The influence of the global linguistic context on the lexical choice of Kazakh-Russian bilinguals

In this paper, the process of language choice among Kazakh-Russian adult bilinguals is considered as a competitive cognitive mechanism. Kazakh-Russian bilinguals' language choice can be regulated by external linguistic and social factors, such as the global linguistic context of communication. These factors can also be moderated by the individual characteristics of their linguistic competencies. The object of this study is the influence of the global linguistic context on the language choice of Kazakh-Russian bilinguals. The subject of the study is the lexical choice of Kazakh-Russian bilinguals in the proposed experimental conditions. The specific objectives of the research are to correlate the individual language profiles of these bilinguals with their lexical choices in different linguistic contexts. The study was conducted using the author's experimental methodology, in which the global context was modeled using the language of the instructions presented before the experiment. The data obtained were analyzed in terms of statistical significance. Then, a qualitative analysis of the dependence of the variables (the instruction language and the subject's first language) was performed. The main findings showed that participants in the study demonstrated different patterns of influence of the global language context on their language choice depending on their first language (L1). Bilinguals with a dominant Russian language showed different behaviors, depending on the instruction language; bilinguals with a dominant Kazakh language consistently adhered to the Kazakh language, regardless of the instruction language; balanced bilinguals more often chose the language opposite to the instruction language. The data can be applied in research and experimental studies (in the fields of psycho- and neuro-linguistics). There is also potential for applying the results to bilingual pedagogical work and speech therapy. This study is novel in that it is the first to experimentally confirm the effect of global linguistic context on the linguistic behavior of Kazakh-Russian bilinguals. As a result of the study, the conclusion was formulated: the global linguistic context had a heterogeneous effect on bilinguals and could activate both the target and non-target language, depending on the bilingual's individual language profile and a complex set of socio-cultural factors.