Investigating University Students’ (Dis)investments and Identity Negotiation for Learning Turkish in Kazakhstan: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

The study reported in this thesis responds to the growing scholarly interest in the “multilingual turn” in applied linguistics by examining learners’ experiences with languages other than English (LOTEs) in under-researched contexts such as Central Asia. While Kazakhstan is characterized by a rich multilingual ecology, existing research has largely prioritised English, leaving the study of Turkish as a LOTE insufficiently explored. Addressing this lacuna, the present qualitative inquiry investigates Kazakhstani university students’ (dis)investment and identity negotiation in learning Turkish as an additional language (L4/L5). The study is theoretically framed by Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment, which conceptualizes language learning as shaped by identity, capital, and ideology, alongside Oxford’s (1990) classification of language learning strategies (LLSs). It explores university students’ changing beliefs towards the Turkish language and its people, the factors influencing their investment and disinvestment in learning Turkish, the challenges they encounter, and the LLSs they employ to navigate these challenges. Data were generated through narrative writing and individual semi-structured interviews with eight female university students and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2013) reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal that participants’ initial beliefs about Turkish were shaped by perceived linguistic proximity to Kazakh and mediated cultural representations; however, these beliefs evolved through lived learning experiences. Investment emerged as dynamic and multifaceted, encompassing necessity-driven, desire-driven, and conditional forms, closely linked to participants’ access to symbolic and cultural capital. At the same time, participants experienced linguistic and structural challenges, including cross-linguistic interference, limited instructional time, and inconsistencies in teaching practices. Despite these constraints, participants exercised agency by mobilising a range of cognitive, metacognitive, social, and affective strategies to sustain engagement. This study contributes to the literature on LOTEs by positioning Turkish as a significant yet underexplored language within Kazakhstan’s multilingual landscape and by highlighting how identity negotiation and unequal access to resources shape learners’ (dis)investment. Pedagogically, the findings underscore the need for more sustained instructional support, context-sensitive curricula, and strategy-based instruction to enhance learner engagement and long-term investment in LOTE learning.