ISSUES OF STRENGTHENING THE STATUS OF THE KAZAKH LANGUAGE WITHIN CLIL AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This article examines the issue of strengthening the status of the Kazakh language within CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and bilingual education contexts. The study aims to analyze the functional integration of Kazakh as a subject-academic language and to identify the conditions under which it can operate as a full-fledged medium of disciplinary knowledge construction. A qualitative research design was employed, with content analysis applied to instructional and methodological materials used in CLIL and bilingual teaching practices. The analysis focused on the functional roles of Kazakh and the presence of academic discourse elements across different types of educational resources. The results indicate that while the Kazakh language demonstrates substantial potential for subject-academic use, its integration into higher-order discursive functions remains inconsistent. The study argues that the academic status of the Kazakh language within integrated learning environments depends on systematic methodological support and purposeful instructional design. The findings contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of how CLIL models can be aligned with national language priorities in multilingual education systems.