Browsing by Author "Karabay, Akmaral"

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    “Kazakhs should speak Kazakh”: Language Policy Realization in Urban Kazakh Families
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2(2), 2017-12) Amantay, Assem; Myrzabayeva, Aigerim; Karabay, Akmaral
    The Kazakh government’s after-independence language policy of “Kazakhization” has had a positive impact on the revitalization of Kazakh as an official language. The research shows that the urban Kazakh people tend to support the policy of their indigenous language revitalization, but when it comes to language use at home, the Kazakh language is not extensively used in this context (Smagulova, 2008, 2011). Informed by Spolsky’s framework of language policy, this small-scale research of four urban Kazakh families examined parental ideologies towards the Kazakh language revitalization and the actual linguistic practices and the management strategies used in the home. This study revealed that while all four Kazakh families admitted the significance of the Kazakh language and supported the idea of its revitalization in the country, their language choices and efforts to maintain Kazakh vary from family to family. The findings offer new insights for researchers, policymakers, parents, and educators interested in understanding the revitalization of the Kazakh language.
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    STEM and Social Sciences Students’ Language-Oriented Academic Challenges in English Medium of Instruction (EMI) Programs: The Case of An International University in Kazakhstan
    (Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education, 2017) Karabay, Akmaral
    English Medium of Instruction (EMI), that is teaching subjects in English, is becoming a new phenomenon across Kazakhstani Higher Education. However, students have the language challenges when studying in English since it is not their first language. Therefore, the study has investigated STEM (i.e. Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) and Social sciences students‟ perceptions on choosing EMI and language challenges in EMI academic environment in an international university whose practices can be translated to other state universities newly implementing EMI. The research questions that guided study are as follows: What are STEM and Social sciences students‟ and teaching administrative staff perceptions of EMI and how do they describe and address the students‟ language challenges in academic contexts in EMI programs? The study is drawn upon qualitative case study research design employing interviews with 3 teaching-administrative staff members from 3 departments (2 STEM and 1 social sciences school), 1 university administrator as well as 1 focus group and 7 in-depth interviews with students. The data indicate that STEM and social sciences students have different level of language challenges. However, what was similar across the majors is that their challenges were mostly oriented on writing and speaking. Professors showed their awareness about the language challenges of students, although their understanding differed a bit in some details such as the nature of listening challenges caused by professors‟ language deficiency. In contrast, support provided by university and professors reportedly addresses students‟ academic difficulties during their studies. Yet, unlike social sciences, in STEM areas students are less likely to get their language improved by the end of their studies. Overall, the study suggest professors to interact with students more to learn and address students‟ language challenges. As EMI cannot guarantee students‟ English improvement, students may enhance the language by creating English environment around themselves. Английский язык обучения (EMI), то есть обучение предметов на английском языке, стало новым феноменом в Казахстанском высшем образовании. Тем не менее, у учащихся возникают трудности в ходе обучения на английском языке, так как английския язык не является их родным языком. В этой связи, в данном исследовании изучены восприятия и причины выбора обучения на английском языке студентов СТЕМ (то есть наук, технологии, инженерии и математики) и социальных наук, а также их языковые проблемы в академической среде международного университета, практики которого могут быть переведены в другие государственные университеты, внедряющие обучение на английском языке. Вопросы, которыми руководилось исследование, состоят в следующем: Что представляют собой восприятия студентов STEM и социальных наук, а также преподавательского- административного персонала университета об обучении на английском языке, а также какие языковые проблемы возникают и студентов в академическом контексте программ с английским языком обучения и как эти сложности решаются? Данная работа основано на качественном методе исследования, в котором использовалось интервью с 3 преподавателями-администраторами из двух факультетов STEM и одного факультета социальных наук, 1 администратором университета, а также 1 фокус-группа и 6 интервью со студентами. Данные исследования показывают, что студенты STEM и социальных наук имеют разный уровень языковых проблем. Однако одинаковым является то, что их проблемы в основном ориентированы на письмо и устную речь. Профессора продемонстрировали свою осведомленность о языковых проблемах студентов, хотя их понимания немного отличались в некоторых деталях, например, в таких, как характер проблем с аудированием, вызванных языковой недостаточностью преподавателей. Поддержка, предоставляемая университетами и преподавателями, отвечает нуждам студентов, чтобы справляться трудностями академического языка. Тем не менее, в отличие от студентов социальных наук, в СТЕМ областях студенты, очевидно, имеют меньше шансов улучшить свой язык по окончанию университета. Исследование рекомендует преподавателям более тесно взаимодействовать со студентами, чтобы они, то есть преподаватели, могли узнать и предоставить поддержку в решении языковых проблем студентов. Поскольку обучение на английском языке не может гарантировать улучшение английского языка, студенты сами могут улучшить язык, создав вокруг себя английскую среду.
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    THE SENSE-MAKING AND ENACTMENT OF ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION (EMI) POLICY IN A NATIONAL AND A STATE UNIVERSITY IN KAZAKHSTAN: A MULTI-LEVEL, MULTI-ACTOR PERSPECTIVE
    (Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education, 2024-09-13) Karabay, Akmaral
    The internationalization of universities has led to a significant increase in the adoption of English-medium instruction (EMI) within higher education institutions (HEIs) in Outer and Expanding Circles. In Kazakhstani HEIs, the implementation of EMI has gained momentum over the past decade following multiple governmental initiatives, references, and policies. However, the EMI policy, like many other reforms in the country, has been predominantly top-down and has not been clearly articulated at the governmental level. When a government initiates such inchoate policy, institutions, as a rule, tend to introduce the policy, ignoring their capacity and/or enacting it substantially based on their own interpretations. Little knowledge exists about the readiness of HEIs to enact EMI policy or their experiences of translating it into practice. Hence, this study explores how the governmental EMI policy is interpreted and enacted in two different types of HEIs located in two regions in Kazakhstan and how the interpretations and enactment practices differ across levels (national, institutional, and classroom) and universities (state and national). Employing the integrated theoretical lens of Enactment theory (Ball et al., 2012) , the Onion framework (Ricento & Hornberger, 1996), and Language-in-Education Planning (LEP) (Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997), the study explores interpretations and enactment processes at multiple levels and from the perspectives of four main groups of policy actors involved in its enactment (EMI managers, heads of departments, faculty members and students). Framed as a qualitative interpretive multiple case study research design, the study utilized governmental and institutional policy documents, alongside views of policy actors gathered through individual interviews and focus group discussions. The study revealed that policy actors’ interpretations (Chapter 4), framed as governmental, institutional, and individual, are shaped by their role in policy enactment. The policy is largely focused on country at the governmental level, and policy actors’ interpretations are institutionally and individually oriented at the respective levels. As the majority of policy actors support EMI, the governmental framing of EMI within trilingualism policy appears to alleviate resistance towards English. Not only disciplinary differences in EMI interpretations were evident, the analysis also demonstrates that the well-resourced national university has higher expectations from EMI compared to the less-resourced state university. Despite the absence of clear governmental guidelines on institutional policy enactment (Chapter 5), the universities exhibit similar organizational approaches to EMI enactment. Institutional leadership at both universities aims to expand the number of EMI programs, yet concerns at the classroom level center around the quality of EMI delivery due to the lack of thoughtfulness in addressing LEP issues. The classroom level enactment (Chapter 6) also demonstrates little guidance from those at the higher level. The perception of EMI design as a mere language switch is contrasted against the need for methodological changes, suggesting the need for more focused EMI training for faculty members. Overall, the EMI policy in Kazakhstani HEIs demonstrates alignment with broader governmental objectives. However, enactment challenges remain at the institutional and classroom levels. Addressing these challenges requires a nuanced approach to institutional and program planning as well as targeted support for faculty development.