A case study of language policy and change of script in Kazakhstan: Beyond ethnic-civic nationalism

This thesis aims to analyze the nation-building processes in Kazakhstan and the construction of the Kazakh nation through a case study of language policies with special attention to the Latinization of the script. The language planning particularly the strengthening of languages of the titular nations and change of a script can be observed within the nation-building processes of newly emerging states such as Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, but it took 27 years for Kazakhstan to take this final step of shifting from Cyrillic script to Latin although the issue has been debated since 2006. This study aims to answer the question of why the Kazakh government decided to change the script and its particular timing. We argue that the Latinization of script can be understood in the context of language planning in Kazakhstan, through which the state aims to reconstruct Kazakh traditional culture. As with other nation-building projects, the Kazakh government utilized ethnic, civic, multicultural, and transnational components of nation-building together. The language policy, particularly the Latinization of the script of the official language contributes construction of the nation through these mechanisms: globalizing the country through teaching English; strengthening Kazakh national culture and language as a basis for the coherent nation-state; and providing robust language and cultural rights for minorities, particularly the Russian minority for encouraging them to participate in the concept of civic nation.