Dr Peter J Keegan

PhD, MPhil, BA(Hons)

Senior Lecturer

In: Te Puna Wananga » Faculty of Education and Social Work

Biography

Peter was born and raised in Taranaki (West Coast, North Island, New Zealand). He has been living in Auckland (New Zealand) since December 2000.

He pepeha (tribal proverb)

Ko Pirongia te maunga
Ko Waipa te awa

Ko Waikato-Maniapoto te iwi

Ko Ngāti Apakura te hapū
Ko Pūrekireki Wiwi te marae

Research | Current

Peter's interests include language structure and use, measurement (including Item Response Theory), assessment and language testing, (especially in Māori and indigenous language education contexts), language documentation and conservation. He focuses on quantitative approaches to research and data. He undertakes research on changes in the structure of Māori language and efforts to revitalize Māori and indigenous languages, in educational and community contexts. He is also interested in the achievement of Māori and minority students, and Māori/indigenous literatures.

Major Research Projects

2004-2020 MAONZE (Māori New Zealand English)

Along with Dr Catherine Watson (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), Dr Jeanette King and Dr Margaret Maclagan (University of Canterbury) Dr Ray Harlow and many others. The project examines changes in the pronunciation of Māori and New Zealand English over time. It has been supported by two Marsden fund grants.

2015-2020 Māori Pronunciation Tool: A System for Providing Feedback on Spoken Māori (MPAi)

Along with Dr Catherine Watson (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering) and others. The project involves developing and trialing a prototype computer-based Māori pronunciation tool that provides users with real time feedback on their own pronunciation of Māori vowels and words. We undertook trials in November/December 2015 late 2016 and mid 2017, analysed the results and then undertook a further trial in late 2019.

Other Projects

Peter contributes to research projects in the Faculty of Engineering, Liggins Institute and New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER).

Teaching | Current

Semester One 2020 EDUC 734 (Lecturer), EDPFOM 214 (Lecturer), EDUCM 321 (Tutor) EDUC 114 (Lecturer)

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD Supervision

Ji, Di. Family Language Policy and its relevance to Chinese Heritage Language Maintenance in New Zealand.
Huang, Chuanning. Investigating imagined communities at a Japanese supplementary school in New Zealand.
Snowden, Mere. Tihei Mauriora Te Reo Mauriora: Te Reo Māori in English-Medium Schools.
Teh, David. An Additive, Dynamic & Usage-Based Multilingual Approach (ADUMA) To English Language Teaching in Malaysia.
Yan, Yuan. Bilingual Education of Mandarin and Dong in Southwest China: Policies, Practices and Attitudes.

Responsibilities

Research and statistical advise, Te Puna Wānanga, Faculty of Education and Social Work

Areas of expertise

Interests include measurement (including Item Response Theory), assessment and language testing, especially in Māori and indigenous language education contexts. Focuses on quantitative approaches to research and data. Undertakes research on changes in the structure of Māori language and efforts to revitalize Māori and indigenous languages, in educational and community contexts. Also interested in the achievement of Māori and minority students.
The structure of Māori language, especially changes in modern contexts such as home, schooling and community
Also interested in Māori narratives, Māori literature (both in English and Māori)

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Faculty of Education and Social Work Research Committee

Te Puna Wānanga Research and Postgraduate Committee

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Keegan, P. J. (2019). A Reflection for Te Wiki o te reo Māori. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@ideasroom/2019/09/10/797966/ihu-mtao-waha-mahana-a-reflection-for-te-wiki-o-te-reo-mori. Related URL.
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/48766
Reese, E., Keegan, P., McNaughton, S., Kingi, T. K., Carr, P. A., Schmidt, J., ... Morton, S. (2018). Te reo Māori: Indigenous language acquisition in the context of New Zealand English. Journal of Child Language, 45 (2), 340-367.
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44020
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Stuart McNaughton, Susan Morton, Cameron Grant
Mixdorff, H., Watson, C., & Keegan, P. (2018). Quantitative analysis of māori prosody from three generations. Proceedings of the International Conference on Speech Prosody. 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2018-128
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/43628
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Catherine Watson
Keegan, P. J. (2017). Māori dialect Issues And Māori language ideologies In the revitalisation era. MAI Journal: A New Zealand Journal of Indigenous Scholarship, 6 (2), 129-142. 10.20507/MAIJournal.2017.6.2.3
Watson, C. I., Keegan, P. J., Maclagan, M. A., Harlow, R., & King, J. (2017). The motivation and development of MPAi, a Māori Pronunciation Aid. Proceedings of Interspeech 2017, 2063-2067. Stockholm, Sweden: International Speech Communication Association. 10.21437/Interspeech.2017-215
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/35553
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Catherine Watson
Maclagan, M., Watson, C. I., Harlow, R., King, J., & Keegan, P. (2017). Investigating the sound change in the New Zealand English nurse vowel. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 37 (4), 465-485. 10.1080/07268602.2017.1364126
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/40134
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Catherine Watson
Keegan, P. J. (2016). Māori language testing and assessment in Aotearoa: past, present and future prospects. Paper presented at The Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand 2016 Conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 17 November - 19 November 2016. Related URL.
Watson, C., Maclagan, M. A., King, J., Harlow, R., & Keegan, P. J. (2016). Sound change in Māori and the Influence of New Zealand English. Journal of the International Phonetics Association, 46 (2), 185-218. 10.1017/S0025100316000025
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/30189
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Catherine Watson