Childhood acquisition of the Māori language

The results of the HML 2006 Survey show there is a link between Māori language proficiency and learning the Māori language in childhood. For those people aged over fifty-five with high proficiency in the Māori language, 80% acquired their language skills in childhood; and for those under fifty-five, 82% with high proficiency acquired their Māori language skills in childhood. Related to this is the finding that nearly all highly proficient speakers acquired their Māori language skills from their parents or other family members, with other inputs (i.e. hui, schooling) being much less influential. These findings again show the importance of intergenerational transmission as the key to language acquisition and quality.