Language Policy

Introduction

 

According to the decree of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev, a trilingual policy is being introduced in the educational sphere of Kazakhstan (Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2011). Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, which are the flagship in the educational sphere of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also apply  a trilingual education model.

Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Nur-Sultan, which implements the International Baccalaureate programs (hereinafter – School), implements training in Kazakh, Russian and English languages. The Kazakh language is the state language, mastering which is the duty of every member of the school community, Russian is the language of interethnic communication, English is important for integration into the world community.

At Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Nur-Sultan, language policy is an integral part of the educational process.

All members of the school community know that Kazakh, Russian and English languages play an important role in the prosperity of Kazakhstan and therefore fluency in these languages is key to success.

 

  1. 1. General Provisions

 

  1. 1. This Language Policy is used by students, teachers and other members of the school community of the Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Nur-Sultan.
  2. 2. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance on the implementation and development of the trilingual learning model and to support the native languages of learners.
  3. 3. The Language Policy is reviewed annually.
  4. The following concepts are used in this Policy:

1) Trilingual educational model of teaching – a teaching model in which subjects are taught in Kazakh, Russian and English;

2) Language Policy – the School’s policy that regulates issues related to the language aspect of teaching and learning;

3) Middle Years Programme – an educational program of the International Baccalaureate, aimed at teaching 13-17 years old students;

4) Diploma Programme – an educational program of the International Baccalaureate, aimed at teaching  18-20 years old students;

5) Language of instruction – the language in which the subject is taught;

6) Language phases – stages of teaching languages;

7) Native language is one of the main signs of a person’s national (ethnic) affiliation;

8) First language – a language mastered by a person from childhood;

9) Second language – the language mastered by a person after the native or the first language;

10) Levels of achievement – a descriptor of the level that meets the criterion that best matches the achievement in the student’s work;

11) Integration – the process of borrowing, shifting and crossing characteristics that were previously characteristic of only one specific language;

12) Language resources – sources of knowledge that help to improve the language level through live communication;

13) IELTS certificate – a certificate that proves a certain level of knowledge of the English language;

14) APTIS certificate – a similar IELTS certificate that proves a certain level of English;

15) KazTest Certificate – a certificate that proves  a certain level of knowledge of the Kazakh language;

5. All languages taught in MYP and DP are divided into two groups:

1 group – Language and Literature (Kazakh Language and Literature, Kazakh Literature, Russian Language and Literature, English Language and Literature)

2 group – Language acquisition (Kazakh language, Russian language, English language).