maori language week. Each ''[[iwi]]'' (tribe) created a language planning programme catering to its specific circumstances. These efforts have resulted in a steady increase in children being taught in Maori in schools since 1996.<ref name=senft />