Integrating AI into Critical Literacy Practices for Academic Publishing in Language Education: Insights from Kazakhstan

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping educational practices worldwide, including the domain of academic publishing in language education. This review explores how AI can be integrated into critical literacy practices—skills of critical reading, writing, and thinking about texts-among language educators and researchers in Kazakhstan, with comparative insights from international contexts. It synthesizes findings from scholarly literature and policy documents to examine both opportunities and challenges presented by AI tools such as intelligent writing assistants, translation systems, and content analysis algorithms. A qualitative integrative review of 26 sources (2019–2025) was conducted to ensure comprehensive and up-to-date coverage. The literature suggests that AI has the potential to support academic writing (e.g., by providing feedback and translation) and to enhance critical analysis of texts. However, concerns persist regarding over-reliance on AI, ethical use, and the need to maintain human critical thinking skills. This review identifies key themes: the imperative of English-language publishing for Kazakhstani scholars, the role of AI in bridging language gaps, and the importance of developing critical literacy to navigate AI-generated content. The review concludes that AI should be leveraged to support (not replace) human critical engagement in academic publishing. It also provides practical recommendations and highlights implications for policy and future research, particularly the need for training in AI literacy and robust guidelines in both Kazakhstan and globally.