How did English come to New Zealand - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... There are indeed various perspectives from which English as a language can be discussed, however, based on the above perspective, this paper discusses the aspects of when, how, and why English language come to New Zealand. This will be addressed in various perspectives depending on the manner in which English has contributed.
New Zealand is an island found in the Pacific Ocean, towards the Southwestern region with a population of about 4.4 million. New Zealand currently, has English as its official language in addition to New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) that was adopted in 2006 for use as the other official language, both in the legal perspective such as in court representation, and in delivery and access to government services (Morris 216). Despite English and the New Zealand Sign Language being the official languages of communication in the country, there are also other languages used among the citizens of the country with ethnic backgrounds (Gordon 54). These are the languages spoken by a majority of the pre-European inhabitants of New Zealand with the most common being Māori language. Based on the above perspective, it is clear that English language is therefore, not a native language in New Zealand, despite its current dominance in the country with 96.14% popularity (Hay and Maclagan 58), in its usage.
Many arguments have been made concerning the use of English language in New Zealand, especially, based on the aspect of when, how, who, and why it came to New Zealand. New Zealand English, ideally, has a significant history in terms of how it came into existence in the country. Largely, many attribute the entry of English language into New Zealand from Australia, New Zealand’s neighbor considering that the accent of the language used in both nations have substantive similarities (Watts 99). However, the truth of the matter is that English made entry into ...Download file to see next pagesRead More