Abstract
The aim of this article is to identify the specifics of the language situation and language policy in the Turkestan region compared to other regions and to determine the impact of these specifics on the prospects for the development of language policy in Kazakhstan as a whole. This is achieved through the analysis of various data sources: ethnodemographic statistics and materials from local authorities responsible for implementing language policy, as well as the results of mass surveys and focus groups. The study reveals that, despite the dominance of the Kazakh language, the region has a multilingual system supported by educational and cultural institutions. This specificity supports the region’s readiness to achieve the goals of the Concept of Language Policy Development for Kazakhstan for 2023-2029, which primarily focuses on the development of the Kazakh language and the implementation of the Latin alphabet for Kazakh. At the same time, challenges are identified related to the Concept’s insufficient attention to the region’s multilingualism and the generally neutral-to-negative attitude of residents towards the use of the Latin alphabet. The study’s findings highlight the shortcomings of the proposed Concept and suggest ways to overcome them using the existing experience of multilingual educational and cultural institutions. The originality of this work lies in its ability to address applied language construction tasks while also revealing the weaknesses of theoretical arguments that suggest multilingualism in the post-independence period of post-Soviet countries hinders the development of ethnic identity and weakens intercultural communication.