Model of public consent and national unity is the only right way to the development of the state, Nursulu Shaimerdenova

Nursulu Shaimerdenova – Professor of the Department of Philology of Kazakhstan branch of M.V. Lomonossov Moscow State University, member of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan, member of Kazakhstan Association of teachers of Russian language and literature (KazATRL).

N. Shaimerdenova was awarded with government awards, diplomas, state scientific scholarships, grants, letters of thanks for the great contribution to the teaching of languages, dissemination and popularization of language policy, education of young people.

—Could you tell us about yourself? What are your first steps in teaching and research activity?

—I was born in Dzhambul region. My birth on such a significant date for Kazakhstan – 16 December is symbolic for me. My father Zhamalbek Shaimerdenov is a public and state figure of Kazakhstan and my mother is a teacher of history and Kazakh language. All this has formed traits in me that help me today.   I studied at simple high school No. 20 named after G. Titov in Shymkent, then university, graduate school, work at university. Up to present, it has been  already 37 years of scientific and pedagogical experience, I connect my life with university.

Study in Moscow determined her path in life, where in 1989 Nursulu Amalbekova successfully defended her PhD thesis under the scientific leadership of Svetlana Kapralova. The consultant of the candidate's dissertation was a well-known turkologist Igor Dobrodomov, who gave an interesting research direction.

In 1998 she defended her PhD dissertation under the supervision of a scientific consultant, professor Eleanora Suleimenova.

—Today, she is my teacher and spiritual mentor, an outstanding linguist, besides she is a member of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan. And we work with her on projects, give lectures and conduct expertise.

I moved to Astana almost 20 years ago. I did not really want to leave my place, to get used to the new space. I came to Astana with three little children in cold winter and a new stage of my life began, which was even more interesting and was filled with important events, so closely intertwined with the new capital.

—What is your activity at Scientific and Expert Council of APK?

—As a member of Scientific and Expert Council of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan, my colleagues, Eleonora Dyusenovna, in particular, and I worked in the field of national policy, language construction, wrote expert opinions, conducted analytical studies.

In co-authorship with E. Tugzhanov, G. Kalashnikova, A. Sadvakassova, E. Suleimenova two books were published: “Imperatives of the state ethnic policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan” (2012) and “Ethnopolitical dictionary. Terms and concepts of Kazakhstan's policy and practice in the field of social harmony and interethnic tolerance”. It is a very important work. Theoretical researches in the field of description of dynamics of a language situation, policy and an assessment of its efficiency, functional development of the state language and efficiency of new language policy were carried out.

Also, as part of the activities of Scientific and Expert Council of the APK, many conferences, lectures, meetings were organized and held.

The impact for the development of scientific thought was scientific and educational project "Era and personality", which was highly appreciated by the Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan Leonid Prokopenko at one of the meetings of the APK.

This project has been implemented since 2014 and is aimed at promoting the heritage of outstanding personalities of Kazakhstan – scientists in the field of Philology (Linguistics and literature) and interdisciplinary branches of humanities. Since 2016, the project "Era and personality" is included in the plan of the Scientific Expert Council of the APK.  In addition, I am proud that my students Jemma Amanzholova, Mainura Buribayeva, Zhanara Malikova took part in the project "100 new faces".

For the entire period of the project a number of symposia dedicated to the life and work of such figures of science and culture, as Altay Amanzholov, Maya Bagizbayeva, Rafika Nurtazina, Ogaz Sultanyayev, Kobey Khussainov, Zein Shashkin, Nadezhda Gainullina, Edige Turssunov, Dmitry Nassilov, Nursulu Buketova, Aigul Bizhkenova and many others.

By the way, this year Mainura Buribayeva was included in the membership of Scientific and Expert Council and this is very important when the composition of the Scientific and Expert Council is replenished with new bright personalities who are able to continue and develop started work.  It's an honour when your students are valued so highly.

— What other projects are you going to work on in the near future?

—A lot of ideas! We continue our active work within the framework of the scientific and educational project "Epoch and personality".

This year, a cultural and educational project of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan "Kazaktanu" was launched. We participated at the opening ceremony, gave lectures, conducted workshops and participated in the meeting in Kokshetau and Zerenda. I think this project has a future. This is a very important part of our life, history and spiritual development.

—You are the author of the book “Detskaya literatura v Kazakhstane. Ot diskussiy k resheniyam”. Could you tell us more about it?

—The book was published in 2015 in Moscow and this year it was reissued. In fact, this monograph is the result of the project “Detskaya literature kak osnova razvitiya duhovno-nravstvennoi lichnosti v polikulturnom kazakhstanskom obschestve”.  

In the monograph, we considered a number of discussion issues related to the development of reader literacy, presented the results of the analysis of the book market in Kazakhstan, described the state of the original and translated children's literature, and were able to offer own recommendations in this field.

Judging by the responses and questions, this problem sparked interest of teachers, journalists and public figures.

—You are an author of modern fairy tales "Delfi i Solnyshko", "Printsessa tsvetov", "Skazka o prekrasnyh ptitsah flamingo", "Pervoe puteshestvie Glossika". Could you tell us about them?

—The tales themselves came into my life. The children grew up, but tales began to return me in childhood again. 

All fairy tales allow to develop literary and educational direction in the field of children's creativity. Thanks to fairy tales my life was filled with new meaning. There was an idea of holding creative laboratories "Read, draw and dream together" for children and parents where the main phenomenon of modern society –personality of the child in a quadrivium "Family–Dream–Books–Values" is considered.

My team and I carry out educational work at various sites, kindergartens, schools, universities, libraries, which actualizes the problem of children's and family reading, humane pedagogy, the role of children's literature as an important phenomenon in the development of language personality.  I was pleased to learn that my fairy tales are included in the recommended list of fiction for self-reading (for schools with Russian language), which is compiled by I. Altynsarin National Academy of Education. in order to help the child to realize the need to read, to awaken interest in reading the best books.

My tales are about my native Land. “Printsessa tsvetov” is the tale about Kyzgaldak, a girl that grew out of the tulip and fell in love with Kunzhan. The fairy tale is based on the memories of my childhood and a trip with my father, mother, sisters and brothers to the fields of southern Kazakhstan, especially beautiful during the flowering of tulips. in particular, Greig's tulip.

“Skazka o prekrasnyh ptitsah flamingo” is a tale of love between Makhabbat and Assylzhan. who were turned into flamingos by evil tokal.  This fairy tale was appreciated at the festival in Sochi, where a silver medal was awarded.   The second year we go to Korgalzhino to see these beautiful birds from afar. We got acquainted with the people of this extraordinary land, joined the association of biodiversity.

“Pervoe puteshestvie Glossika” in the Kazakh version our Erke-Gloss is a fairy tale about the hero, whose name came from the theme of my thesis - lemma.  A little boy who loves to read, got into a wonderful journey through books and languages in this tale.

—What do you think about the Kazakhstan model of social harmony and national unity?

—Today, working at university, giving lecturing, doing creative work, raising children and grandchildren, looking at our youth, I understand how it is important to generate and implement projects that are aimed at peace, unity and social harmony. Therefore, it is no accident that I met with like-minded people. I think it is no accident that I am a member of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan. My active work, meetings in our country and abroad convince me of the importance of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan. I believe that the model of social harmony and national unity is the only right way to the development of the state, especially such as ours, where representatives of different ethnoses live.

—Thank you for the interview!

Use of materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires written or oral permission from the Board of Editors or the author. Hyperlink to Assembly of People of Kazakstan portal is necessary. All rights reserved by the Law RK “On author’s rights and related rights”. To request authorization email to assemblykz.2016@gmail.com.

Dana TUGAMBEKOVA

Subscribe to our Telegram channel and be the first to know the news!