Anas Hajar
Biographic Data
| ID | 763958 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anas Hajar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anas |
| FAMILY NAME | Hajar |
| SIGNATURE | HAJAR A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Nazarbayev University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7513-9689 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 68 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 47 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Navigating Japanese language learning at an EMI university in Japan
Despite growing international student mobility (ISM) to non-Anglophone destinations, little is known about how international students invest in learning host-country languages while studying through English-medium instruction (EMI). Drawing on Darvin, R., and B. Norton. 2015. “Identity and a Model of Investment in Applied Linguistics”. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35:36–56 investment model, this qualitative study explores the investment, …
Two decades of research on Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis
This study provides a bibliometric overview of research informed by Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis from 2006 to 2025. Using 1,728 Web of Science Core Collection publications, it examines publication and citation trends and the intellectual foundations of thematic analysis. VOSviewer and Bibliometrix identify influential authors, institutions, journals, countries, and keyword networks. Findings show rapid growth in the use of thematic analys…
Navigating shadow education for higher education access in conflict-affected Syria
This study investigates fee-based private tutoring among Grade 12 students in rural Syria, a conflict-affected context where public schooling remains fragile. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, it examines patterns of participation, motivations and perceived effectiveness of tutoring, as well as their implications for equity in access to higher education. Survey data were collected from 889 students across six secondary schools…
Shadow education in conflict-affected contexts
This qualitative study explores the experiences of seven internally displaced Syrian students (aged 14–15) learning English at a tutorial centre in Afrin, Aleppo Governorate. For data collection, the research used participants’ written narratives and a subsequent online semi-structured interview. Findings reveal that students attended only face-to-face small group sessions at the tutorial centre due to financial constraints. They reported challen…
Shadow education in rural Kazakhstan
This mixed-methods study investigates fee-based private tutoring, known as shadow education, among Grade 11 students in rural Kazakhstan, focusing on participation patterns, perceived effectiveness, and implications for equitable access to higher education. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological systems theory, the study employs a convergent design integrating quantitative survey data from 740 students with qualitative insights from eight s…
Understanding university students’ (dis)investments and identity negotiation for learning German in Kazakhstan
This qualitative study explores Kazakhstani undergraduates’ investment and disinvestment in learning German within a multilingual higher education programme. Guided by Norton’s 2013. [Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.)]. Multilingual Matters] concepts of investment and imagined identities, the research draws on narrative writing and semi-structured interviews with ten students enrolled in a degree requiring two f…
A bibliometric analysis of international student mobility research in Asia
Seeking support beyond schools
L2‐Mediated Personal Competence as a Dimension of Identity Development Among International Students in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has emerged as a non‐traditional destination for international students through the expansion of English‐medium instruction and government‐funded scholarship schemes. This convergent mixed‐methods study examines how degree‐seeking international students from non‐Commonwealth of Independent States countries adapt to academic, environmental, interpersonal and intrapersonal challenges while studying in Kazakhstan, and how these experience…
Whiteness” and Future “Imaginaries”
According to the World Migration Report 2024, transnational educational mobility has increased significantly worldwide, with numbers rising from 2.2 million in 2001 to over 6 million in 2021. As a proxy of English‐language proficiency, the International English‐Language Testing Service (IELTS) has emerged as one of the most popular high‐stakes English tests, with around 4 million test‐takers in the year 2023 alone (IELTS, 2024). Since it is a pop…
The nature and implications of shadow education for displaced Syrian secondary students in Türkiye
Buying your way into higher education? unpacking the association between fee-charging private tutoring and educational inequality in Kazakhstan
African international students’ challenges, investment and identity development at a highly selective EMI university in Kazakhstan
This article documents the reflections of six African second-year master’s students on their international educational experiences in Kazakhstan with a special focus on their challenges, strategic learning efforts and identity development. It is guided by Norton’s conceptualisation of investment in identity, language learning, and social change. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and two subsequent rounds of individual semi-s…
Examining the nature and effectiveness of fee-free supplementary tutoring
This mixed-methods study investigates fee-free private tutoring offered by ‘Robin Hood teachers’ in Kazakhstan – schoolteachers who provide free tutoring to some students while charging others. Despite growing research on shadow education, little is known about the motivations behind free tutoring and its broader implications. Therefore, this study explores teachers’ motivations, professional benefits and ethical dilemmas. Data were collected thr…
From policy dumping to a participatory framework
Situating EMI policy and planning within the mainstream school in Kazakhstan, this study probes how STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics) teachers manage the policy, what challenges they confront, and how they respond to the challenges. Employing ‘agency’ as a conceptual frame, the study analyzed 58 teachers’ interviews representing six regions of the country. Findings suggest that teachers’ lower-level English proficiency and lac…
The spiritual vision for learning Arabic and beyond
Fee-charging private tutoring and educational inequality
Global south mobility
Unpacking Syrian international students’ expectations, challenges and future selves in Kazakhstan
Neoliberal Governmentality and English Private Tutoring Among Rural Secondary School Students in Kazakhstan
This article investigates the nature, effectiveness, and implications of English private tutoring (EPT) among Grade 11 students in rural Kazakhstan. Drawing on survey responses from 160 students within a larger sample of 740, the study examines participation patterns, motivations, perceived benefits, and the financial and social costs associated with tutoring. Framed through the lens of neoliberal governmentality, the analysis situates EPT within…
Navigating undergraduate students’ (dis)investments, language learning strategies, and future vision for learning Chinese in Kazakhstan
Obituary for Zoltán Dörnyei (1960–2022)
This study aims to analyse the scientific outputs of Zoltán Dörnyei (1960–2022) using metadata extracted from his 84 publications indexed in the Scopus database. It describes and visually represents his network of collaboration in terms of institutions and countries, along with revealing the scope and topical foci of his research by identifying and elaborating on the main themes of his research interests, including (1) individual differences in S…
Examining the nature, effectiveness and implications of shadow education in rural Kazakhstan
This study investigates the nature, effectiveness and implications of fee‐based private tutoring among primary school students (age 11–12) in rural Kazakhstan, an underexamined context in shadow education research. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory and the ‘new sociology of childhood’, the study employs a mixed‐methods approach, integrating survey data ( N = 662) with qualitative participatory methods, including group interviews and …
Navigating Kazakhstani postgraduate students' intercultural citizenship development and future vision in Türkiye
This qualitative study examines Kazakhstani postgraduate students' motivations, intercultural experiences, and aspirations at a Turkish-medium university in Türkiye. Framed by Byram’s (2008. From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship: Essays and Reflections. Multilingual Matters) model of intercultural citizenship, it investigates how students navigated cultural differences and developed their identities within dif…
Navigating teachers’ perceptions and experiences of shadow education expansion and regulation in Kazakhstan
Policy from below
Following the government's trilingual education reforms in Kazakhstan, STEM subjects such as sciences, mathematics, and computer science were to be taught through English Medium Instruction (EMI) in mainstream schools. Policy observers thought that it was bound to challenge concerned teachers because they were not yet sufficiently prepared to teach these subjects through EMI. The present study seeks to examine the EMI policy and explore how STEM …
The association between private tutoring and access to grammar schools
England has experienced recent growth in the prevalence of private tutoring (PT). The qualitative study reported in this article aims to explore the perceptions of 14 Year 6 pupils and their teachers from three state‐maintained primary schools in East Kent on PT participation and its impact on grammar school admissions. Data were collected through individual and focus group interviews and pupils' drawings. The data revealed that teachers were not…
Identity, investment and language learning strategies of two Syrian students in Syria and Britain
This paper reports on a longitudinal phenomenographic inquiry into understanding how two postgraduate Syrian students’ ways of approaching English language learning in their homelands influenced the shape of their personal study abroad goals, language strategy use and L2 identity. It is guided by Norton’s [(2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters] conceptualisation of motivation a…
A bibliometric analysis of shadow education in Asia
Being participatory
This mixed-methods study explores the experiences and perceptions of primary school students of fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PST) in Uzbekistan. The data were collected from five mainstream schools, using a close-ended questionnaire and two participatory methods – group interviews and drawings. The study found that 574 out of 1024 students (56%) received PST, mainly to increase their knowledge in core subjects, boost their self-co…
Investigating language identities of international postgraduate students in Britain
This paper explores eight Kazakhstani postgraduate students’ reflections of their international educational experiences in the UK after their immediate re-entry into Kazakhstan. Special focus was on their language identity development after their one-year stay in the UK. It was informed by Benson et al.’s ([2013]. Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad. London: Palgrave Macmillan) three-dimensional model of L2 identity: (a) identi…
Unpacking Syrian international students’ expectations, challenges and future selves in Kazakhstan
Navigating teachers’ perceptions and experiences of shadow education expansion and regulation in Kazakhstan
Three decades of research on the model of investment in applied linguistics
As of 2024, nearly three decades have passed since Bonny Norton introduced the investment model. This bibliometric review analyses research on this model using metadata from 424 publications indexed in the Web of Science database. Employing bibliometric techniques, the study identifies and visually presents significant sources, countries, institutions, and leading authors. It also examines influential works through h-classics publications. The fi…
Disinvestment” in Learners’ Multilingual Identities
Most recent research on language learning and identity emphasizes on investing learners’ capital as affordance to affirm their identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton, 2013). Learners’ capital refers to prior knowledge, home literacies/native languages. Drawing on data from English language academies from Pakistan, this study finds a conflicting picture to the one advocated in the investment model. Gripped by the “deficit ideology,” teachers an…
The ideal multilingual self of individuals in conflict-affected situations
Little research has explored individuals’ multilingual selves when learning a language other than English (LOTE) in conflict-affected situations. Therefore, this qualitative study sought to understand the motivation and ultimate vision of a group of internally displaced Syrians learning Turkish as an L3 or L4 in Afrin on the Syrian-Turkish border. The data were collected from the participants’ written narratives and two subsequent rounds of indiv…
Learning in the shadows
This mixed-methods study explored the experiences and perceptions of primary school students and their parents towards fee-charging private tutoring (PT) in Astana, Kazakhstan.The data were collected from 503 Grade 6 students (aged 11-12) using a close-ended questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with 21 parents.The questionnaire data from five mainstream schools found that 357 out of 503 (71%) students received PT, and highly educa…
Private supplementary tutoring and educational inequality in secondary education in Kazakhstan
This mixed-methods study is the first to explore the association between fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PT) participation and access to higher education in Kazakhstan from the perspectives of Grade 11 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by the work of Entrich in 2018, a four-dimensional model of educational inequality in PT, this study found that the scale of PT had expanded during the pandemic, with 75.06% (623 out of 830…
Private Supplementary Tutoring at a Transition Point in Kazakhstan’s Education System
This quantitative study examined the scale, nature and effectiveness of private supplementary tutoring (PT) at one of the transition points in Kazakhstan’s education system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from 366 secondary school students. The findings show that 73.8% of participants received PT, mainly to help them prepare for the university entrance examination. Seventy-four percent of fathers and 83% of mothers were hold…
English as an index of neoliberal globalization
Global south mobility
Identity, investment and language learning strategies of two Syrian students in Syria and Britain
This paper reports on a longitudinal phenomenographic inquiry into understanding how two postgraduate Syrian students’ ways of approaching English language learning in their homelands influenced the shape of their personal study abroad goals, language strategy use and L2 identity. It is guided by Norton’s [(2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters] conceptualisation of motivation a…
Shadow education and the curriculum and culture of schooling in South Korea
Shadow education and the curriculum and culture of schooling in South Korea." Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(5), pp. 823–824
The association between private tutoring and access to grammar schools
England has experienced recent growth in the prevalence of private tutoring (PT). The qualitative study reported in this article aims to explore the perceptions of 14 Year 6 pupils and their teachers from three state‐maintained primary schools in East Kent on PT participation and its impact on grammar school admissions. Data were collected through individual and focus group interviews and pupils' drawings. The data revealed that teachers were not…
Theoretical foundations of phenomenography
Phenomenography is an empirical approach to ascertain the qualitatively different ways in which individuals experience and understand aspects of the world around them. Originating in educational research (Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning. 1- outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46(1), 4–11), phenomenography has since been deployed in a range of disciplines, including marketing, nurs…
A bibliometric mapping of shadow education research
Child participatory research methods
This paper used three participatory methods- children’s drawings, photographs, and group interviews- along with a short questionnaire to explore Grade 6 pupils’ experiences and perceptions of the private tutoring (PT) they had received in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The questionnaire data suggest that 316 out of 406 (79.87%) attended PT. The qualitative data from 30 pupils reveal that the participants’ motives of having PT ranged from adult-imposed r…
Disinvestment” in Learners’ Multilingual Identities
Most recent research on language learning and identity emphasizes on investing learners’ capital as affordance to affirm their identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton, 2013). Learners’ capital refers to prior knowledge, home literacies/native languages. Drawing on data from English language academies from Pakistan, this study finds a conflicting picture to the one advocated in the investment model. Gripped by the “deficit ideology,” teachers an…
The ideal multilingual self of individuals in conflict-affected situations
Little research has explored individuals’ multilingual selves when learning a language other than English (LOTE) in conflict-affected situations. Therefore, this qualitative study sought to understand the motivation and ultimate vision of a group of internally displaced Syrians learning Turkish as an L3 or L4 in Afrin on the Syrian-Turkish border. The data were collected from the participants’ written narratives and two subsequent rounds of indiv…
English as an index of neoliberal globalization
Policy from below
Following the government's trilingual education reforms in Kazakhstan, STEM subjects such as sciences, mathematics, and computer science were to be taught through English Medium Instruction (EMI) in mainstream schools. Policy observers thought that it was bound to challenge concerned teachers because they were not yet sufficiently prepared to teach these subjects through EMI. The present study seeks to examine the EMI policy and explore how STEM …
Private supplementary tutoring and educational inequality in secondary education in Kazakhstan
This mixed-methods study is the first to explore the association between fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PT) participation and access to higher education in Kazakhstan from the perspectives of Grade 11 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by the work of Entrich in 2018, a four-dimensional model of educational inequality in PT, this study found that the scale of PT had expanded during the pandemic, with 75.06% (623 out of 830…
Private Supplementary Tutoring at a Transition Point in Kazakhstan’s Education System
This quantitative study examined the scale, nature and effectiveness of private supplementary tutoring (PT) at one of the transition points in Kazakhstan’s education system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from 366 secondary school students. The findings show that 73.8% of participants received PT, mainly to help them prepare for the university entrance examination. Seventy-four percent of fathers and 83% of mothers were hold…
Throwing light on fee-charging tutoring during the global pandemic in Kazakhstan
Mapping research on International Student Mobilities in higher education
From colonial celebration to postcolonial performativity
This article reports data from a qualitative study conducted within the elitist English-medium schools in three cities of Pakistan to claim that theory building, and English teaching practices are still modeled on monolingual biases inherent in the orthodox notions of linguistic purism and Anglo-normative traditions of the 1990s. Orthodoxy is manifest in schools’ strong emphasis on direct method and communicative language teaching, and essentiali…
Understanding challenges, investment, and strategic language use of postgraduate students in an English-medium university in Kazakhstan
This qualitative study documents six postgraduate Kazakh students’ challenges, language learning strategies (LLSs), and future vision while studying at a highly selective English medium instruction (EMI) university in Kazakhstan. It also aims to capture the influence of the participants’ past English learning experiences and contextual factors on their LLS deployment. The study found that all participants exhibited greater agency, using a host of…
Understanding secondary school students’ challenges, language learning strategies and future selves at highly selectiveEMI schools in Kazakhstan
This qualitative study explores the experiences of 22 Grade 11 students, aged 17–18, studying science subjects at highly selective English medium instruction (EMI) schools. The study is guided by Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (namely, the ideal/ought-to L2 self concepts) and Hajar’s (2019) distinction between compulsory and voluntary strategies. Specific focus was paid to the participants’ English learning challenges, language learning st…
Learning in the shadows
This mixed-methods study explored the experiences and perceptions of primary school students and their parents towards fee-charging private tutoring (PT) in Astana, Kazakhstan.The data were collected from 503 Grade 6 students (aged 11-12) using a close-ended questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with 21 parents.The questionnaire data from five mainstream schools found that 357 out of 503 (71%) students received PT, and highly educa…
Three decades of research on the model of investment in applied linguistics
As of 2024, nearly three decades have passed since Bonny Norton introduced the investment model. This bibliometric review analyses research on this model using metadata from 424 publications indexed in the Web of Science database. Employing bibliometric techniques, the study identifies and visually presents significant sources, countries, institutions, and leading authors. It also examines influential works through h-classics publications. The fi…
A bibliometric analysis of shadow education in Asia
Being participatory
This mixed-methods study explores the experiences and perceptions of primary school students of fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PST) in Uzbekistan. The data were collected from five mainstream schools, using a close-ended questionnaire and two participatory methods – group interviews and drawings. The study found that 574 out of 1024 students (56%) received PST, mainly to increase their knowledge in core subjects, boost their self-co…
Investigating language identities of international postgraduate students in Britain
This paper explores eight Kazakhstani postgraduate students’ reflections of their international educational experiences in the UK after their immediate re-entry into Kazakhstan. Special focus was on their language identity development after their one-year stay in the UK. It was informed by Benson et al.’s ([2013]. Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad. London: Palgrave Macmillan) three-dimensional model of L2 identity: (a) identi…
Buying your way into higher education? unpacking the association between fee-charging private tutoring and educational inequality in Kazakhstan
African international students’ challenges, investment and identity development at a highly selective EMI university in Kazakhstan
This article documents the reflections of six African second-year master’s students on their international educational experiences in Kazakhstan with a special focus on their challenges, strategic learning efforts and identity development. It is guided by Norton’s conceptualisation of investment in identity, language learning, and social change. The qualitative data collected from a written narrative and two subsequent rounds of individual semi-s…
Examining the nature and effectiveness of fee-free supplementary tutoring
This mixed-methods study investigates fee-free private tutoring offered by ‘Robin Hood teachers’ in Kazakhstan – schoolteachers who provide free tutoring to some students while charging others. Despite growing research on shadow education, little is known about the motivations behind free tutoring and its broader implications. Therefore, this study explores teachers’ motivations, professional benefits and ethical dilemmas. Data were collected thr…
Sociology (30 works) · Pedagogy (26 works) · Psychology (25 works) · Political science (24 works) · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities (22 works) · Mathematics education (16 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (15 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (14 works) · Social science (13 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (12 works)