Transfer of genre knowledge among three languages: Insights from English-medium postgraduate programs in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Kazakhstani universities are increasingly offering courses taught in three languages (Kazakh, Russian, and English) as part of a national language education policy. Within this context, transfer among languages may appear as both a sign of competence and a pathway to developing competence. The purpose of this paper is to address three questions: 1) to what extent and in which direction(s) do Kazakhstani postgraduate students report transfer genre knowledge among three languages? 2) What is the relationship between perceived transfer of genre knowledge, overall genre knowledge, and proficiency in the three languages? Survey data of students (n = 283) and focus group interviews with faculty, students, and administrators (n = 107) in six universities revealed transfer of knowledge is multidirectional, but students are more likely to transfer knowledge from their mother tongue (Russian or Kazakh) to English. Higher overall language proficiency is linked to transfer of genre knowledge among languages. At the same time, students and faculty described awareness of the extent to which practices do not transfer among languages.