Language Policy

Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Astana

 

 

  

Language Policy

 

Language policy regarding mother tongue support, clarity about achieving language proficiency and application of policy

 

 

 

Introduction

The Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Astana seeks the development of Kazakh, Russian and English. Kazakh is the official state language, acquisition of which is the duty of every member of the school community; Russian is a language of interethnic communication; and English is developed within the school as it is necessary for integration into the global economy.

According to the presidential decree on 2011 educational spheres in Kazakhstan should implement trilingual policy (Adilet.kz, 2011). Thus all the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools follow the language policy and apply trilingual educational model. NISA IB works according to the national policy and has three languages as Kazakh, Russian and English. Language policy constitutes an integral part of the academic process in the school.

We believe that all three of these languages - Kazakh, Russian and English - have an important role to play in the future of Kazakhstan; therefore fluency in three languages is a central aim of the school. Our students will need high-level language abilities to succeed in higher education and beyond.

As Kazakhstan is the multinational country, in the school there will be support of other mother tongue languages, such as: Korean, Uzbek, Tatar, Uygur and etc. 

Aim

To provide a guide for the implementation and development of the trilingual education model and other languages offered in the school that contributes towards high-quality learning and that corresponds to international standards. 

General Provisions

1)      The Language Policy is the common property of the school and should be developed collaboratively by all members of the school community, including the senior management team, teachers, parents and students.

2)      The Language Policy will be subject to review annually.

 

Standards

Standards guiding the development of the NISA and IB Language Policy include:

1)      The best of Kazakhstani and international practice;

2)      International Baccalaureate Organization standards and practices, such as:

a) Support for mother tongue advancement;

b) Support for second- and third-language acquisition; and,

3)      The principles of additive-multilingualism (the positive influence of studying more than one language on the student’s general level of literacy).

NISA Educational Programmes

Educational programmes at NISA are constituted in the following manner in Middle School (from year 7):

1. All languages are differentiated according to the students’ ability. In order to create a sense of belonging to one community, to balance and increase interest to learn languages Kazakh and Russian streams will be gradually phased out. The process of phasing out of the Kazakh and Russian streams will be pilot at NISA. This process will start from 2015-2016 academic years in grades 9 and 10. Then it will continue in 2016-2017 academic years (see Appendixes 1.2, 1.3).

In the Middle school, currently languages are distributed in the following way, as per the NIS organization’s trilingual policy (see Appendix 1.1).

2. In NISA language learning is divided into two groups. Group one – Language and literature, group two – Language acquisition. The division of students into Kazakh, Russian and English language levels will be according to their level of language proficiency as shown through diagnostic tests and taking into account professional judgment of language teachers.

3. All students will have at least one language and literature course in one of the three languages. Every student has language profile which indicates level of proficiency (See Appendix 2).

Language acquisition students will be divided into phases according to their language proficiency, starting from phase 1 till phase 6. It is presented in the MYP language acquisition global proficiency table. “It is both a reference and a tool. It states the language acquired in a broad sense and can help teachers:

                        - to determine the possible language acquisition course groupings for each year of the MYP

                        - to identify in which phase a student or a group of students should commence their MYP language acquisition course” (See Appendix 3).

If a student reaches phase 6 he or she will have choice to continue studying Language and literature. Transfer from MYP to DP will be according to the table IB continuum pathways (See Appendix 4).

4. Language support will be organized for students of different nationalities. Students with language needs will be identified in the beginning of the year and the language coordinator will work with them to create a plan to support their individual needs (See Language Profile in Appendix 2).

DP students will continue their trilingual studies in the following manner:

1. DP students who are proficient in English and Russian will be encouraged to take both English A and Russian A. English B will be an option for those students who require a higher level of support in the language of instruction.

2. All IB students will also complete, in addition to the DP courses, the national program in Kazakh Language and Literature.

3. The school will consider offering additional Group 2 languages (e.g. French, Spanish ab init.) as the school expands, in order to promote multilingualism and to provide greater student choice in their selection of subjects. We will review it each year to evaluate if student interests, resources, and scheduling will permit additional courses. 

Implementation of Programmes

At NISA, the goal of trilingualism will be supported by the following policies:

1. Integrate non-mother tongue languages outside the classroom, particularly in extracurricular activities, such as drama club, choir, sports lessons, and the book club;

2. International team-teachers will be language resources in the classroom to help students with different language strengths;

3. Provide appropriate information resources in all three languages, and emphasize the use of authentic texts over ESL materials in language learning and resourcing of the school information center and library;

4. Ensure that all significant school documentations are translated in three languages;

5. Encourage overseas travel and study for all students and teachers to participate in conferences, contests, seminars to learn and practice English;

6. Language teachers will be assigned to support teachers in non-language classes when needed as identified by lesson observations. In addition, teachers wanting language support can request it. Support can consist of class visits and one-on-one meeting outside of the class.

7. School will provide mother tongue support(NOT language of instruction) to the students of different ethnicities.  

The Roles of Stakeholders

All members of the school community - including the senior management team, teachers, students and parents - are expected to contribute to the implementation and development of the Language Policy across the life of the school. We maintain, as IB does, that all teachers are language teachers, and in this environment, all teachers are language learners as well. Therefore:

1. All student and teachers are expected to make measurable yearly progress in official languages of the school languages and they need to be aware of using them;

2. It is the school’s responsibility to support staff in language learning and to make allowances for members at an early stage in their language acquisition process;

3. All teachers should be aware that they are language teachers. Local teachers are expected to have IELTS and KazTEST certificates.

4. All teachers should pay attention to language within their subjects through glossaries, trilingual term lists, etc.

5. Parents will fully support the implementation of the language policy in schools, as well as the desire of students to master three languages.

6. At school, the answers to the request of parents and other documents are given in the national language or in the same language of the request.

Appendix 1.1 Languages of instruction

 

Language of instruction
	Classes and subjects	7		8		9		10		12
		Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Eng
I.	Language A and B
1	Kazakh A	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
2	Kazakh B	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
3	Russian A	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian
4	Russian B	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian	Russian
5	English A	English	English	English	English	English	English	English	English	English
6	English B	English	English	English	English	English	English	English	English	English
II.	Math
7	Math	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	English*	English*	English*	English*	English
III	Sciences
8	Biology			Kazakh	Russian	English*	English*	English*	English*	English
9	Physics			Kazakh	Russian	English*	English*	English*	English*	English
10	Chemistry			Kazakh	Russian	English*	English*	English*	English*	English
11	Sciences	Kazakh	Russian
IV	Individuals and societies
12	World history					English	English	English	English	English
13	History of Kazakhstan			Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
14	Social studies	English	English	English	English
15	Kazakhstan in contemporary world									Kazakh
16	Economics					English	English	English	English	English
17	ITGS									English
18	Kazakh studies	Kazakh	Kazakh
19	Geography			Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
V	Arts and Design
20	Visual arts	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	English	English	English	English	English
21	Drama	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian					English
22	Design	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	English
VI	Physical education
23	Physical education	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
24	Basic military training							Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh
VII	IB requirement
25	ТоК									English
*Depending upon availability of teachers available for teaching in English In all classes, there may be team teaching with international teachers teaching in English

 

Appendix 1.2 Proposed planning for phasing out

Distribution of language balance according to the subjects (2015-2016 academic years)

Grades	Languages	Hours	Subjects
9th grade	Kazakh	5	Kazakh (3), Geography (1), Kazakh History (1)
	Russian	5	Russian (3), PE (2)
	English	20	All others
10th grade	Kazakh	5	Kazakh (3), Geography (1), Kazakh History (1)
	Russian	5	Russian (3), PE (2)
	English	20	All others

 

Table of phasing out of the Kazakh and Russian streams and distribution of languages balance according to the subjects (2015-2016 academic years)

	Classes and subjects	7		8		9	10
I. Language A and B	Kazakh A/B	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh Russian 3 hours
	Russian A/B	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian
	English A/B	English	English	English	English	English 4 hours
II. Math	Math	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	English 4 hours
III. Sciences	Biology					English* 2 hours
	Physics					English* 2 hours
	Chemistry					English* 2 hours
	Sciences	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	n/a
IV.Individuals and societies						n/a
	World history					English 1.5 hours
	History of Kazakhstan			Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh 1 hour	Kazakh 2 hours
	Social studies	English	English	English	English	n/a
	Kazakhstan in contemporary world					n/a
	Economics					English 1 hour
	ITGS	n/a
	Kazakh studies	Kazakh	Kazakh	n/a
	Geography			Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh 1 hour	n/a
V.ArtsandDesign	Visual arts	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	English 2 hours
	Drama	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	n/a
	Design	Kazakh	Russian	Kazakh	Russian	n/a
	IT	n/a				English 1.5 hours
VI. Physical education	Physical education	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Kazakh	Russian 2 hours
*Depending upon availability of teachers available for teaching in English In all classes, there may be team teaching with international teachers teaching in English

 

Appendix 1.3 Proposed planning for phasing out

Distribution of languages balance according to the subjects (2016-2017 academic years)

Grades	Languages	Hours	Subjects
7th grade	Kazakh	12,5	Kazakh(3), Science (4.5), Kazakh studies (3), Technology (2)
	Russian	11	Russian (3), Math (4), Visual arts (1), Drama (1), PE (2)
	English	6,5	English (4), Social Studies (2,5)
8th grade	Kazakh	12,5	Kazakh(3), Science (4.5), Kazakh studies (3), Technology (2)
	Russian	11	Russian (3), Math (4), Visual arts (1), Drama (1), PE (2)
	English	6,5	English (4), Social Studies (2,5)
9th grade	Kazakh	5	Kazakh(3), Geography (1), Kazakh History (1)
	Russian	5	Russian (3), PE (2)
	English	20	All others
10th grade	Kazakh	5	Kazakh(3), Geography (1), Kazakh History (1)
	Russian	5	Russian(3), PE (2)
	English	20	All others

 

Distribution of languages balance according to the subjects (2016-2017 academic years)

Classes and subjects			7	8	9	10
			7a, 7b, 7c, 7d 7e, 7f, 7g	8a,8b,8c,8d 8e,8f	9a,9b,9c 9d,9e,9f	10a,10b,10c 10e,10d,10e
	I. Language A and B	Kazakh A/B	Kazakh 3 hours	Kazakh 3 hours	Kazakh 3 hours	Kazakh 3 hours
		Russian A/B	Russian 3 hours	Russian 3 hours	Russian 3 hours	Russian 3 hours
		English A/B	English 4 hours	English 4 hours	English 4 hours	English 4 hours
	II. Math	Math	Russian 4 hours	Russian 4 hours	English 4 hours
	III. /Sciences	Biology		Kazakh 1.5 hours	English 2 hours
		Physics		Kazakh 1.5 hours	English 2 hours
		Chemistry		Kazakh 1.5 hours	English 2 hours
		Sciences	Kazakh 4.5 hours	n/a
	IV. Individuals and societies		n/a		English 1.5 hours
		World history
		History of Kazakhstan		Kazakh 2 hours	Kazakh 1 hour	Kazakh 2 hours
		Social studies	English 2.5 hours	English 2.5 hours	n/a
		Economics	n/a		English 1 hour
		Kazakh studies	Kazakh 3 hours	n/a
		Geography	n/a	Kazakh  1 hour	Kazakh 1 hour		n/a
	V. Arts and Design	Visual arts	Russian 1 hour	Russian 1 hour	English 2 hours
		IT	n/a		English 1.5 hours
		Drama	Russian 1 hour	Russian 1 hour	n/a
		Design	Technology Kazakh 2 hours	Technology Kazakh 2 hours	n/a
	VI. / Physical education	Physical education	Russian 2hours	Russian 2 hours	Russian 2 hours
	*Depending upon availability of teachers available for teaching in English In all classes, there may be team teaching with international teachers teaching in English

 

 

Appendix 2

Language Profile: For Students

 

We would like to ask you to help us by answering the following questions concerning your language history, use and proficiency and mother tongue.

This is not a test, so there are no right or wrong answers. Please answer every question and give your answers sincerely. Thank you very much for your help!

I. Biographical Information

Name:                   _____________________________________________________

Gender:                 Male / Female

Date of Birth:      _____/_____/________

Place of Birth:     ____________________________

Year Started:       ____________________________

II. Mother Tongue

What is/are your mother tongue(s)? (The language you grew up speaking.)

____________________________

Do you speak a second language at home?         Yes/No

____________________________

Do you need mother tongue support?           Yes/No

III. Language History

In this section, you should answer to some factual questions about your language history by placing a check in the appropriate box.

1.		At what age did you start learning the following languages?
Kazakh		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Russian		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
English		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Other (indicate what language(s))		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
		Since birth	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

IV. Language Proficiency

In this section, you should rate your language proficiency by giving marks from 1 to 6.

 

Proficiency	Kazakh Reading	Kazakh Writing	Kazakh Oral Communication	Russian Reading	Russian Writing	Russian Oral Communication	English Reading	English Writing	English Oral Communication
example	3	2	5	2	2	3	1	1	2
Start of Grade 7
End of Grade 7
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 9
End of Grade 10
End of Grade 11
End of Grade 12

Key

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very weak	Weak	Average	Strong	Very strong	Excellent

 

Appendix 3

 

Table 3 MYP language acquisition global proficiency table

 

 

Table 3. Language B guide. (2011, March 1).

 

Appendix 4

Phase	MYP Year 5	DP Entry
Phase 1		Ab initio
Phase 2		Ab initio (in rare cases) Language B SL
Phase 3		Language B SL
Phase 4		Language B SL/HL
Phase 5		Language B SL/HL
Phase 5	It is recommended the student has at least one semester in MYP language and literature before starting these DP courses   It is recommended the student has at least one semester in MYP language and literature before starting these DP courses	Language A: literature SL Language A: language and literature SL Literature and performance SL
Phase 6		Language A: literature SL/HL Language A: language and literature SL/HL Literature and performance SL

 

Table 4 IB continuum pathways

 

Table 4. Language B guide. (2011, March 1).

Table 4 shows the IB continuum pathways from MYP through to DP studies in language. It starts from MYP Year 5. “MYP students continuing on to the DP will have developed not only an inquiring and reflective approach to language learning but also multi-literacy skills that they will be able to apply and extend in their DP language courses” (Language B guide. 2011)

 

Reference:

1) Language B guide. (2011, March 1). Retrieved September 1, 2013

2) Adilet.kz 2011, Retrieved from: http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/U1100000110/links)