Survey finds lack of community language resources

Survey finds lack of community language resources

Most government departments and city councils have little or no information on their websites in languages other than English, according to a web survey conducted by the Human Rights Commission for Samoan Language Week (24-31 May).

According to the 2006 Census, the Samoan community is the fourth largest ethnic group in New Zealand, and the Samoan language is the third most commonly spoken language.

The survey found that:
• central and local government agency websites are very monolingual, with little or no use of languages other than English
• major government service agencies and councils in areas with a high proportion of Samoan residents have no information in Samoan at all, despite their considerable Samoan client base
• Where Samoan language resources are provided, they are often not signposted on the organisation’s home page and are difficult to locate
• Although many public sector organisations subscribe to the Language Line service (which includes Samoan), this is rarely promoted on their website

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said the survey found the same was true of other languages, and that there was a need for government information to be made more accessible to speakers of other languages on the internet.

For Samoan Language Week the Commission has provided a portal to information in Samoan available on central and local government websites, and has sent certificates of acknowledgment to the 17 organisations that provide it.

These are the Accident Compensation Commission, the Alcohol Advisory Council, the Broadcasting Standards Authority, the Chief Electoral Office, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Christchurch City Council, Civil Defence, Creative New Zealand, the Department of Building and Housing, the Earthquake Commission, the Health and Disability Commission, Housing New Zealand, Inland Revenue, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, New Zealand Transport Agency and Wellington City Libraries.

Mr de Bres said, “In the longer term the Commission is advocating for language portals for central and local government information that is available in other languages, and encouraging more agencies to recognise the linguistic diversity of their clients.”

The Race Relations Commissioner will help to launch Samoan language week at an event involving many Wellington secondary schools at St Patrick’s College, Kilbirnie on Monday morning (24 May). There will be activities in schools and early childhood education centres in a number of cities, organised by the Association of Samoan Language Teachers.

Tertiary education institutions, such as the Pacific Education Centre in Auckland, Victoria University’s Samoan Studies Programme, Canterbury University’s MacMillan Brown Library and Christchurch Polytech (CPIT) also have programmes and activities.

Waitakere City Libraries have a week-long programme promoting the “second most spoken language in Waitakere city” and Manukau Libraries and Wellington City Libraries are also promoting the week.

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs has organised activities in its offices and in the community in partnership with other organisations. Samoan Advisory Councils and community councils are also involved.

For details of Samoan Language Week activities and resources see the Samoan Language Week website.

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