On December 17, 2025, at a meeting of the Dissertation Council for the educational program “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages,” the first successful defense of a doctoral dissertation in the social sciences, including the field of pedagogy (foreign language), was held among higher education institutions of the country. The dissertation was prepared in full compliance with international requirements for the award of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
The author of the dissertation is Aigul Yeleusiz. The research study entitled “Exploring EFL Teachers’ Media Literacy in Kazakhstan: A Case Study” was defended in English at a high academic level. The domestic academic supervisor was Gulmira Qanay, Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University. The international academic supervisor was Dr. David Frost, Honorary Professor at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (UK), PhD.
This dissertation represents the first innovative study in the field of pedagogy to be successfully defended using an interpretative case study methodology, which differs from the traditional positivist quasi-experimental approach. This method is not aimed at generalizing results but at providing an in-depth understanding of the complexity of phenomena, as well as their meaning and contextual dimensions. Case study methodology is of particular scholarly value for researching school culture, educational leadership, teachers’ professional development, and innovative pedagogical practices.
Over the course of three years, PhD candidate Aigul Yeleusiz published six scholarly articles in journals indexed in the Scopus database and recommended by the Committee for Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (CQASHE), and completed a doctoral dissertation of 285 pages. In addition, the research findings were presented at prestigious international academic conferences, including CESS 2024, ECER 2024–2025, and AERA 2026.
This academic achievement demonstrates the advancement of research in the field of pedagogy (foreign language) in line with international standards and makes a significant contribution to strengthening the research capacity of the higher education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
