University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Master's Capstone Projects Center for International Education 2001 Language Policy in Central Asia Baktygul M. Ismailova University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cie_capstones Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Law Commons, and the Other Education Commons Ismailova, Baktygul M., "Language Policy in Central Asia" (2001). Master's Capstone Projects. 60. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cie_capstones/60 This Open Access Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for International Education at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. LANGUAGE POLICY IN CENTRAL ASIA MASTER'S PROJECT Completed by BAKTYGUL M. ISMAILOVA MAY 2001 DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATIONAL POLICY, RESEARCH AND ADMINISTRATION, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Language Policy in Central Asia (Abstract) This study addresses language policy and language planning in the five Central Asian republics, formerconstituents of the Soviet Union. Language issues became crucial after the breakdown ofthe Soviet system, which completely changed the linguistic environment in the region. The study discusses two main issues related to the language planning in central Asia. The first section of the project describes the history of the region before 1917, when lifestyle patterns divided Central Asian residents into two groups, nomads (Kyrgyz, Kazak and Turkmen) and sedentary peoples (Tajik and Uzbek). After a briefdiscussion ofschooling practices in pre-Soviet Central Asia, the paper describes Soviet schooling practices and language policies after 191 7.