The shifting sands of second language options in NZ schools

New Zealand students are gradually shifting their language preferences in public schools, moving away from traditional European languages toward te reo Māori and Asian languages.

Latest data from the Ministry of Education shows French and Spanish remained the most popular European languages in New Zealand secondary schools in 2024, with 12,323 and 12,856 students taking classes in these languages, respectively.

However, the number of students studying French have halved since 2008, dropping from 28,245.

Spanish has gained ground over the same period, while German has suffered one of the steepest drops - from 6251 students in 2008 to just 2229 last year.

Japanese remained the most popular Asian language for students in 2024, with 12,257 enrolled in classes - well below its mid-2000s peak of more than 18,000.

Chinese ranked second among Asian languages, with 5415 students enrolled in classes in 2024.

This figure represented a decline from a high of 6368 in 2020, but numbers have since rebounded and held steady growth - far above the 1891 recorded in 2008.

Interest in Korean has also continued to grow, with enrolments doubling in 2017 and reaching 166 in 2024.

Meanwhile, enrolment in te reo Māori surpassed 30,000 for the first time in 2020 and has continued to climb since.

Juliet Kennedy, president of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT), a nonprofit organization that advocates for language education, said multiple factors had driven growing student interest in learning a wider range of languages at school.

"The growth in te reo Māori and Pasifika languages is a really good thing," she said.

"People from all different (backgrounds) realize that te reo Māori is a unifying force for our country - it's what makes New Zealand special."

Kennedy said migration, diplomatic relations, government policy and the influence of overseas cultures had all boosted students' interest in learning international languages.

"For Asian languages, the interest in Chinese first came up when there was a big highlight on learning Chinese that is helpful for travel, business, tourism and trade," she said.

Kennedy said Japanese and Korean cultures were highly appealing to New Zealand youth, making both languages popular in schools.

She said the growth of the Korean community had also helped turn Korean into a rising trend in language learning.

"Korean didn't used to be an NCEA subject," she said."The Korean migrant community has grown a lot. … Korean popular culture is also very popular [here]."

Spanish had followed a similar trajectory, Kennedy added, with increased migration from Latin America and the growing presence of Spanish culture helping sustain its popularity in schools.

At St Peter's College in Auckland, students can study te reo Māori, Spanish and Chinese in addition to English.

The school also established a Confucius Classroom in 2015 for year 7 to year 13 students, offering a structured Chinese curriculum.

James Bentley, the college's headmaster, said language learning in New Zealand often depended on the availability of teachers.

"It depends on the school and the teacher," Bentley said. "In some schools, Japanese survives because they have a Japanese teacher.

"We had a beloved teacher who taught French here for 25 years. When she retired, the subject sort of left the school with her."

Bentley supported making language learning compulsory in New Zealand schools, citing its benefits across all areas of study.

However, he said a shortage of teaching resources and qualified teachers remained the main barriers.

Kennedy agreed that language learning should be compulsory in New Zealand schools.

"In many countries, it's compulsory to learn another language - whether it's a heritage language, an international language or an indigenous language," she said. "If it's not, it's a sort of monolingual English mindset.

"New Zealand is actually one of the very few countries that doesn't have compulsory language learning," she added. "In England, Ireland, Wales, Canada, Australia and South Africa … there is at least four years of compulsory language learning that takes place in the curriculum … so we're really not following what other countries are doing."

A bill to make second-language learning compulsory in primary and intermediate schools was initially proposed in 2018 by former National education spokesperson Nikki Kaye.

The proposal required schools to teach one of 10 "priority" languages that had yet to be decided upon, although te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language were likely to have been included in the mix.

The bill had bipartisan support from Labour, ACT and the Greens even though National was in opposition following the 2017 election, passing its first reading.

In 2021, though, Labour's members on the education and workforce select committee recommended that the bill not go ahead.

Before the 2023 election, the National Party appeared to deprioritize the language bill it once championed.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Erica Stanford said the proposal was not being considered at this time.

The Ministry of Education also confirmed there were no plans to make second-language learning compulsory.

"There is no requirement for schools to offer a second language," said Hayley Welch, acting general manager of Te Poutāhū Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education.

"But all schools with students in year 7 to year 10 should be working towards offering students opportunities for learning a second or subsequent language.

"The ministry remains committed to reflecting New Zealand's diversity in education," Welch added. "We are interested in how the national curriculum might support broader language inclusion in the future, and we welcome ongoing engagement with communities on issues like this."