Yessenbayeva
A.M.
Taraz
State Pedagogical Institute, Kazakhstan
FEATURES OF ENGLISH
FUNCTIONING IN THE MODERN KAZAKH
BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Without a doubt, the English language has
become one of the leading languages in international business
communication in the twenty-first . This fact is further supported by many
studies on the spread of English and its role in today's global business
community [1, 2]. It should be noted that the scale of the spread of English in
the world by different researchers (M.Castells, JAFishman, TLMcCarty , etc. )
are treated fairly ambiguous. Thus, in most cases, command of the English
language is considered one of the most important conditions for integration into
the international community, must-have positive social change, economic
prosperity and new technologies [3]. Others are concerned about the idea that
minority languages can be in danger of extinction to the extent
that the English language will be distributed as a result of globalization and
integration processes in the world [4, 5].
Due to the
expansion of international contacts in the business world more and more
companies began to choose English as their official corporate language. And in
most cases, members of the business communication are those for whom English is
a foreign language . [6] Thus, according to estimates David Crystal (2003 ) , the number of speakers of English
as a nonnative constantly increasing : currently about a quarter of the world's
population speak English , and by 2060 , the number of its speakers greatly
exceeds the number of native speakers themselves [4 ; 153]. This use of the
English language A. Lesznyak ( 2002 ), C.Mauranen ( 2003) and B.Seidlhofer (
2002) and others attribute to the communications carried out by means of an
intermediary language or lingua franca ELF - English as a Lingua Franca. To
address issues of using English as the lingua franca directly in business
communication European explorer L.Louhiala-Salminen ( 2005), introduced a new
term BELF-Business English as a Lingua Franca ( Business English as a lingua franca
) .
The globalization
process that engulfed all aspects of life today in the world, did not leave the
sidelines and Kazakhstan. Over the last twenty years in the country drastic
changes in the social, political and economic life have a significant impact on
the development of various fields , including in the area of
business , as well as the role and place of the foreign language
in intercultural business communication in the country.
In Kazakhstan, as
in the whole world is becoming more and more English, a language of
intercultural communication in the field of business communication. Currently,
knowledge of the English language in Kazakhstan is not only in the list of
mandatory conditions of studying abroad, but also is essential to the
competitiveness of young professionals in the labor market , both in this
country and abroad. Fluency in English, together with the Kazakh and Russian
languages, having at the Constitution respectively the status of state and
official languages, has now become a problem of national importance. More
recently, the English language is designated as a condition for successful
integration into the global economy and has been considered as one of the main
priorities of the state policy. This is confirmed and elaborated in recent
years, policy documents (the State program of functioning and development of
languages for 2011-2020 , etc.), which refer to the need to
address the widespread teaching English and other foreign languages
as a means of international business communication. Thus, the
annual address to the nation on January 28, 2011 the President of the Republic
of Kazakhstan
Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that " for
the modern citizen of Kazakhstan possession of three languages -
a requirement for their own well-being ." In this regard , a task that, by
2020 the proportion of people who speak English, was not less than 20 percent [5].
And in the speech of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the XIX
session of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan ( April 27, 2012 ) also focuses
on the further development of the trinity of languages as an
important aspect of economic and social modernization , and notes the
importance of the role of English in the way of Kazakhstan into the world of innovation, technology and business [
2].
In Kazakhstan in
recent years due to the increase in business activity of the population and the
expansion of foreign economic relations of the subjects of the market economy
there is a high demand in the labor market for specialists who speak English. For
example, according to a study conducted M.Sh.Sarybay, knowledge of English has
become a requirement of 98 ads (out of 101) as a manager , engineer , operator,
secretary, accountant and administrator. Moreover, 40 % of adverts placed in
the newspaper in 2003 , was published in English [ 3].
Operations in more than 50 embassies and representative offices of foreign
affiliates , 700 foreign companies and representative offices of foreign
companies in 1500 due to business communication in English . The growing number
of professionals who speak English, and translators due to the scale
of international cooperation in Kazakhstan. English in this case serves as a
lingua franca in intercultural business communication between local and foreign
experts.
In foreign
linguistics , as a rule , studies were carried out in the aspect of genre and
discourse analysis business writing and oral business communication , as well
as in the aspect of different skills and strategies for effective business
communication. Studies of genre analysis (D.Akar, K.Bhatia, V.BSantos) is mainly
related to the analysis of business
correspondence , business and e-mails that defines a particular structure and
transitions (moves) the different types of text business writing , as well as
the different cultural aspects of certain discourse communities that affect the
structure and adopted the rhetoric of the text. The objects of the study of
discourse analysis (M.Charles, R. de Beaugrande, J.Gimenez,
L.Louhiala-Salminen) are discourse models of different situations oral business
communication, such as business meetings, negotiations, etc. In this case,
identifies the factors affecting the discourse model and characterize the
business relationship between the parties to business communication, degree of formality,
cultural differences, etc. Work skills and strategies regarding business
communication (L.Barbara, K.Chew, L.Louhiala-Salminen, St. John) usually begin
with a definition of the most commonly used and necessary skills for successful
business communication , and only then move to the study of communication
strategies in business, applying the results already obtained and the
conclusions of the discursive analysis of the use of Business English .
Kazakh linguists
interested in issues related to business communication and business discourse ,
in particular , the ontology of the business and its discourse genres (
G.G.Burkitbaeva ) function and the semantics of nominative phrases in business
correspondence ( A.Aytureeva ) , the role of word- of connectors in the syntax
and semantic organization of business texts( Z.Zhambulatova), lexical and
semantic tools communicators in business communication ( Z.K.Omarova )
syntactic features of business
correspondence ( A.S.Tolengutova ) , issues of intercultural communication (
K.K.Shohaeva , M. T.Sabitova and G.I.Isina ), etc.
Among these works
should emphasize research G.G.Burkitbaeva (2005), an English-language business
discourse in which the business discourse in English is considered as the sum
of inter-related linguistic, cognitive , and other extra-linguistic
characteristics , is inextricably linked with the production , operation and
perceptions of business discourse. This understanding has allowed the author to
analyze the methodological problems of ontology business discourse, interaction
of genres , to include in its study the conceptual analysis of the concepts of " text " and " discourse"
and to examine the relationship formal business style and business discourse ,
explore business discourse from the point of view of an interactive model of
communication, analysis and consider the business discourse within the
framework of the theory of genres. Ontological study English-language business
discourse was based on a number of parameters (extra linguistic and
interactional context , language features ) that have been systematically
presented in a list of collective and distribution of descriptors and are
reflected in the matrix model analysis of business discourse [6].
According to most
respondents , if the Russian language
for Kazakhstan needs to integrate and maintain relationships in the post-Soviet
space, the English language is important for the initiation to the world
economy . More than 50%: the respondents fully support the policy of the
trinity of languages is not functioning at the expense of other
languages. Respondents associate English with the future in economic terms, the
ability to promote their careers , and with the acquisition of the more
prestigious and high-paying jobs .
More often than
English is used in business correspondence (emails, business letter) , as well
as during foreign trips, for presentations, conferences etc. In addition ,
respondents noted a number of difficulties in using the English language, with
which they had meet in their professional activities , and a number of other
important points that must be considered , in addition to proficiency. Thus,
64.3 % of respondents had difficulty in communicating with foreign partners in
the English language due to ignorance of a word and idiom , 42.6 % - because of
the difficult -to-understand accent interlocutor and 39.3 % - because of
national and cultural differences. These comments are of great interest for our
future work on the topic of the study.
References
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