THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) TERMS IN THE KAZAKH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The paper aims to identify the level of usage of information technology terms in the Kazakh language. Research within the fields of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics was conducted to accomplish this goal.As part of the sociolinguistic direction, a survey was conducted to determine quantitative indicators of the level of public use of terms. Representatives of various fields took part in the survey. The survey questions are based on the basic terms of the IT industry: тінтуір ~mouse~тышқан~мышка, пернетақта~клавиатура~keyboard, қатқыл диск~қатты диск~жесткий диск~hard disk, software~программное обеспечение~бағдарламалық қамтым~бағдарламалық жасақтама~бағдарламалық қамту~бағдарламалық қамтамасыздандыру. Approved terms, such as related and competing terms, were also selected.A feature of the survey is that 88.4% of the participants are native speakers of the Kazakh language. The results of the survey revealed such difficulties as: ―the level of use of terms in the Russian language is higher than in the Kazakh language‖, ―some terms in the Kazakh language are not used at all‖ and ―several variants of the same term appear and synonyms are formed‖.In the context of applied linguistics, an analysis was made of the use of approved terms in the textbook "Computer Science", written in Kazakh for grades 4 to 7. The study showed that the established terms related to the field of computer science in the termincom.kz database is not used in textbooks; instead, other terms are used that denote the same concept. Some terms in textbooks related to computer science are not covered by termincom.kz databases. Other findings include the use of certain terms concerning other industries, the primary spelling of terms in Russian, as well as the indication of terms in Kazakh in brackets. The paper reveals the extra linguistic factors underlying the identified problems and analyzes the research papers written to date related to the terminology of information technology.Summarizing the above, based on the results of the research, the authors conclude that terminologists create highquality terms, and pay attention to the use of these terms in the field of education. It is necessary to work in the direction of promoting the language of science through social networks.