“Words for change: English as a tool for Global Citizenship”
On April 23, 2025, the Faculty of Philology of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University hosted an educational event titled “Words for change: English as a tool for Global Citizenship”, dedicated to the raising interest towards learning and communicating in English, as well as promoting tolerance in modern society.
The event was initiated and organized by the first-year master’s degree student in the specialty “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages” — Timur Kurmanaliev Askarovich. The academic advisor of the project was Senior Lecturer Ualikhanova Gulnur Orkenkyzy.
The meeting was held In an atmosphere of open dialogue and mutual understanding, uniting first-year students who are striving to recognize the importance of English language in modern international relationships — the language spoken by approximately 1,457 billion people across the world.
The main focus of the event was to make students understand the importance of knowing and being able to communicate English and to show the role of communication in Goals of Sustainable Development (specifically Global Citizenship).
During the event, participants learned about the Goals of Sustainable Development (specifically Global Citizenship), the role of English language in modern international communications and practical strategies of using English in order to contribute to the Goal of Global Citizenship.
The main part of the event was the presentation on the same topic of educational event, which covered topics of Global Citizenship, the use of English language for the purpose of breaking the cultural barriers, raising awareness about critical issues and making positive changes.
In concluding the event, the organizers emphasized that the Goal of Global Citizenship is not about globalization and cultural imperialism, but rather about being open-minded, being respectful towards differences, and striving for mutual understanding and making the world a better place.
The event made a meaningful contribution to the development of students’ educational motivation and Global Citizenship consciousness, as well as the making students more open-minded about intercultural communication.
Organizers: the First-year master’s degree student T.A. Kurmanaliev and Senior Lecturer G.O. Ualikhanova of the Department of Turkology and Language Theory, Faculty of Philology.
