Several Particularities of the Study of the English Language in a Kazakh-language Environment

"Once the great Abai called the Kazakhs to study the Russian language.  Intuitively, he understood that through Russian and the Russian culture our people would be able to join global culture. And so it happened. In the XXI century we face new tasks: while preserving faithfulness to our own roots, and developing our native language and culture, we must incorporate dynamic world-wide technological and humanitarian developments. This is possible by means of the English language."  (From an interview with former Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ermuhamet Ertysbaev.)

Is there a problem in Kazakhstan with translation from English to Kazakh?
We do not deny that in Kazakhstan such a problem exists. But how severe is it, and can it be resolved?

The essence of the problem is that for many years in Kazakhstan the English language was taught not in Kazakh, but in Russian. In any Kazakh school, whether located in a rural area or in the city, English was not taught in the students' native language. The result was that before he had yet successfully mastered the Russian language, the child would begin to study a foreign language in Russian. Education in foreign languages in a student’s native Kazakh was a great rarity. For example, in our practice their was only one English textbook in Kazakh (English – Ağylshyn Tílí (Ағылшын тілі), Zh. Qaliev, V.S. Malycev, and Z.N. Ochakovskaya, Mektep Publishers, 1981). The same situation existed not only in schools, but also in institutions of higher learning.  

By the end of the 1980-90s, however, the situation had begun to change. Kazakh schools began to open everywhere, particularly in the provinces and in large cities. As a result, today in Kazakh schools English is taught not in Russian, as previously, but in Kazakh. In institutions of higher learning students now likewise study English in Kazakh. A significant factor is that the number of Kazakh-language students in institutions of higher learning has reached 65 percent. If one considers that during the existence of the Soviet Union lessons were conducted in Russian in all institutions of higher and specialized secondary education, except for pedagogical institutes, 65% today is a significant achievement.        
In his Letter to the People of Kazakhstan, "A New Kazakhstan in a New World", the president emphasized: «... I propose that the "Linguistic Triunity" cultural project be put into gradual execution*. Kazakhstan must be perceived throughout the world as a highly-educated country, whose population employs three languages..." In this regard it is essential to systematically conduct the development of Kazakh as the state language, Russian as the language of international commerce, and English as the language of successful integration into the global economy, and to view this as one of the top priorities of state linguistic policy.

In this regard a very interesting point of view is that held by William Fierman, director of the Center for Central Asian and Kazakh Studies of the University of Seattle (USA). Here is what he said to a Kazinform journalist in response to the question on how he views the Kazakhstan president's initiative for implementing linguistic triunity in the country: «In my opinion, this idea is a correct one, and will promote the development of the state. It is too early, however, to speak of linguistic triunity in Kazakhstan. At present your country has one prevailing language – Russian. Even though according to the Constitution Kazakh is the state language. In my opinion, in contemporary Kazakhstan the Kazakh language must begin to play a greater role, particularly in the cities, as it has always prevailed in the villages. For example, the Kazakh language is not often used in the east and the north of the country, unlike the south and the south-east. English, oddly enough, has very quickly begun to occupy a significant place in Kazakhstan, which is a very positive trend."

As part of implementing the "Linguistic Triunity" cultural project it is essential to raise the quality of textbooks and teaching materials in English for national, primary secondary, and general secondary educational institutions, and to examine the issues of educational development in three languages.

It is likewise essential to provide equal access to a well-rounded education in English to a variety of categories of students, and to thereby promote the development of an independent individual, ready to take an active part in the social, economic, and political life of the country. It is important that the "Linguistic Triunity" project resolve, among other things, the issues of educating state personnel not only in the state and Russian languages, but also in English – the language of integration into the global world economy.

The "Linguistic Triunity" project presumes the establishment of conditions for providing all citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the opportunity to study English: improved quality of English instruction in all general education schools, including specialized schools with an emphasis on foreign languages, as well as specialized secondary and higher learning institutions.

For these purposes we propose:
1) that foreign teachers of English begin to be sought for general education schools; and
2) that canonical dictionaries for public use, as well as textbooks, educational syllabi and curricula, study guides, a system of interactive study, and innovative video tutorials on intensive training in Kazakh and English for state personnel be developed and published.
Here it is important to realize that English is easier to learn for those who speak Kazakh. This is not an issue of state language propaganda, but rather a fact, confirmed by various objective indicators. For example, the English language contains approximately 4500 words of Turkish origin.

These data are cited by Turkish journalist Ahmet Alyaz of the Zaman-Qazaqstan magazine in an interview given to Tíl magazine. 
In examining the languages of the world from a grammatical perspective, it may be seen that the logical laws that regulate the very process of human thought are the same for all languages, while the grammatical laws differ for each language. What is convenient, intelligible, and customary in one language is unacceptable and superfluous for another. However, in comparing English and Kazakh, certain grammatical similarities between the two may be noted.

First, let us examine phonetics. The number of vowel sounds in English and Kazakh does not differ particularly, there being 11 in Kazakh and 12 in English (not counting diphthongs).  Many of these are similar in pronunciation, but in their articulation a slight difference may be noted. For example, in Kazakh new words and various word forms are formed by consecutive additions to the root (tübírge – түбíрге) or the word stem (сözdíń negízíne – сөздің негізіне) of derivational and inflectional affixes: suffixes (žūrnaqtar – жұрнақтар) and inflexions (žalğaular – жалғаулар).
English has a similar method of word formation. Adding the inflexion "-ing" to the infinitive produces the most multidimensional form in the English language – the so-called "ing" form.

The suffix "-er" (more rarely, "-or"), when added to the infinitive, usually implies a person performing an action: to read – reader, to write – writer, to work – worker, to sail – sailor, etc.  In Kazakh the most common derivational affix is also the suffix (žūrnaq – жұрнақ), which gives the word a new lexical value. It is easily detected, and participates in the formation of new words. For example, the suffixes -šy, -ší (шы, ші): žūmys – žūmysšy (жұмыс – жұмысшы; work – worker); oqu – oqušy (оқу – оқушы; read – reader); žazu – žazušy (жазу – жазушы; write – writer); etc.
Nevertheless, they do differ. In Kazakh the root remains unchanged, and affixes harmonize with the root. I.e., word formation takes place according to the law of vowel harmoney – the law of combining the sounds of the primary parts of both words and affixes. According to this law, all Kazakh words may be grouped into the coronal or soft (žíńíške – жіңішке) and the dorsal or hard (žuan – жуан). Hence, all words are divided into hard and soft words. For example, köl (көл) and än (ән) are žíńíške (жіңішке – soft), qol (қол) and žan (жан) are žuan (жуан – hard), etc.  In English, on the other hand, suffixes and inflexions are entirely independent of the stem, and coronal vowels may be combined with dorsal vowels.
The number of consonants in Kazakh and English likewise hardly differ in number: Kazakh has 25, and English – 24.  In their manner of formation the consonant sounds in the two languages are very similar: labial, lingual, and palatal. Just as in English, in Kazakh improper pronunciation of a sound can change the meaning of a word.

There are also, however, certain differences between the languages. In English, for example, only nouns denoting persons, personal pronouns, and, as an exception, certain animals and objects have gender. Nouns pertaining to a person (which answer the question “Who is this?“) are masculine (respective pronouns "he, his") or feminine (respective pronouns "she, her"). Kazakh, however, has no gender category; hence, the same adjective, pronoun, or ordinal number can be translated variously into English depending on the meaning of the sentence.
No counterpart of the verb "to be" is used in Kazakh, whereas its use is essential in English, and so on.
Word order in Kazakh is of considerable importance, and is fixed. In a simple declarative sentence the subject is usually found at the beginning, the predicate is always at the end, the modifier precedes the word being modified, and the modifier of time is placed at the beginning of the sentence. In the same way, English has a fixed order of the parts of the sentence, in which subject, predicate, and so forth each has its own place. For example, “Wе live in Astana” – "Bíz Astanada tūramyz" (Біз Астанада тұрамыз), or “Put the book on the table” –  "Kítapty stoldyń ustíne qoi" (Кітапты столдың үстіне қой).

All the same, in the matter of translation from English to Kazakh specific challenges arise with regard to linguistic particularities. The well-known Kazakh academic linguist K. Zhubanov said: "In language one rarely encounters words that perfectly parallel the meaning of any word in another language. For example, Russian has the generic concept of "pastukh" (пастух – shepherd), but lacks the specific concept of "qoišy" (қойшы) and "žylqyšy" (жылқышы), yet, conversely, has the specific concepts of "khleb" (хлеб – bread) and "konyushnya" (конюшня – horse stable). The Russian word "tyotya" (тетя – aunt) may be translated both as "žeńeše" (жеңеше) and "apa" (апа), but the Kazakh "apa" (апа) in Russian may signify either sister or aunt. Every Russian sentence, however complex it may be, can likewise be translated into Kazakh in a single sentence. Such a sentence-by-sentence translation, however, cannot always ensure accuracy – not only of style, but also of meaning."

There is yet another complication: the impossibility or impropriety of translating phraseological units. Here is what E.A. Kemelbekova writes: "Phraseological units, i.e., phraseological expressions, are fixed combinations of words having the compound meaning of an individual word – turns of speech possessing traits such as separability, reproducibility, and sometimes equivalency and association with a word." Translation of fixed phrases from English into other languages always presents certain challenges, due to the semantic integrity and complexity of such constructions. For example, “to get out of bed on the wrong side”, "sol ajağymen tūru сол" (аяғымен тұру); “fish begins to stink (or stinks) at the head” – "balyq basynan šíridí" (балық басынан шіриді); or “nothing is stolen without hands” – "žel tūrmasa šöptíń basy qimyldamaidy" (жел тұрмаса шөптің басы қимылдамайды). It is important to remember, however, that this kind of translation challenge arises in practically any language pair.

Despite the issues regarding foreign languages in Kazakhstan and the difficulties of translation itself, we may say with confidence that the process of regulating Kazakhstan's linguistic interrelations has already begun. One visible demonstration of this is the translation of animated films from English into the state language (rather than into Russian, as before) – the work of representatives of the Bolašaq Republic Youth Movement. 

* The concept of the "Linguistic Triunity" cultural project belongs to Republic President Nursultan Nazarbaev. The idea was first voiced in October, 2006, at the 12th session of the People's Assembly of Kazakhstan. The concept of triunity expresses a simple, intelligible formula: develop the state language, maintain Russian, and study English. Kazakhstan is charting a course of trilingualism for its citizens with an eye to contemporary reality: linguistic triunity will be a testimony to national competitive ability.

Author – Amandyk Amirkhamzin

List of References:
1. English – Ağylshyn Tílí (Ағылшын тілі), Zh. Qaliev, V.S. Malycev, Z.N. Ochakovskaya, Mektep Publishers, 1981.
2. A New Kazakhstan in a New World. Letter from the President to the People of Kazakhstan. Astana, April 28, 2007.
3. On the State Program for Linguistic Functioning and Development for 2001-2010. Order No. 550 of the Republic of Kazakhstan President dated February 7, 2001.
4. Challenges in Translation, Tatiana Ten. Article from the Caravan newspaper.
5. "The more successful the country becomes, the more people will begin speaking Kazakh." Interview with Minister of Culture and Information Ermuhamet Ertysbaev.
6. On the Singing Phonetics of the Kazakh Language, Tolkyn Zabirova.
7. Kazakh for Beginners, Almasbek Belbotaev and Zhanyl Tukebaeva, Book 2. Almaty, Qazaqstan Publishers, 1993.
8. Friendly Encounters with the English Language, M.A. Kolpakchi.  Leningrad, 1978.
9. Russian-English Dictionary of Adages and Proverbs, S.S. Kuzmin and N.L. Shadrin.  Moscow, Russky Yazyk Publishers, 1989.
10. The Ideas of Professor K. Zhubanov in the Sphere of Translation Theory and His Role in the Formation of Kazakh Terminology, N.M. Baiganina.
11. «"The concept of linguistic triunity in Kazakhstan is a correct one and will promote the country's development." Opinion of an American academic.  Kazinform, May 15, 2008.
12. "Linguistic Triunity", Arken Seitov. Baiterek magazine.