GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
The role of English in business communication in
Kazakhstan
Aliya Aimoldina, Sholpan Zharkynbekova, Damira Akynova
Philology Department
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Astana, Kazakhstan
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
not only one of the requirements to study abroad, but also very
important for the overall competitiveness of young
Kazakhstani professionals in the labor market, both at home
and abroad. The widespread need for the English language
along with Kazakh as the state language and Russian as a
language of interethnic communication - was ranked among
the tasks of national importance. More recently, English was
designated as a condition for successful integration into the
global economy and has become regarded as one of the main
priorities of state policy. This fact is also confirmed by
recently developed policy documents, which address the
widespread need of teaching English and other foreign
languages as a means of international business communication
[6].
Abstract- Nowadays in Kazakhstan multilingualism becomes
the trend with the English language gaining growing popularity
alongside the two existing languages (i.e. the Kazakh as the only
official language and Russian widely used as a language of
interethnic communication). While English is regarded as a
condition for successful integration into the global economy and
becomes one of the priorities of the state policy, there are some
concerns towards the role of English in the development of
linguistic balance in Kazakhstan. The purpose of this paper is to
report the use of the English language in modern Kazakhstani
business community based on survey findings conducted in
national, international and foreign companies in Kazakhstan.
The survey shows that English is currently mainly used at
workplace and for specific purposes such as emails, writing a
business letter, business trip abroad, etc. In terms of motives of
learning English, developing international outlook, career
development and personal growth have been mentioned as the
most common reasons of English proficiency among Kazakhstani
business professionals.
The aim of the paper is to explore the role of the English
language in modern Kazakhstani business community based
on survey findings conducted in national, international and
foreign companies in Kazakhstan. We will attempt to answer
the following questions, which are important and topical, in
our opinion, the questions that connected with the specificity
of the language situation in Kazakhstan: (1) What is the place
of English in the sociolinguistic situation of Kazakhstan in
general? (2) What are the main motives for learning English
by Kazakhstani1 people? (3) What specific business situations
are most commonly used in English in the context of
Kazakhstani business communication?
Keywords-English as a business lingua franca; BELF; business
discourse; workplace; business communication; language
functioning.
I.
INTRODUCTION
One decade into the 21st century, English has undoubtedly
become the dominant language in international business. This
fact is also recognized by many studies devoted to the English
language and its role in the modern business context [1], [2].
However, it is known the spread of English around the world
is rather a controversial issue. While many scholars consider
English proficiency as one of the most important conditions
for entry into the world community, as an essential element of
positive social change, economic prosperity and new
technologies [3], the others still associate the rise of the
English language with the downfall of indigenous languages
[4], [5].
The article is structured in the following way. First, the
main trends and research conducted on the study of business
English as a lingua franca (BELF) will be overviewed. Then,
the place of English language in Kazakhstani society in
general, and in business discourse, in particular, will be briefly
examined. This paper will then present the methodology and
findings of quantitative research conducted in national,
international and foreign companies among Kazakhstani
business professionals followed by the reflections and
suggestions for further research and study.
Over the past twenty years, dramatic changes in social,
political and economic life in post-Soviet Kazakhstan have a
marked influence on the development of various fields of life,
including the business world as well as defining the role and
place of foreign languages in intercultural business
communication of Kazakhstan.
II.
BACKGROUND
Globalization has made workplace environment
multiethnic. There is, therefore, an ongoing need for studies
on language use at the grassroots level of business operations.
In Kazakhstan, as well as around the world, English is one
of the languages of intercultural business communication.
Nowadays the English language proficiency in Kazakhstan is
1
Kazakhstani means the society of Kazakhstan in general, where about
140 ethnic groups live in, whilst Kazakh implies the members of only Kazakh
ethnic group. DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_2.1.89
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GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
business correspondence [19]; and the issue of intercultural
communication [20].
Thus, it has become widely accepted that the lingua franca of
international business is English, which can also be seen in the
extent to which companies increasingly choose English as
their official corporate language [2], [7]. The majority of
international businesses are done in English, but not in nativespeaker English. More often than not none of the
communicating parties has English as their mother tongue.
Seidlhofer [8] and Lesznyak [9], among others, refer to these
instances of language use as ELF (English as a lingua franca)
communication. According to David Crystal [10] numbers of
nonnative speakers of English are increasing. And he
estimates that about a quarter of the world’s population speaks
English to a reasonable standard and by 2060 nonnative
speakers will outnumber native speakers by 50%.
Despite the diversity of research in this area, yet there is
still a lack of similar studies in the post-Soviet countries in
general and in Kazakhstan in particular. This fact can be
determined by the relatively recent prevalence of the English
language in sociolinguistic space in the Republic of
Kazakhstan. Therefore, in the next section, we consider it
appropriate to include a brief description of the English
language development in Kazakhstan, particularly in business
communication of the country.
III. THE PLACE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN KAZAKHSTANI
SOCIETY AND IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
To focus specifically on business ELF situations, and to
explore issues related to the English used in contemporary
globalised business communication, Louhiala-Salminen et al.
[7] coined the term BELF, business English as a lingua franca.
BELF refers to English used as a ‘neutral’ and shared
communication code for the function of conducting business.
In recent years, most scholars prefer to use those terms since
they are less ambiguous than other terms such as International
English, which can also imply the “international circulation of
a native speaker variety of English” [11]. They are also more
appropriate than English for specific business purposes
(ESBP), which is the term usually used to describe the English
taught in Business English classes [12].
The importance of the English language in Kazakhstani
society is increasingly being discussed in the press and at
research forums.
In the education system in the Soviet period, foreign
language teaching left much to be desired. The reason was that
the vast majority of Soviet citizens, except for diplomats,
intelligence agents and representatives of few rare specialties,
foreign language skills were almost unnecessary ballast in the
baggage of knowledge. Travel abroad, especially, to “a
capitalistic country" was more than unreal.
In the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in
the post-Soviet countries, interest in foreign languages (mostly
in English) began to grow rapidly. English has become a kind
of "window to the West" and the desire of many young people
to learn it was most likely due to the possibility of expanding
their capabilities. In subsequent years, this attitude to the
English only strengthened.
The use and the wider implications of BELF are studied
from various perspectives and with different foci in several
disciplines. However most of researchers prefer to combine
different methods in their research. In general, the body of
knowledge on BELF communication is based on research that
has drawn primarily on four different methodologies: survey
research, the analysis of a corpus, experimental research and
observation. Survey research applied to BELF could be a
survey questionnaire or set of structured interviews about the
use of English world-wide in multinational corporations, and
the problems associated with its use [13]. The analysis of a
corpus could be a corpus of business meetings, email
correspondence or advertising texts in which BELF is used,
which a researcher then analyses to establish what the general
characteristics of BELF in the corpus are [14]. In experimental
research a research team could devise a set of experimental
procedures to establish empirically the attitudes of one set of
BELF users [15]. All three of these methods have often been
used in combination with an initial period of observation,
which is used to inform the questions in a questionnaire
survey, to underpin the selection and analysis of an
appropriate corpus, or to design the test items and measuring
instruments in an experiment [7].
Since the adoption of the Law "On languages in the
Republic of Kazakhstan" in 1997, the State program of
language functioning and development in the period from
1998 to 2010, the State Program from 2011 to 2020, the
conditions for further expansion and deepening language
construction in all spheres of public life have been created.
Proficiency in foreign languages and conditions for their
learning are currently paid enough attention in Kazakhstan.
The priority is enjoyed not only English, which is considered
along with Kazakh and Russian in the list of required for
learning according to the cultural project "Trinity of
Languages" [21], but other foreign languages as well. This is
particularly highlighted in the State program of languages
functioning and development till 2020 [6].
The developed and implemented cultural project in
Kazakhstan, "Trinity of Languages", spurred mixed emotions
in Kazakhstan. On the one hand, the necessity of language
skills - at least in the abovementioned three languages – is
more or less obvious to all. On the other hand, some public
representatives saw a threat to the development of the Kazakh
language from the very beginning of the project. In general
Russian-language speakers initially accepted the idea.
Moreover, "Trinity of Languages" project was not just
welcomed by the Russian experts, but it was also perceived as
some kind of response in the Russian State Program for the
resettlement of compatriots. However, recently some Russians
Research in Kazakhstan is generally conducted on the
basis of written business communication in English. Thus,
Kazakhstani scholars examined the following issue, among
others: the ontology of English business discourse and its
genres [16]; the functioning and semantics of nominative
phrases in business correspondence [17]; the role of
connecting words in the syntactic and semantic organization
of business texts [18]; lexical and syntactical features of
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GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
business context. Then a questionnaire was designed on the
basis of interviews’ results. The survey was conducted among
Kazakhstani business professionals to identify the extent of
the functioning of business English in various fields of
Kazakhstan's business context. Kazakhstani business
professionals were included in the study as the main experts of
Kazakhstan business context. The purpose of questioning was
to determine: (1) the place of English in the sociolinguistic
space of Kazakhstan; (2) the main motives of learning English
by Kazakhstani business professionals; (3) the specific
business cases of the English language use in organizations.
begin to see the idea of strengthening the position of the
English language in Kazakhstan as another attempt to oust
Russian [22], [23].
However, despite this criticism, today Kazakhstan is
actively pursuing a policy in the framework of the cultural
project of "trinity". In the annual address to the people of
Kazakhstan on January 28, 2011 the President Nursultan
Nazarbayev mentioned that "for a modern citizen of
Kazakhstan, proficiency in three languages is a requirement
for self well-being. Therefore, I believe that by 2020 the
proportion of the English speaking population should be at
least 20 percent" [24]. Speaking about the general level of
English proficiency in Kazakhstan, it should be noted that
according to 2009 census results, 15.4% of the population
understand spoken English, among them 2.6% can read freely,
7.7% can read and write [25].
In total, 115 Kazakhstani business professionals
participated in the study. For the purpose of conducting semistructured interviews, 20 business professionals from 10
different companies (four service, three manufacturing and
three financial companies) were selected as interviewees and
personally contacted by the researchers.
In connection with the increasing business activity of
Kazakhstani citizens and the growth of external economic
relations in recent years English has been actively used in
international business communication in Kazakhstan. This can
also be explained by the high demand in the market for
English speaking professionals. For example, according to
M.S. Sarybai [26], 98 out of 101 job ads require proficiency in
English for the post of manager, engineer, operator, secretary,
accountant and administrator. Moreover, 40% of the ads
placed in the newspaper in 2003, were published in English.
The activities of more than 50 embassies and representative
offices of foreign countries, 700 foreign enterprises and 1500
representative offices of international companies require
English in business communication. The increased number of
English-speaking professionals and translators in Kazakhstan
is due to the scale of international cooperation, which is an
effective move in the state investment policy. English serves
as a lingua franca in intercultural business communication
between local and foreign specialists.
In the survey questionnaire, 66 male and 49 female
business professionals ranging in age from 23 to 45 (M =
35.5) participated. They had worked in their companies for an
average of 5.21 years. Survey questionnaires and semistructured interviews were conducted at the representative
offices of foreign companies, international organizations and
national companies with well-developed international
communication and cooperation, which involves the active use
of English in business sphere.
Three financial, three manufacturing, and four service
companies from large cities of Kazakhstan were selected for
the survey: six of them were located in Astana, two were from
Atyrau, and the other ones were from Almaty and Aktau. A
detailed description of each company is shown in Table I.
A series of questions was developed for the semistructured interviews. These questions can be divided into
three major categories: (a) bio-data, (b) spheres and specific
cases of the use of English at the workplace, and (c) main
motives of learning English.
Today, English business discourse in Kazakhstan is
gaining a leading position among the other foreign languages
in business communication with foreign partners and
organizations. Moreover, as noted by E.D. Suleimenova and
G.G. Burkitbayeva, the rate and extent of business discourse
in English has led to a situation in which the Kazakh and
Russian languages sometimes are under the strong influence
of English [27]. English business discourse, in many ways, is
more developed and stable, with more sophisticated and
developed forms and genres increasingly in demand.
IV.
Based on the interview results, a questionnaire was
developed for further survey purposes. The data were
processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 program. The
questionnaire was composed of four major sections: (a)
background information, (b) the place of English in
sociolinguistic space of Kazakhstan, (c) the main motives of
learning English in modern Kazakhstan, and (d) specific cases
and situations of the English use at the workplace.
TABLE I.
METHODOLOGY
In the current study, various sources and methods were
used to find answers to the questions raised: literature on
business English was reviewed; semi-structured interviews
and questionnaires were conducted.
We have analyzed existing study on BELF around the
world, making it possible to get acquainted with the
experience of business English in different countries outlining
the main directions and modern methodologies.
The preliminary conducted semi-structured interviews
allowed us to obtain a better understanding of Kazakhstani
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DESCRIPTION OF COMPANIES
Company
Type
Company 1
Company 2
Company 3
Company 4
Company 5
Company 6
Company 7
Company 8
Company 9
Company 10
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Financial
Financial
Financial
Service
Service
Service
Service
Domestic
/ Foreign
Foreign
Domestic
Domestic
Domestic
Foreign
Domestic
Domestic
Foreign
Domestic
Domestic
Location
Aktau
Atyrau
Astana
Astana
Astana
Astana
Almaty
Astana
Astana
Atyrau
No. of
Participants
5
10
6
13
12
11
15
14
13
16
© 2012 GSTF
GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
first results refer to a workplace, which again underlines the
fact that English is not widely used in everyday life in
Kazakhstan, however, it is quite necessary and demanded in
certain situations.
Questions concerning company name, department/team
name, company type, work experience, and language
proficiency were included as background information
questions. In the second block, survey participants were asked
questions regarding the place and role of English in the
context of the linguistic situation in Kazakhstan, in particular,
they were asked, for example, what language they use in the
listed situations; which language is more of everyday
communication, business communication, language of culture,
media, etc., as well as the extent of necessity of the Kazakh,
Russian and English languages in Kazakhstan (not necessary;
necessary, but not everywhere; necessary; very necessary). In
the third category of questions, respondents had to indicate
their main motives and reasons of learning business English as
well as they had to express their attitude towards the English
language in general and to the politics of trinity of language,
in particular, which implies mandatory knowledge of at least
three languages (Kazakh, Russian and English) for every
citizen of Kazakhstan. The fourth set of questions elicited the
main uses of English language directly in their workplace in
order to determine the frequency of their use. Respondents had
to choose an appropriate response on a five-point Likert scale:
'never' (0), 'rarely' (1), 'sometimes' (2), 'often' (3), and 'every
day' (4). The questionnaire was drawn up in Russian and
distributed in hard copies and also in the electronic form
(http://www.kwiksurveys.com/?s=LIMMHM_bd4a37df#.T0z
CL3Uqtb8.email), designed for those respondents who were
outside Astana city.
V.
In addition, in the question about which language(s) in
Kazakhstan today is (are) more of the language(s) of everyday
use or business communication, language of science,
television / radio, art and culture, English along with other
languages has also been marked as a language of business
communication in Kazakhstan (71.3%). A more detailed
analysis shows what position of the English language is
currently in Kazakhstan, according to the respondents (see
Table II).
B. The Main Motives of Learning English in Modern
Kazakhstan
Several questions focused on identifying the motivation of
learning English and identifying the main reasons for the need
of English at present stage of Kazakhstan’s development.
Virtually all respondents indicated that English proficiency is
very important for their professional profile (94.8%). They
marked several major reasons, in their opinion, for learning
English: it provides new information and promotes the
development of outlook (68.7%), opportunity for career
growth (64.3%), allows to find a prestigious job (58.3%),
enhances the prestige of the individual and creates a sense of
confidence (53.0%). In addition, some respondents indicated
that English promotes their integration into the global
community, opens doors into international companies, allows
communicating with people from other countries, allows
sharing their achievements, exchange of experience, and
promotes collaboration with clients and foreign companies.
RESULTS
A. The Place of the English Language in the Sociolinguistic
Space of Kazakhstan
For the purpose of the study, we primarily attempted to
determine the level of English proficiency. Results showed
that the level of English proficiency of the respondents is quite
high: 70.4% of respondents indicated that they speak fluently,
write, read, think in English, 28.7% of respondents said that
they speak, write and read in English, with some difficulties.
Moreover, more than half of respondents (62.5%) indicated
that they had passed the international tests of English language
proficiency, such as IELTS, TOEFL, etc., the average result of
which was 6,0 (IELTS) and 500 (TOEFL). For many
international companies, involving the use English, such a
certificate has become one of the necessary documents that
prove the level of foreign language skills, when applying for a
job in Kazakhstan's international and national companies.
Regarding the extent of the English language need in
Kazakhstan parallel to two other operating languages in the
country, i.e. Kazakh and Russian, 36.5% indicated a high
degree of need for English, 37.4% of respondents said that
English is "necessary but not everywhere, 24.3% answered –
“necessary'”, and only two people (1.7%) stated that there is
no need for English in Kazakhstan.
TABLE II.
STATUS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN KAZAKHSTAN
Do you think in Kazakhstan the
English language is completely,
partially or not a language of:
business communication
official events
official correspondence
independent media
work of state bodies, organizations,
law enforcement agencies
accounting and statistical, financial,
and technical documentation
state media
answers to the complaints of citizens
legislative acts
Yes,
comple
tely
(%)
11.3
2.6
5.2
5,2
2.6
Parti
ally
(%)
No
(%)
Do not
know
(%)
71.3
54.8
53.9
50.4
33.0
17.4
39.1
40.9
39.1
56.5
0
3.5
0
5,2
7.8
3.5
30.4
60.9
5.2
7.0
2.6
1.7
29.6
8.7
7.0
61.7
83.5
87.0
1.7
5.2
4.3
The participants were presented with several statements
regarding their attitude towards the English language, and
therefore they were asked to indicate their agreement or
disagreement on a Likert scale (strongly agree - 1, agree - 2,
rather agree - 3, rather disagree - 4, disagree - 5, strongly
disagree - 6). Tests on internal consistency showed a high
result of Cronbach alpha - 0.72, which is a measure of
reliability and validity of the questions. The data obtained are
presented in Table III.
Common areas of the English language functioning were
distributed by the participants as follows: (1) at work - 68.9%;
(2) using the Internet - 67.8%; (3) reading fiction - 46.1%; (4)
watching television - 41.8%; (5) reading newspapers and
magazines - 39.1%; (6) with friends - 26.1%. As we see, the
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GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
TABLE III. ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY
KAZAKHSTANI PEOPLE
English language knowledge enables to join the world
community
Learning English is beneficial in economic terms
English is gaining popularity in Kazakhstan
Knowledge of English is prestigious
Knowledge of the English language makes it possible to
get a good job
Every citizen of Kazakhstan should know three languages
(Kazakh, Russian and English)
Knowledge of the English language has no value for me
least used case. Regarding Cronbach alpha, in all cases the
internal consistency of the scales was quite high - above 0.7.
Mean
1.55
SD
0.737
1.58
1.61
1.67
1.67
0.697
0.814
0.824
0.691
2.25
1.075
5.26
1.001
TABLE IV. FREQUENCY OF SPECIFIC BUSINESS ENGLISH SITUATIONS AT THE
WORKPLACE
Business English situations
Email
Writing a business letter
Business trip
Making a reservation (e.g., hotel, flight, etc.)
Visiting other companies/factories
Business meeting
Business presentation
Reading articles, magazines, and books related to job
Briefing
Translation (e.g., document, booklet, etc.)
Writing a contract/agreement
Business seminar
Phone call
Interpretation (e.g., meeting, conference, etc.)
Social meeting (e.g., party, dining, etc.)
Gathering information on the market or other
companies
Writing a report (e.g., sales, meeting, etc.)
Fax
Writing a memorandum
Writing a proposal (e.g., project, plan, etc.)
Receiving an order
Placing an order/Purchasing
Dealing with claims
According to most respondents, if the Russian language for
Kazakhstan is needed to integrate and maintain ties inside the
post-Soviet space, English is very important for integration
into the world economic space. More than 50% respondents
strongly supported the policy of the trinity of languages,
which is not at the expense of other languages functioning.
The participants associated English with their future in
economic terms, the ability to move up the career ladder and
applying for a more prestigious and highly paid job.
C. Specific Situations of Business English Use at the
Workplace
According to the survey results all Kazakhstani business
professionals, participated in the survey, are required to use
English as part of their official duties: for most of them almost
every day (86.9%) or at least once a week (19.3%). At the
same time 79.1% of respondents believe that the current level
of English is not still enough and they need to improve their
language skills.
Mean
2.94
2.64
2.47
2.41
2.37
2.35
2.34
2.26
2.25
2.23
2.23
2.23
2.22
2.20
2.17
2.15
SD
1.020
1.045
1.327
1.115
1.239
1.052
1.075
1.155
1.146
1.157
1.259
1.068
1.176
1.133
0.985
1.208
1.92
1.80
1.80
1.77
1.76
1.75
1.63
1.403
1.313
1.299
1.245
1.367
1.356
1.217
According to this scale, all business situations, the results
of which are more than 2, are considered to be the most
frequently used in business settings. Thus, emails and business
letters are at the top of the list (see Table IV). The high
frequency of using these genres of business communication
today is a fairly common phenomenon in almost any business
companies around the world. It should be noted that more than
a decade ago, according to Louhiala-Saliminen [7], mail and
fax were the most common means of business communication
in written business communication of Finnish business
professionals. Some time later, according to Grosse’s research
findings [28], the most used business communication tasks
were e-mail and phone calls. In contrast to the above research
email and a business letter are the most common means of
business communication with foreign business partners in
business communication of Kazakhstan. At the same time,
Kazakhstani business professionals have noted that they use
emails in English primarily to maintain business relationships
(66.1%), to communicate with trading partners and customers
(64.3%), and to communicate with colleagues (40.9%).
Regarding genres, the most common types of business letters
were as follows: application letter (67.8%), a letter of inquiry
(52.2%), request letters (49.6%) and commercial letter
(48.7%).
As noted by survey participants, in most cases, they need
to communicate in business English both with native and nonnative speakers (89.3%). In these situations, business English
serves as a lingua franca, which occurs both in oral and
written communication. In their responses, business
professionals clarified that at their workplace they have to use
English mostly with customers (59.6%) and co-workers
(46.5%), followed by suppliers (32.6%) and administration
(20.4%). It should be noted that a high percentage of business
communication in English with colleagues and the
administration has been shown, in particular, in the
representative offices of foreign companies in Kazakhstan.
In this study, we also tried to find popular use of English in
business communication both for applying for a job and
directly in the workplace. The results showed that 84.3% of
respondents used English in writing a CV, 73.9% - in writing a
cover letter, and 73.9% - during the interview for their current
position. Some of the respondents indicated that they also
provided an international certificate of English proficiency
(e.g. IELTS, TOEFL).
VI.
To determine the appropriate frequency of business
English use for each specific workplace situation, respondents
were given 23 different business situations that should be
selected on Likert scale: "never" - 0, "rarely" - 1, "sometimes"
2, "often" - 3 "every day" - 4. The detailed findings are
presented in Table IV from the most frequently used to the
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The results of our study showed that in recent years
English is gaining popularity and prevalence in the different
spheres of public life in Kazakhstan. It should be noted that
the highest prevalence and need for English are observed only
in specific areas, such as the international business sector.
Kazakhstani people realize the importance of English as
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GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
integration to the world community, the possibility for further
career development. The vast majority of survey participants
expressed their positive attitude towards the spread of English
in Kazakhstani socio-linguistic space: it was the desire for
further study of the English language, including language for
specific purposes needed primarily for professional growth.
However, some respondents, who are not directly involved in
the sphere of business communication as well as with a low
level of English language proficiency, are ambivalent about its
use. In their view, the spread of English in Kazakhstan could
negatively affect the development of other operating
languages, primarily the state (Kazakh) language and minority
languages as well.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
The English language is most commonly used in business
correspondence (emails, business letters), as well as during
business trips, presentations, conferences, briefings, etc.
Moreover, respondents noted a number of difficulties in using
the English language at their workplace and some important
points that should also be considered in addition along with
language skills. Thus, 64.3% of respondents had difficulty in
communicating with foreign business partners due to
ignorance of some idiomatic and set expressions, 42.6% - due
to the speaker’s difficult accent to understand and 39.3% because of national and cultural differences. These comments
are of a great interest for our further work on the study.
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
Of course, this study did not cover the entire range of the
considered issues. We have restricted ourselves to a few very
important and relevant questions to identify the extent of
functioning of business English in the sociolinguistic space in
Kazakhstan. The obtained data are the basis for further study
of Kazakhstani cross-cultural business communication.
[19]
[20]
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© 2012 GSTF
GSTF International Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.2 No.1, December 2012
1) Aliya Aimoldina is a PhD
student in Linguistics at L.N.
Gumilyov
Eurasian
National
University, Philology Department, in
Astana, Kazakhstan. Her main
research interests are Contrastive
Linguistics,
Cross-Cultural
Communication, specifically, intercultural business communication
and business discourse in the Kazakh, Russian and English
languages. She is a member of the Association for Business
Communication (ABC) and a participant of international research
project on the issues of multilingual and multicultural space of
Kazakhstan ([email protected]).
2) Sholpan Zharkynbekova
is a professor at L.N.
Gumilyov Eurasian National
University in Kazakhstan,
where she teaches CrossCultural
Communication,
Sociolinguistics, Cognitive
Linguistics,
Cultural
Linguistics,
Contrastive
Linguistics and other subjects. Her main research interests are issues
of language contacts, ethnolinguistic identity, and verbalization of
ethno-specific concepts in different lingua-cultures. She is an author
of more than 150 works, including 10 monographs, dedicated to the
issues of interaction of language and culture, and language and
consciousness. The Head of research projects, in the framework of
which investigations on issues of ethnic and language identity,
Kazakh-Russian bilingualism interactions, etc. are being conducted
([email protected]).
3) Damira Akynova is a PhD student
at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National
University in Kazakhstan. Her main
research interests are Sociolinguistics,
Language
contacts,
especially
bilingualism, code-switching in the
Kazakh and English languages ([email protected]).
257
© 2012 GSTF