Kymbat SMAKOVA joined Suleyman Demirel University (SDU) in Almaty in 2014 after having worked as an EFL teacher for 16 years in Bilim Innovation Lyceum (former KTL). She started teaching a variety of courses at the departments of Translation, Foreign Philology, and Language Teacher Education as a senior lecturer. Recently, she has concentrated on teaching critical thinking, academic writing and research, which are among the top success skills at the core of modern society. Moreover, she worked as an academic advisor and diploma project supervisor of undergraduate theses in English language education. She particularly emphasizes student engagement in her teaching and advisory sessions, which are manifestations of a teacher’s role as a ‘coach’. Currently, she is a doctoral researcher working on the development of intercultural competence in the secondary education. She visited Dalarna University in Sweden (2018) as a research intern to investigate the implementation of the project-based approach in Swedish schools and established collaboration with scholars at the host university.

MA in TEFL (2010) Suleyman Demirel University (SDU), Kazakhstan
BA in TEFL (1996) Karaganda State University named after E. A. Buketov, Kazakhstan

TFL 366- (B2-C1) Introduction to Research in Applied Linguistics
TFL 333- (B2-C1) Critical Thinking Strategies
TFL 207-(B2-C1) Academic Writing
TFL 335- (B2-C1) Methods of Foreign Language Teaching
TFL 226- (B2) Major Foreign language [English ] in Intercultural Communication Contexts - 2

Journals:
'Competency-Based Approach in Foreign Language Education'. (2019) Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University BULLETIN of Pedagogical sciences vol.2(62), pp. 98-104. co-author(s): Islam A.
'Peer Feedback in EFL Classes: Teachers' and Students' Perceptions'. (2019) Вестник ПГУ. vol. 1,pp. 285-296. co-author(s): P. M. Saparbayeva2, M. Kulakhmetova
'Collaborative Project-Based Approach to Translator Training: A Subtitling Project in Practical Translation'. (2016) Alatoo Academic Studies vol.2, pp. 117-122. co-author(s): Yaylacı Yu.

Books:
'Английский Язык- Учебное пособие и сборник тестов' (2011), ШЫҢ-кітап. co-author(s): Kim Y.

'Constructing Communicative Competence by Applying Socratic Questioning into the EFL Classroom'. IX International Scientific Conference on Current Problems of the Theory and Practice of Philological Research. Prague, Czech Republic - 25–26 March, 2019.
'Teachers' Perceptions on Teacher Roles in Project-Based Learning.' 1st International Congress on New Horizons in Education and Social Sciences (ICES) Istanbul, Turkey- 9-11 April, 2018.
'Teaching Critical Thinking in ELT Classroom: The Socratic Method'. International Scientific Conference on Philosophical and Political Aspects of International Educational Projects. Almaty, Kazakhstan. 2018.
'Contemporary Approaches in ELT' - a 220 hour Intensive Customized Teacher Training Workshop for EFL Teachers. U-study, Almaty, 03-28 July, 2017.
'Teaching Cultural Values in Intermediate EFL Classes: The Case of “Nauryz” Celebration'. International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied-Socio Linguistics. Astana, Kazakhstan-11-13 May, 2017.
'Evaluating an Elective Junior course for Translation Studies Major Suleyman Demirel University.' ICBCB, Almaty, Kazakhstan. 23-25 April, 2015.
'A learner-Centered Product Approach in EFL Lessons: Project-Based Learning'. ICBCB, Almaty, Kazakhstan. 23-25 April, 2013.
'Language Learning Strategies: The practical Implications for English Language Teachers' ICBCB, Almaty, Kazakhstan. 24-25 April, 2009

Her research interests cover such interdisciplinary areas as intercultural communication competence in English language teaching and the best practices of project-based learning.