History of the Faculty

Faculty of Philology and Sport

History of the Faculty

The history of the Faculty of Philology and Sport goes back to the 1990s, when many schools and colleges were opening in the Mangystau Region and the demand for teachers was growing.

Milestones

19931 / 6

Aktau Branch

By order of the Minister of Education, the Aktau Branch of Atyrau University was opened to train teachers. In November of the same year, the Department of Kazakh Philology was established.

The Faculty Today

The faculty has four departments:

01Kazakh PhilologyTraining specialists in Kazakh language and literature since 1993.
02English PhilologyEnglish teachers and philologists, TESOL, CEFR.
03World LanguagesTwo foreign languages, intercultural communication.
04Physical Education and SportPE teachers and coaches.

2025–2026 Initiatives

01Digital Tools and AIOn 21 April 2026 the Department of English Philology held the round table “Importance and types of digital tools and AI in ELT” with students of Yessenov University, M. Utemisov West Kazakhstan University and Kh. Dosmukhamedov Atyrau University.
02NEO Digital PlatformIn 2025–2026 the NEO platform was introduced to assess English proficiency and build language skills, adapting materials to each student’s level and pace.
03Yessenov Language CenterAcademic English and IELTS preparation courses, free debate clubs for different levels and professional development courses for teachers.
04Academic MobilityAccording to the University’s 2026 report: 125 international partners, 438 students in mobility programmes abroad, 9 double-degree programmes and 4 Erasmus+ projects.
05Student ResearchA student research conference was held in 2025, where students presented work in linguistics, literary studies, textual studies and foreign language teaching methodology.
06SportSports halls, a gym, a wrestling hall, a swimming pool, a football pitch and a tennis hall; football, basketball, volleyball, boxing, athletics, swimming, yoga and table tennis clubs.