Ua Aoina le Manogi o le Lolo: Pasifika Schooling Improvement Research - Summary Report

8. Summary of Language Survey Data

• In the general ‘gap differences’ analysis, language (either first or language at home) was not associated with differences in achievement.
• When looking at ‘level differences’ analysis, gender, time lived in New Zealand, home language, and school were associated with significantly different levels of achievement.
• Relationships between language (either first or language at home) and achievement vary across and within schools. For example, in one school no positive relationships were found between having English as a first language and higher achievement; and having a Pasifika language and English spoken at home and achievement over one year was not negative.
• However, in another school, there was evidence of a developing bilingual status for those students who had a Pasifika language as a first language where by Year 5 their achievement resembled the achievement of those students who had English only.
• In one other school, students who spoke English as a first language at home were consistently higher in their achievement than others who spoke a Pasifika language, or both a Pasifika language and English at home.