Современные информационные технологии/ 1.Компьютерная  инженерия

Bulatova M.B.

Kostanay State University named after A. Baitursynov, Kazakhstan

Development of the Kazakh language by the example of native mass media.

Nowadays the number of websites in the Kazakh language in the Kaznet is about 12% of the total Kazakh sites. Every year in the Internet new websites appear in the Kazakh language (including the encyclopedia in the Kazakh language http://kk.wikipedia.og), the e-versions of the newspapers are developed and different seminars, conferences, trainings, and competitions are realized. However, according to the Internet Association of Kazakhstan [1], it’s necessary of looking for new ways to popularize the content in the official language, primarily involving national mass media.

The creation of websites in the Kazakh language was a substantive problem in the 90s. Computer systems of that time really couldn’t identify the Kazakh font. The Kazakh programmers began the first creations in 1993, but the results were unsatisfactory. The problem could be solved only by the corporation “Microsoft” by including the Kazakh alphabet in a core set of fonts of the “Windows” operating system.

During the first creation of websites in the Kazakh language web designers simply copied the text in the Kazakh language as a picture and then inserted it into the web-page. In such a way the first website of the “Khabar” TV Company was created. In 1997, the first webpage was shown in the Kazakh language by using a Latin transliteration sci.kz [2].

By 1995, the situation was changed. The “Microsoft” corporation itself charged the information about the Kazakh font and introduced it in the Unicode format. The website of Governmental Information Agency KazAAG (kazaag.kz ) was created with the help of the new unified Unicode code. However, the users of the Internet could use the Kazakh font only in 2000 with the release of Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000 new operating systems.

Until 2000 the programmers had to use various technical inventions. For example, the “Nursat” company used the manual coding of symbols. In 1999 the website of the “Khabar” TV Company (khabar.kz) became the first website which was independent of fonts installed in the computer. In June, 1999 the Kazakh website of foreign mass media appeared in the Internet. It was the Kazakh BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) service. However, in order to avoid technical problems the website bbc.co.uk/kazakh/ was designed with the Latin alphabet.

In 2001 the “Microsoft” corporation produced the “Windows XP” operating system which now is the most popular in Kazakhstan. The problem of the Kazakh font was completely solved in this operating system. It removed almost all limitations in the creation of websites in the Kazakh language. Nevertheless, the number of the websites in the Kazakh language continued to be moderate. So, by 2006 only 5,6% of the websites had a content in the Kazakh language. For comparison, the English-language content was available for 12% of the websites [3].

In 2004 the website “Arka akparat” (http://www.arka.medialow.kz/) was created which published not only political and economic news but also the little-known facts about the history of the Kazakh journalism and publicism. The works of educators which were not earlier studied also were published.

In the beginning it was difficult to get the audience while the access to the Internet was not affordable for all people and the speed was very low. Despite it, “Arka aparat” had become a popular website, and in 2004 was called the winner of the national Internet award “Award.KZ”. The website was sponsored by non-governmental organization, and after the stopping of financing “Arka aparat” was closed.

For the time being, also the civil society organizations are involved in promoting the Kazakh language in the Internet. For example, the Center of support of the Kazakh journalists “Minber” relies on multimedia and an exclusive content in the Kazakh language.

The project of journalists Ruslan Minulin and Svetlana Galiyeva “Let’s speak kazaksha!” as a part of the Molodezhny Mediasoyuz Kazakhstana (MMSK) is a striking example of an importance in studying the Kazakh language. The fixed idea of the project is a trilingvizm and increase of motivation in studying the language, first of all among journalists. The creators of the project rely on communication in the Kazakh language in the Internet (social networks) and offline [4].

The problem of development of the Kazakh language in the Kaznet is exaggerated for several years, however the consolidation of efforts of the state and society is not present. The isolated position does not allow the Kazakh-language websites to get a new level of quality. Probably, the creation of programs for transliteration from Cyrillic alphabet to Latin will change the present position and attract demand for the e-media which publish in the official language. But the question of the possible translation has already caused the ambiguous reaction among the Internet community.

The list of references

1. Internet Association of Kazakhstan. “The ways of development of the Kazakh language on the Internet”/ Nurpeisov A.K./.- Access mode: http://www.iak.kz/ru/news/round-table-iak/ free.

2. “Compuret Club” magazine/Kolosov A.B./ “How did the Internet begin in the regions of Kazakhstan”/ September No. 9 (76), 2003.

3. Profit [The e-magazine]: “The Kazakh language in the Internet” 28.02.2009- Access mode: http://www.profit.kz/articles/784-Kazahskij-yazik-v-internete/#.UPL9GuQz1nE free.

4. Internets.kz [The e-magazine]: « In Kazakhstan the project “Let’s speak kazaksha!” is started”/202.06.2011. Access mode: http://i-news.kz/news/2011/06/20/5887282.html free.