Comparative Analysis of Language Policy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Post-Soviet Trajectories of Nation Building and Linguistic Transformation

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of language policy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, examining how both post-Soviet states have used language education policy as a mechanism for nation-building, identity formation and so-ciopolitical transformation since independence in 1991. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Spolsky (2004), Bourdieu (1991) and Woolard (1998), the study explores the ideological foundations, implementation strategies and sociolinguistic consequences of language reform in both countries. The analysis highlights the contrast between Ka-zakhstan’s gradualist and multilingual approach that balances Kazakh, Russian and English within a framework of civ-ic nationalism, with Uzbekistan that pursued a more centralized and ethnolinguistic model emphasizing Uzbek linguis-tic dominance and symbolic decolonization. It further evaluates the impacts of script reform, bilingual education and minority language policy on educational equity, social cohesion and economic opportunity. It argues that language pol-icy outcomes are shaped not only by ideology but also by institutional capacity and sociolinguistic realities.