KAZTEST Kazakh Language Proficiency key terms

Listening section of the test, where candidates hear short dialogues, announcements or monologues once or twice and answer questions about the main idea, details or the speaker's intention.

The spoken passage played during the listening section, such as a conversation, phone call, radio notice or lecture excerpt. Candidates must catch key information from it without a written transcript.

The central message or purpose of a spoken or written text, as opposed to minor details. Questions often ask candidates to choose the statement that best expresses it.

A specific piece of information in a text, such as a time, price, name or place. Listening and reading tasks frequently test whether a candidate can locate such facts accurately.

Numbers heard or read in a text, including dates, ages, prices, percentages and times. Kazakh declension and case endings change how these numbers are pronounced and written.

The surrounding words, situation or tone that helps a listener or reader infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word or an implied statement. It is often the only clue available in test tasks.

The purpose behind what a speaker says, for example to warn, invite, complain or persuade. Questions may ask why the person is speaking rather than what was said literally.

Reading section of the test, containing passages from notices, articles, letters or literary excerpts followed by multiple-choice or matching questions about content, structure and vocabulary in context.

A written passage used as the basis for comprehension questions. It may be short and practical, such as an advertisement, or longer and academic, such as an essay on culture.

The subject or title of a text, stating broadly what it is about. Identifying it correctly is usually the first step in answering main-idea questions.

The meaning conveyed by a word, phrase or whole sentence. In reading tasks candidates must distinguish literal meaning from figurative or context-dependent meaning.

A conclusion drawn from evidence in a text rather than stated directly. Candidates must combine several details to select the inference the passage supports.

A word such as a pronoun or demonstrative that points back to something mentioned earlier. Tracking these links is essential for understanding coherence in longer Kazakh texts.

The vocabulary component of the test, covering word meaning, collocation, word formation and appropriate choice of a word for a given sentence or situation.

The system of rules for forming words and sentences in Kazakh, including case endings, verb tenses, plural marking and agreement. Grammar items make up a large share of the lexical-grammatical section.

A grammatical case. Kazakh has seven: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative and instrumental. Choosing the correct ending after a verb or postposition is a frequent test point.

A suffix attached to a stem to mark case, possession, plurality or person. Kazakh is agglutinative, so one word can carry several suffixes in a fixed order.

A personal ending added to nouns or verbs to show the subject, such as first person singular or third person plural. It is central to forming sentences like 'I am a student' or 'they came'.

The root of a word before any suffixes are added. Recognising roots helps candidates separate meaning from grammatical endings in long Kazakh word forms.

Word formation, the process of building new words from roots using suffixes such as those forming nouns of profession, abstract nouns or adjectives. Test items often ask which derived form fits a gap.

A word with a meaning close to another, such as different words for 'big' or 'quickly'. Synonym items test whether a candidate can choose the word that fits the sentence without changing its sense.

A word with the opposite meaning to another, such as 'hot' and 'cold'. Antonym tasks check vocabulary breadth and the ability to recognise contrast relations inside a sentence.

A postposition, a small word placed after a noun phrase to express relations like 'with', 'for', 'about' or 'until'. The preceding noun takes a specific case ending, so postpositions and case must be learned together.

A verb. Kazakh verbs carry tense, person, voice and mood through suffixes, and verb forms also build participles and verbal nouns used in complex sentences.

Tense, showing whether an action happens in the past, present or future. Kazakh distinguishes several past forms, including a witnessed past and a reported or inferred past.

Mood of a verb, expressing whether an action is stated as fact, wished, commanded or conditional. The imperative and conditional moods appear often in everyday Kazakh dialogue.

A cardinal number such as one, twenty or a hundred. Cardinal numbers combine with classifiers and case endings, and they appear in listening tasks involving prices, dates and quantities.

Writing section of the test, where candidates produce a short text such as a personal letter, an opinion paragraph or a description based on a prompt, and are scored on task fulfilment, organisation and accuracy.

A short structured piece of writing presenting and supporting a position on a topic. In Kazakh tests it usually requires an introduction, arguments with examples, and a conclusion.

An outline of the points to be covered before writing. A brief plan helps keep a written answer organised and ensures all parts of the task prompt are addressed.

Cohesion, the linking of sentences and paragraphs through connectors, pronouns and repeated key words so that a written text reads as a unified whole rather than a list of separate statements.

A quotation or supporting evidence used to strengthen an argument in writing. It may be a statistic, an example or a short cited statement.

An argument or piece of reasoning offered to support a claim. Writing raters look for claims that are backed by relevant reasoning rather than left unsupported.

Speaking section of the test, where the candidate answers questions, describes a picture or situation, or gives a short monologue on a given topic, assessed for fluency, range and accuracy.

An extended turn by one speaker, such as a prepared talk or a description lasting one to two minutes. It tests the ability to organise ideas and keep speaking without prompts.

A spoken exchange between two people, involving questions, answers and reactions. In the speaking test it may be simulated with an examiner asking about daily life, plans or opinions.

Delivery features of speech such as intonation, stress, rhythm and pace. Clear delivery matters in speaking assessment because it affects how easily the listener understands the message.