Te whakaaro me te hanganga - ideas, structure and coherence
What this domain tests
Te whakaaro me te hanganga judges whether the thinking holds together. Strong reo in disconnected sentences still fails this domain. The assessor looks for one clear kaupapa, ideas that support it, links between them, and an ending that answers what was set up.
Plan before you produce
- Kaupapa matua - state it in one sentence. If you cannot, the piece is not ready.
- Ngā whakaaro taunaki - two or three points that genuinely support it, each with a taunaki (example, evidence, or personal experience).
- Raupapa - order them so each one builds on the last, strongest or most personal last.
Paragraph as a unit
One idea per paragraph. Open with a signpost in Māori - Ko te mea nui ..., Ko te take tuatahi ... - then the taunaki, then a sentence that hands over to the next paragraph.
Cohesion devices
Engari (contrast), heoi anō (however), otirā (moreover), nō reira (therefore), i tua atu (beyond that), hei tauira (for example), kātahi (then, at that point). A rhetorical question (Ka pēhea te whānau e ora ai?) is an effective bridge between sections.
Worked example
Three loose ideas: the marae needed repairs; the whānau fundraised; the opening day drew a large crowd. Plan: kaupapa - ko te mahi tahi te pūtake o te oranga o te marae. Para one: the state of the whare. Para two: the fundraising effort and who drove it. Para three: the reopening, framed as the outcome of collective effort. Why this works: the three facts stop being a list and become cause, effort and result, each tied back to the kaupapa sentence.
Traps that cost marks
Listing facts with no connectives; repeating the same idea in different words to fill length; a conclusion that introduces a brand-new topic; no whakamutunga at all; a narrative with a problem that is never resolved.