In English, please! Exploring Translanguaging and Language Ideologies in a Kazakhstani International School

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session One
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT045 (Wednesday)

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines how English teachers in a Kazakhstani international school navigate multilingual classroom realities within an officially trilingual context. Drawing on interviews, classroom observations, and institutional documents, the study explores how teachers use Kazakh, Russian, and English in relation to institutional expectations and personal beliefs. Using translanguaging and language ideology as analytical lenses, findings reveal diverse stances toward multilingual pedagogy, ranging from flexible, student-centered approaches to strict English-only practices. These variations reflect tensions between global English-medium norms and local linguistic realities. The study highlights how teachers exercise agency in negotiating policy ambiguity and calls for greater institutional dialogue about language use in international schools in Kazakhstan.

Author

• Nursultan Assylov, UMass Amherst