The influence of Globalization on Kazakh language in Kazakhstan Essay

The influence of Globalization on Kazakh language in Kazakhstan - Essay Example With Kazakhstan language being viewed as a link among the population in the entire state, it is evident that, in the process of nationalizing Kazakh language, some elements of other languages penetrate into Kazakh thus influencing it in some ways (Fierman 2006). Since the late 1920s, the soviet policy has affected Kazakh language in several ways. The soviet policy dictated that Kazakh language and other Turkic languages of the USSR should move away from Arabic script to Latin letters (Anheier and Yudhishthir 2007). This can be argued to be among the first, fundamental breaks that affected the Kazakh language. The other major change that happened is the shift to adjust versions of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. In this regard, it is true to argue that these changes fostered a commonality between Turkic speakers in the USSR and French, English, and German. Since the end of the nineteenth century, Kazakhstan has drastically changed especially due to migration effects of Russians to the Kazakh steppe (Fierman 2006). Another major issue of concern was collectivization of agriculture. In the period between 1929 and 1936, famine reduced Kazakhstan households almost by a half. As a result, quite a number of people migrated out of Kazakhstan to china. Additionally, many non Kazakh were brought into the republic, and this changed Kazakhs culture (Fierman 2006). Therefore, due to these changes and other global factors such as business across borders and mass media, it can be argued that globalization has played a major role in transforming cultures across the globe. In 1989, 97% in urban centers were Kazakhs speakers. However, about 40% of these people did not speak Kazakhs language fluently. According to Anheier and Yudhishthir 2007, this was as a result of Russian influence in the urban centers. During this period, many young generations of Kazakhs did not