On February 11, 2026, an online round table entitled "The Issue of Teaching State Language in Turkic States" was held under the organization of the International Academy of Kazakh Language.

The coordinator of Khazar University's ICAF, faculty member of the Department of Languages and Literature, Assoc. Prof. Aynur Gazanfargizi delivered a presentation on "The Role of Folklore Texts in Teaching the Azerbaijani Language in Schools" at the round table. The presenter first provided information about the historical stages of Azerbaijani language teaching, noting that the initial foundations of Azerbaijani language instruction began to form in the 16th century during the Safavid period. She stressed that Azerbaijani language teaching in the modern sense has been implemented since 1840, and began to be applied in official status since 1884. She highlighted that the first textbook was written by Mirza Shafi Vazeh in 1839, and also noted that Mirza Kazimbey's work "Grammar of the Turk-Tatar Language" holds an important place in our linguistic history. In her presentation, Aynur Gazanfargizi also addressed statistical indicators regarding the hours allocated to Azerbaijani language teaching in modern general education schools. She stated that the current textbooks' allocation of more space to literary samples compared to folklore texts is methodologically debatable, and substantiated that folklore texts are a more effective means of forming national identity consciousness and patriotic sentiments among students.

The presentation was received with interest by participating scholars and prompted discussions.

The discussions conducted within the framework of the event once again highlighted the importance of developing the scientific foundations of state language teaching issues in Turkic states and demonstrated the significance of cooperation prospects in this direction.

Aydan Aliyeva

Khazar University

2nd year student majoring in Philology (Azerbaijani Language and Literature)