Abstract
ABSTRACT Kazakhstan has emerged as a non‐traditional destination for international students through the expansion of English‐medium instruction and government‐funded scholarship schemes. This convergent mixed‐methods study examines how degree‐seeking international students from non‐Commonwealth of Independent States countries adapt to academic, environmental, interpersonal and intrapersonal challenges while studying in Kazakhstan, and how these experiences contribute to the development of L2‐mediated personal competence. Drawing on poststructuralist framework of second language identity development, survey data were collected from 375 international students across nine universities, complemented by in‐depth interviews with 40 participants. Quantitative analyses confirmed a four‐factor sociocultural adaptation model, with language proficiency strongly associated with academic, environmental and interpersonal adaptation. Qualitative findings reveal that language mediates students’ experiences indirectly through institutional practices, financial constraints, racialisation and access to interactional spaces, shaping autonomy, intercultural awareness and self‐efficacy beyond linguistic proficiency alone. The study highlights how students negotiate identity, agency and belonging in a multilingual, post‐Soviet context marked by both hospitality and structural inequality. By foregrounding Kazakhstan as an under‐researched site of international education, this study extends existing scholarship on study abroad and L2 identity and offers practical implications for fostering more equitable and linguistically inclusive internationalisation practices in emerging higher education destinations.