Scholarly record

EDUCATION IN THE LATIN ALPHABET: WILL THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION BE HIGHER?

S. M. Zharylgapov, U. M. Bakhtikireeva, N. L. Sinyachkina

Abstract

The problems associated with the transition of the Kazakh state from Cyrillic to Latin, especially in 2017-2018 are of concern to many people. The discussion was attended not only by specialists, linguists, but also political scientists and, of course, "natural linguists" – citizens of some post-soviet countries. Among the different opinions there are very provocative. Some people, including those who identify themselves with the educated elite, still retain an oriental, arrogantly condescending attitude toward the history of the Kazakhs, believing that they became literate and educated only by joining Russia, and then becoming one of the republics within the USSR. The study of the history of the formation of the Kazakh people, its language and literature, the educational system, and, in general, culture provides opportunities for preliminary conclusions, in particular with regard to changing the alphabet and its impact on the education of the younger generation. Scientific sources (monographs, articles), as well as various sources of the Internet, the opinions of individual citizens, including personal interviews with individual people, allow a deeper understanding of the written history of the Kazakhs and formulate preliminary conclusions. This topic as an educational research assumes drawing upon a variety of disciplines, involves gathering new data from primary and first-hand sources. But the main purpose of our research is to answer the question: Will the level of education from the transition to the Latin alphabet be higher? After all, the situation may be unexpected, the change of graphics affects the linguistic consciousness and complicate education. In search of answers to our questions, we made an attempt to abstract from the politicization of the problem. In this regard, we investigated the monographs of authoritative scientists, the main results of which provide us with the opportunity to formulate own position.

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