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5 - Entrepreneurial Orientations towards Language and Education

EMI Policy in Kazakhstan

from Part I - Ideologies and Educational Policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2025

By
Aigerim Kazhigaliyeva ,
Syed Abdul Manan  and
Anas Hajar
Edited by
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini  and
Peter I. De Costa
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
Peter I. De Costa
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
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Summary

The chapter situates the English Medium Instruction (EMI) policy and practices within a private university in part of Kazakhstan to gather the perspectives of the users to examine their orientations towards the use of EMI, the potential they see in the EMI policy, and their perceptions of the widespread expansion of the English language industry in the local market. The study employed qualitative interviews with students, teachers, and administrators. The participants’ perspectives show their entrepreneurial orientations towards English, evident in their repeated discourses of the English language as potential capital and a key to global competitiveness. They also endorse the intense pursuit of EMI policy in Kazakhstan because, as they understand, individual as well as governmental-level investment in English-related language skills make brighter promises and prospects in the current global economy. English is also believed to enhance Kazakhstani citizens’ global competitiveness. In theoretical terms, these orientations are deeply interwoven with the core principles of neoliberalism and neoliberal rationality, characterized by terms such as capital, globalization, global competitiveness, economic advantage, market logic, and private investment.

Keywords

KazakhstanEMIlinguistic entrepreneurshipneoliberalismenterprise culture
Type
Chapter
Information
Critical English Medium Instruction in Higher Education , pp. 70 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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