Kazakh Family Engagement in Early Language and Literacy Learning: A Case Study in Urban Kazakhstan

Abstract

In the post-Soviet Kazakhstan, literacy appears to be perceived by urban Kazakh families and communities as a product not a process and continues to be referred to as a set of skills of reading and writing to be taught primarily at schools rather than as a social practice to be exposed at home. This qualitative case study examines home literacy practices of one Kazakh family from Central Kazakhstan and the family members’ perspectives on their child’s emergent literacy practices. This study is guided by the following two research questions: How do families perceive their child’s emergent literacy and language practices? Do family members engage in family literacy practices, and if so, what types of home literacy practices do they participate in for supporting the child’s literacy and language learning? Drawing on the theories of literacy as a social practice, multimodality, and family literacy, this study employed semi-structured interviews, diary writing, and non-participant observation for data collection. Findings revealed that the urban Kazakh family members appear to identify and conceptualize literacy mostly as traditional and formal ones. Furthermore, the father did not consider some emergent literacy practices to make a contribution to the child’s literacy development. Finally, the opportunities the family members provided, recognition they showed, modelling they did, and interaction they participated in demonstrated the sociocultural and multimodal diversity of their home literacy practices.