KZ Foreign Language Exam key terms

Speaking style or register; the level of formality a speaker chooses (formal, neutral, colloquial) depending on the situation, the listener, and the purpose of the conversation. Speaking raters judge whether the register matches the task.

Listening comprehension; the skill of understanding spoken Kazakh from audio recordings, announcements, or dialogues and answering questions about the main idea, details, and speaker intent.

Main idea or gist; the central message of a text or recording, as opposed to supporting details. Questions often ask you to choose the statement that best summarizes the whole passage.

A detail; a specific fact, number, name, or example inside a text. Detail questions require locating exact information rather than summarizing the overall message.

Text; any written passage the candidate reads or produces, such as an article, letter, advertisement, or notice. Reading tasks test comprehension of the text's structure and meaning.

Paragraph; a group of sentences about one topic, usually starting on a new line. Recognizing paragraph boundaries helps you locate where an answer is likely to appear.

Conclusion; the closing part of a text or speech that restates the main point or gives a final judgment. Questions may ask what the author concludes or recommends.

Dialogue; a conversation between two or more speakers. Listening tasks often use dialogues to test whether you can follow turn-taking, identify who says what, and infer the relationship between speakers.

Intonation; the rise and fall of the voice that signals questions, surprise, politeness, or emphasis. It can change meaning even when the words stay the same.

Synonym; a word with a meaning close to another word, such as үлкен and зор for 'big'. Synonym questions test whether you can match a word in the text to a paraphrase in the question.

Antonym; a word with the opposite meaning of another, such as биік (high) and аласа (low). Recognizing opposites helps in vocabulary items and in understanding contrast in texts.

Vocabulary or lexicon; the set of words a learner knows. The exam tests it through gap-fill items, synonym and antonym tasks, and collocation choices.

A word combination or collocation; words that naturally occur together in Kazakh, such as шешім қабылдау (to make a decision). Wrong collocations are a common distractor type.

Grammatical case; Kazakh has seven cases (атау, ілік, барыс, табыс, жатыс, шығыс, көмектес), each marked by a suffix. Case endings show the role of a noun in the sentence.

A suffix or ending attached to a word stem. Kazakh is agglutinative, so one stem can carry several suffixes in a fixed order, marking plural, case, and possession.

Personal ending; the suffix on a verb or noun that marks the subject (men, sen, ol, biz, senдер, olar). It is essential for forming correct present and past tense sentences.

Verb; the word class expressing an action or state. Kazakh verbs carry tense, person, and mood suffixes, and verb forms are heavily tested in grammar items.

Tense; the grammatical marking of time in a verb, such as present, past, and future. Choosing the correct tense suffix is a frequent grammar question type.

Noun; the word class naming a person, thing, place, or idea. In Kazakh, nouns take plural, case, and possessive suffixes, which affect how they combine with other words.

Adjective; a word describing a noun's quality, such as үлкен (big) or жақсы (good). Adjectives do not agree with nouns in Kazakh and can take intensifying or comparative forms.

Word order; the arrangement of sentence parts. Kazakh is typically subject-object-verb, with the predicate at the end, so word order questions test this pattern.

Sentence; a complete thought with a subject and predicate. Grammar and writing tasks ask you to build, complete, or correct sentences using proper agreement and word order.

Essay; a short piece of structured writing with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The writing section usually asks for a clear position supported by reasons and examples.

Plan or outline; the ordered list of points you intend to cover in a piece of writing or a speech. A brief plan before writing improves coherence and saves time.

Cohesion or linking; the use of connectors and reference words (сондықтан, алайда, бұдан басқа) so that sentences and paragraphs flow logically together.

A formal letter; correspondence addressed to an institution or official, using polite formulas, a clear subject line, and a structured body. Writing tasks may require a request, complaint, or application.

Announcement or notice; a short public message giving information about an event, schedule, or rule. Reading tasks often use announcements to test quick scanning for key facts.

Interview; a structured conversation where one person asks questions and another answers. Listening and speaking tasks may use interviews to test comprehension and the ability to respond spontaneously.

Monologue; a continuous speech by one speaker, such as a short talk or presentation. Speaking tasks may ask you to give a monologue on a given topic for one to two minutes.

Pronunciation; how clearly and correctly words are spoken, including sounds, stress, and rhythm. Speaking scores often include a separate pronunciation criterion.

Word count; the required number of words in a writing task. Exceeding or falling short of the stated range can reduce your score, so plan your length before writing.

Context; the surrounding words or situation that helps you work out the meaning of an unknown word or the intent of a speaker. Context clues are a key strategy in reading and listening.

Colloquial or conversational speech; informal everyday language, including shortened forms and slang, contrasted with formal written style. Listening recordings may include it, so recognize it without copying it into essays.

Proverb or saying; a fixed traditional expression conveying folk wisdom, such as Еңбек етсең ерінбей, тояды қарның тіленбей. Recognizing common proverbs helps in reading and in understanding cultural references.

Numeral; a word expressing a number or quantity, such as бес (five) or екінші (second). Numeral forms appear in listening and reading tasks with dates, prices, and quantities.