Language Policy and Ideology in Kazakhstan: Ethnic Russians’ Attitudes Toward the State Language Use

After the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan began to build its own language policy. It was necessary to raise the status of the Kazakh language and at the same time maintain ethnopolitical and social stability. When determining the main priorities of language policy, one of the most difficult factors influencing this process was to take into account the ethnic and linguistic needs of the population. It is the language that is one of the most important factors of national identity. This study analyzes the attitude of ethnic Russians to the use of the state language and linguistic ideology in Kazakhstan. The study is aimed at identifying the attitude of ethnic Russians to the use of the state language in social communications and in the choice of education. In the context of ideology, the article uses the term «kazakhization», which was introduced in previous studies on linguistic ideology in Kazakhstan. Key research questions: how do Russians feel about the language ideology in Kazakhstan? How do they relate to the choice of education (teaching instruction) and what are the problems in social communication in Kazakhstan? A questionnaire survey was used as the main tool for collecting data for the research project. The research results showed that ethnic Russian respondents have a neutral attitude to the ideology of the Kazakh language.