One of the aims of Māori-medium education is to address Māori language loss. One of the challenges facing Māori-medium educators is to identify configurations that acknowledge the substantive importance of English language instruction without detracting from the priority that must be given to the regeneration of the Māori language. Issues relating to Māori/English bilingualism and assessment development in the New Zealand context are introduced and discussed in the light of local and international literature on language acquisition and other related fields. This paper also presents and compares the results of testing from 1995 and 2002–2003 using a reconstructed standardised assessment in literacy for Year 2 students in 80–100% immersion in Māori as a measure of literacy and Māori language acquisition.

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