How Does the Global Spread of English Language Affect the Academic Development of Kazakh School Students?

           Research Paper (Essay 2)

How does the global spread of English language affect the academic development of Kazakh school students?

Abstract

The world received the unique English language which is used in all spheres of life by the overwhelming number of the countries. There are controversies over the impact of English as a global language on different spheres, such as education. The main aim of this research is to determine how the academic development of school students of Kazakhstan is affected by the English prevalence.  The global spread of English has contributed to the development of multilingual education system in Kazakhstan which is beneficial for students’ academic progress because it allows to study abroad and provides with more sources for studying, also, factors that affect academic achievements, such as cognitive development, emotional well-being, are improved, even though some of the students can be disadvantaged because of studying in English. Studying in three languages simultaneously makes students more productive and communicable in teams. Secondly, Kazakh students receive an access to international scientific sources that can fulfill some misunderstandings in the local sources. Also, since the most elite universities abroad teach in English, Kazakhs have a chance to go study there to receive more advanced education.  Kazakhs are likely to increase emotional well-being because of achieving a high level of fluency in English which can change students’ attitudes towards their study and increase their GPA. Nevertheless, the ways to help those students who are not talented at foreign languages should be investigated.

1The term academic development in this context should be defined as students’ improvements in their knowledge and GPA, the level of cognitive thinking and abilities to socialize with people

How does the global spread of English language affect the academic development of Kazakh school students?

The word “happy” is used 3 times more often than “sad” in English language. Currently, English has become the global language and ¼ of the world population speaks English at least at the elementary level (Crystal, 2003). Many countries have adapted to this change in the different ways, including Kazakhstan. According to Aliyev and Kurmanov (2015), Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science, three-lingual education system (English, Russian and Kazakh) was invented in 2012 in the majority of schools, English as an adaptation to international standards and at the same time, Kazakh and Russian in order not to forget mother tongue. This essay will focus on the effect of the global spread of English on the academic development of Kazakh students.  Although some of the Kazakh students are disadvantaged in studying  in English, the global usage of English helps students to enhance the academic development because of appeared multilingual education system which provides students with opportunities to study abroad, access to international scientific databases cognitive improvements and higher emotional well-being.

Does English develop brain activity?

The appearance of such a multilingual education system has several advantages over monolingual one in terms of cognitive development. Multilingual curriculum requires students to use the whole intellectual potential. Because they have to switch between languages, understanding the material is not as easy as it used to be in the previous curriculum. For example, students have to, firstly, analyze the structure of new languages or deduct some unclear expressions in the text’s context, memorize many new words and information and keep it in mind in different languages. Also, it is important to be more attentive to which language should they use.  As Weil (2012) has found, those who can speak several languages have executive abilities 35% better compared to monolingual individuals. It includes improved memory, problem-solving skills and emotional self-regulation. Additionally, it can be assumed that multilinguals are advantaged in terms of socializing which is helpful for their success in group works. The more language student knows more people he can talk to. A student who studied, for instance, in Russian only, has the limited audience, whereas, student speaking three languages can socialize with foreigners as well as people who can speak either Russian or Kazakh.  Department of Psychology of Wooster, ruled by Professor Weil (2012) stated that students capable to speak in English in addition to their mother language have more friends. These points suggest that English is useful, since it changed education system which makes students more productive and more adaptable in group works.

English and foreign sources for study

Global English contributes to a better knowledge since it provides Kazakh Students with an access to international scientific databases. Even though Kazakh students can be taught by local books and sources, they will be better off studying foreign researches too. However, it is impossible to learn all the languages to understand their works. In accordance with Huttner-Koros (2015), a great majority (80%) of today’s scientific researches published by the scientific largest database (SCOPUS) is written in English. Thus, English has become a unique language in science. Since Kazakhs are required to study some of the courses in English, it gives them an opportunity to read and analyze studies written by, for instance, European scientists. It can enhance students’ academic development through more detailed explanations in foreign books and expanded range of sources available. The lack of information for a particular material in the Russian source can be compensated by detailed explanation in English book.  Also, as Byram and Feng (2009) stated, scientific works recognized internationally are more competitive and reliable.  Since a majority of international works is published in English, it can be assumed that as Kazakh students work more with English written scientific researches, more competitive they become.