Linguistic manifestations of self-identification of Kazakhstani student youth (on the basis of essays)

The problems related to the value orientation of a person in the world, the ability to preserve national-cultural and personal self-identification in the context of expanding globalization and various internal and external processes taking place in the countries become especially significant. The purpose of the article is to identify and describe the mechanisms of linguistic realization of self-identity of Kazakhstani student youth on the material of such genre of self-description as essay, The tasks offered to students – to write essays on the topic “Who am I?” and “Who am I in the modern digital world?” – are an interpretation of the well-known M. Kuhn – T. McPartland methodology used in the study of young people. McPartland, used in the version modified by T. Rumyantseva, and with the adjustment of the M. Kuhn – T. McPartland method. Rumyantseva and with corrections made in accordance with the author's concept of the research. The free genre of the reflexive essay “Who am I in today's digital world?” allowed us to obtain detailed answers to the sought question, the analysis of which is presented in the section “Results of the study (discussion)”. The study involved 178 students in the age range from 17 to 24 years old studying in higher education institutions of different regions of Kazakhstan. The obtained data confirm the transformation of the value-normative context of interaction, communication and identity construction in the digital environment, where the digital and real “I” merge into a single digital identity. The language mechanisms of identity construction of Kazakhstani youth are considered through the prism of the following thematic groups: social-role (family-role, professional) identity; correlation of real and digital identity; self-assessment of one's own digital identity; psychological reset and freedom; the digital world – habitual environment, comfort zone, etc. The results of the study are presented in the following thematic groups. In its broad manifestation, the results of the study are significant for the updating of the national ideology in the part concerning the civic, social and personal consciousness of young people.