Using Māori-English Dual Language Picturebooks to Support the Enactment of Language Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand Educational Contexts

Since 2000, there has been an increase in the number of picturebooks published in Aotearoa New Zealand featuring Māori and English text in a bilingual format (Daly N. Picturebooks as a source for the study of language beliefs and attitudes in Aotearoa/New Zealand changed to Picturebooks reflecting language beliefs and attitudes in time in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Paper presented at European network for Picturebook research conference, 2021a). I have argued previously that the language hierarchies evident in the design of these influential forms of children’s literature have the potential to support or disrupt existing hegemonies (Daly N. How children’s picturebooks can disrupt existing language hierarchies. Available at https://theconversation.com/how-childrens-picturebooks-can-disrupt-existing-language-hierarchies-96275,2018 ). While there is no official national language policy in Aotearoa (East M, et al. N Z Lang Teach 39:44–59, 2013), many aspects of language policy are found in the New Zealand Curriculum concerning the use of Te Reo Māori (Ministry of Education. New Zealand curriculum. The Ministry of Education by Learning Media, Wellington, 2007), one of three official languages in Aotearoa. In this chapter, I explore the linguistic landscape (Daly N. Linguistic Landsc An Int J 5(3):281–301, 2019) of five recently published picturebooks featuring Te Reo Māori and New Zealand English, critically examining the ways in which the educational language policies are being enacted in the layout of the text, and the ways in which language hegemonies are being supported or disrupted. I argue for the potential of dual language picturebooks to present languaging practices which may influence readers’ understandings of language hierarchies in their context.