LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AND LANGUAGE PRACTICES OF ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF TRILINGUAL EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

The Trilingual Education Policy in Kazakhstan, aiming to create a new unified national identity promoting equality and balanced use of Kazakh as the state language, Russian for interethnic communication, and English for global competitiveness, has raised concerns related to the exclusion of ethnic minorities’ languages and interests. A phenomenological qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews was used to explore their language ideologies and practices of ethnic minority students in the context of trilingual education. Participants include undergraduate and graduate students of diverse ethnic backgrounds (Uighur, Korean, and Tatar) from various regions of Kazakhstan. Findings reveal that students acknowledge growing societal emphasis on Kazakh and feel pressure to achieve fluency as a “civic duty.” However, in practice, Russian and English remain dominant languages in education, work, and the public domain. Heritage languages are often confined to the home, creating a sense of being “in shadow.” This complex linguistic environment creates tensions for minority students, impacting their identity construction and discrimination incidents. Participants’ narratives illustrate a spectrum of experiences in identity construction ranging from strong cultural identification to feelings of “otherness” and “nobody” reflecting alienation and detachment from their heritage language. Moreover, though aimed at inclusion, Kazakhstani trilingual education policy exposes minority students to discrimination based on ethnicity, language, and appearance. Thus, the study reveals the disconnect between policy aims “unity” and “equality” and the experiences of ethnic minority students