Introduction. Fascination with English medium instruction (EMI) is fast growing in higher education institutions in non-native English-speaking countries, including Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstani government adopted a trilingual education policy in 2007 and the Bologna Process in 2010. Both these initiatives motivated universities to offer academic programmes in the English language. As a result, EMI programmes are offered in over 70 higher education institutions across Kazakhstan. In addition, there are four major Kazakhstani universities which offer academic programmes in English only. Despite the increase in the number of EMI programmes, there is a lack of empirical evidence about the difficulties and challenges faced by students in the EMI programmes.Aim. The present study aimed to investigate the nature, forms, and levels of challenges graduate students face in academic reading and writing in English and the way they cope with these challenges. The study was conducted with graduate students and faculty in 10 selected Kazakhstani universities, which offer academic programmes in EMI.Research methodology and methods. The study is based on a mixed-method design, involving an online survey and semi-structured interviews. The closed-ended questions have been analysed using SPSS software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The grounded theory analysis was utilised to scrutinise open-ended questions and interview transcripts.Results and scientific novelty. The study’s results indicated two major challenges faced by graduate students in academic reading and writing: the personal-psychological challenge and sociological challenge. The first challenge includes students’ previous academic backgrounds, exposure, and learning experiences. The second challenge is related to English academic culture and students’ worldviews, concepts, and values about English as a language and medium of instruction. As a result, graduate students experienced a lack of vocabulary, inadequate academic literacy skills, unfamiliarity with academic writing styles in English, and lack of skills to synthesise reading materials.Practical significance. Hence, this study recommends systematising English language programmes across secondary and higher education institutions to help students acquire advanced English language proficiency. Also, the study results suggest that local faculty members should be trained according to international standards in terms of their English language skills and innovative teaching methods.
Б а с р е д а к т о р ы х.ғ.д., проф., ҚР ҰҒА академигі М.Ж. Жұрынов Р е д а к ц и я а л қ а с ы: Абиев Р.Ш. проф. (Ресей) Абылкасымова А.Е. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Аврамов К.В. проф. (Украина) Аппель Юрген проф. (Германия) Баймуқанов Д.А. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Баймұратов У.Б. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Байтанаев Б.А. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Байтулин И.О. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Банас Иозеф проф. (Польша) Берсимбаев Р.И. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Велесько С. проф. (Германия) Велихов Е.П. проф., РҒА академигі (Ресей) Кабульдинов З.Е. проф. (Қазақстан) Қажыбек Е.З. проф., корр.-мүшесі (Қазақстан) Қалимолдаев М.Н. проф., академик (Қазақстан), бас ред. орынбасары Қамзабекұлы Д. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Қойгелдиев М.К. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Лупашку Ф. проф., корр.-мүшесі (Молдова) Мохд Хасан Селамат проф. (Малайзия) Новак Изабелла проф. (Польша) Огарь Н.П. проф., корр.-мүшесі (Қазақстан) Полещук О.Х. проф. (Ресей) Поняев А.И. проф. (Ресей) Сагиян А.С. проф., академик (Армения) Таймагамбетов Ж.К. проф., академик (Қазақстан) Хрипунов Г.С. проф. (Украина) Шəукенова З.К. проф., корр.-мүшесі (Қазақстан) Юлдашбаев Ю.А. проф., РҒА академигі (Ресей) Якубова М.М. проф., академик (Тəжікстан) «Қазақстан Республикасы Ұлттық ғылым академиясының Хабаршысы».
Since its independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has initiated major reforms to upgrade its education system. However, significant disparities exist in the quality of educational provision in rural and urban schools. This study presents the stakeholders’ – school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and education managers – vision, priorities, and aspirations of quality of education, as well as the opportunities, resources, and support available to them, and the disparities and challenges they face in achieving the quality of education they aspire for.
This article is based on a large study that explored quality issues in Kazakhstani rural schools from the perspective of key stakeholders, including school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and education managers. As the understandings and approaches to education quality vary from one context to another, there is no universally agreed definition of quality education. We employed the UNESCO Quality Framework to guide this study-the framework that suggests to seeing the quality in four main domains of education: 1. Contexts / environments (physical, academic, psychological, and social atmosphere in schools); 2. Inputs (teachers, curriculum, leadership, and others); 3. Processes (teaching and learning, assessment, and other processes); 4. Outputs (students' learning outcomes, teachers' professional growth and others). Within the larger study, this article focuses on teachers' quality only.The investigation of previous literature and the study's theoretical framework demonstrate that the rural school education challenges greatly impact the conditions of rural teachers' professional activity.The study employed a mixed methods research design, including both quantitative and qualitative inquiries: survey and semi-structured interviews [1]. The quantitative survey included 125 respondents from 40 rural schools across Kazakhstan. For qualitative part, 90 interviews (41 individual and 49 focus group) were conducted with participants from rural schools in Almaty, Kyzylorda, South Kazakhstan, Mangystau, and East Kazakhstan regions. Interviewees included teachers, principals, vice principals, subject coordinators, students of Grades 7-11, regional and district education managers, and parents.The study's main findings describe the core teachers' issues, challenges, perceptions, and suggestions about facilitation processes for the quality of the rural teacher profession. The findings are organized across the main topics, which have been retrieved from qualitative and quantitative data.
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