How Does the Global Spread of English Language Affect the Academic Development of Kazakh School Students?

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English provides new study opportunities

The global usage of English helps Kazakh students to acquire advanced education abroad. It is logical that students’ academic development partly depends on the university status, its education system and professors. For example, students of the most prestigious universities such as Ivy League are considered to be more competitive and higher qualified compared to students from less elite universities (Zimmerman, 2013). Since the language of teaching in these universities is English, it suggests that because Kazakh students also study in English, they have a chance to be enrolled in one of the prestigious universities abroad and become more knowledgeable and qualified. Moreover, According to Duncan (2010) from the U.S Department of Education, in addition to high university status and well-qualified professors, education system abroad allows students to choose courses that they want to study. Thus, in this case students should be more enthusiastic about their studies which in turn can increase their GPA.

How does English influence happiness?

English also impacts students’ academic achievements through the emotional well-being. Since Kazakh students are required to adapt to the global prevalence of English, they have to master it. As a result of mastering a new skill, especially English language which can be used in daily routine, students are likely to consider themselves as more intelligent and purposeful, such increase in self-assessment should improve students’ emotional well-being. As Ushioda (2009), Psychology Department head of Utah University, suggested, students’ enthusiasm and grades depend in part on their internal state, consequently, higher well-being contributes to higher grades. Thus, it suggests once Kazakh students master English language, their self-assessment should increase. Then, they will be more enthusiastic about learning new materials, new languages and achieving new academic goals.

Is English prevalence flawless?

However, English prevalence could also slow down some students’ academic progress. It is obvious that all students have different constitution of mind. For example, while some students are more gifted in learning English and other humanities classes, others are more gifted in mathematics but have problems with learning English language. Those students having difficulties with studying in English can lose motivation for further studies. Also, they are likely to misunderstand the material and consequently receive less knowledge. According to Ntshangase (2011), second language learners of English who specializes in exact sciences have a higher failure rate in terms of enrolling universities and passing final exams compared to those who studied in their mother language. This point suggests that English is not always beneficial and can disadvantage some students.

To conclude, the global spread of English is one of the tools that can enhance Kazakh students’ academic development. It encouraged the appearance of multilingual education system which positively affects students’ cognitive thinking and makes them more communicable. In addition, students can read scientific articles written by scientists from all over the world, thereby, becoming more knowledgeable. Thirdly, Kazakhs can go abroad for further studies at prestigious universities, more flexible education system, highly qualified professors will contribute to more significant academic achievements. Since the global usage of English requires Kazakhs to learn this language, most of the students feel a sense of self-satisfaction and undergo increased emotional well-being because of mastering new skills. Increased emotional well-being positively impacts the students' attitude to study. Therefore, English as a global language should not be considered as a problem for Kazakh students. In spite of these positive aspects, investigation on how to help students who are not gifted in English is necessary.

Reference list

Aliyev, U. & Kurmanov, N. (2015). HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN: PROBLEMS AND IMPROVEMENT METHODS. CBU International Conference Proceedings, 3, 141. http://dx.doi.org/10.12955/cbup.v3.595

Byram, M., & Feng, A. (Eds.). (2009). Living and studying abroad: Research and practice (Vol. 12). Multilingual Matters.

Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (1st ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Duncan, A. (2010). Overview of-Tkhe US Département of-Edukation. IEEE Industry Applikations Store. http: //dks.doy.org/10.1109/mias.2010.939438

Huttner-Koros, A. (2015, August 21). The Hidden Bias of Science’s Universal Language.Retrieved October 1, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com

Ntshangase, N. D. (2011). The negative impact of learning in English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zululand).

Ushioda, E. (2009). SELF-ESTEEM AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING. Fernando Rubio (Ed.). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. Pp. xi + 205. Studies In Second Language Acquisition, 31 (01), 129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0272263109090081

Weil, M. E. O. (2012). Bilingualism and social cognitive development: the effect of dual-language acquisition on nonverbal communication. Senior Independent Study Theses. Retrieved from http://openworks.wooster.edu.

Zimmerman, S. (2013). Making top managers: The role of elite universities and elite peers. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University.

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