Functional and subjective linguistic dominance among Kazakh-Russian bilingual speakers
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The present study aims to identify individual trajectories in the development of Kazakh–Russian bilingual language profiles and to analyze the factors contributing to the divergence between functional and subjective language dominance. The subject of this research is the correlation between functional and subjective language dominance in Kazakh–Russian bilinguals. The object of the study is the bilingual language capacity and linguistic behavior of Kazakh–Russian bilinguals within the multilingual context of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The goal of the study is to characterize Kazakh–Russian bilingualism as a spectrum of possible distributions of language competencies among respondents based on questionnaire data, and to identify patterns linking the self-perceived native language with the objectively assessed functional language dominance in individual bilingual profiles. The primary method of the research is a questionnaire. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied in data analysis: the language profiles of 38 Kazakh–Russian bilinguals were first assessed using universal functional parameters and then examined individually with regard to additional parameters of subjective cultural self-identification. The results revealed that for 63% of the participants, their self-reported native language did not match their functionally dominant language. Cases of cultural affiliation with the Kazakh language were observed despite the functional predominance of Russian. The study also identified challenges in self-assessing language proficiency and demonstrated a correlation between the linguistic environment and language dominance. The findings of this study may contribute to psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic investigations; in practice, they may be relevant to pedagogy and speech-language therapy. The novelty of the research lies in the standardized assessment of Kazakh–Russian bilinguals’ language profiles aimed at determining their L1 (first language). The study concludes that Kazakh–Russian bilingualism should be viewed as a spectrum of individualized language profiles, in which cultural identity, linguistic environment, and communicative habits significantly influence the distribution of language competencies. Moreover, the Kazakh–Russian bilingual status requires an integrated sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic approach to its evaluation.
Source: Litera
Author: Iana Kolmykova
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7101432187