Language attitudes of Kazakh youth

The study of the language attitudes of Kazakh youth, with an emphasis on regional differences, is critically important for the development of language policies that promote social integration and cultural diversity in the context of globalisation, urbanisation and changes in national and international politics. The purpose of the study was to analyse the linguistic attitudes of Kazakh youth against the background of sociolinguistic changes caused by globalisation, the policy of trilingualism and the multicultural environment. A diachronic method was used to analyse the historical evolution of the country’s language policy and the focus group method to investigate current language preferences and factors influencing them in different regions. It was revealed that sociolinguistic discourse emphasises the importance of language learning in the context of culture and society, especially focusing on multilingualism as a means of improving intercultural understanding. It is noted that Kazakhstan is moving from bilingualism to trilingualism, reflecting sociocultural and political changes after independence, including English in the educational system for global integration. To effectively improve Kazakhstan’s language policy, it is necessary to consider these regional differences to promote social harmony and successful integration of different linguistic and cultural groups. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ .