TEACHING PROGRAMMING ACROSS CULTURES: REDUCING POWER DISTANCE AND ENHANCING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH IN UZBEKISTAN

The Republic of Uzbekistan is currently experiencing a profound digital metamorphosis, driven by the "Digital Uzbekistan 2030" strategy (Republic of Uzbekistan, 2020), which aims to transition the national economy toward a high-tech, knowledge-based future. A cornerstone of this strategy is the rapid expansion of Information Technology (IT) education, often facilitated through international academic partnerships and the recruitment of foreign lecturers. However, the successful transmission of technical expertise is frequently hindered by deep-seated socio-cultural barriers that remain under-researched in Central Asian contexts. I conducted a mixed-methods Action Research study involving N = 29 undergraduate students enrolled in a technical programming course that I taught as a foreign lecturer in Uzbekistan. Through classroom observation and student feedback, I identified "High Power Distance," a cultural dimension defined by Hofstede (2011) as the acceptance of unequal power distribution, as a primary obstacle that creates a significant "Affective Filter" (Krashen, 1982), inhibiting student participation and risk-taking. During the initial weeks of teaching, I observed high levels of student anxiety and a strong tendency toward "syntax mimicry"—the rote memorization of code—over genuine logic mastery. I implemented a two-cycle intervention focused on "Humanizing the Lecturer" and visual logic scaffolding to bypass linguistic and hierarchical barriers. Following the intervention, I observed significant changes: student-led inquiries increased from an average of 1.2 to 8.5 per session (a 7-fold increase), and self-reported anxiety levels dropped by 84%. In addition, my analysis revealed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.82) was established between perceived teacher accessibility and student performance in algorithmic logic mastery. By synthesizing Krashen’s (1982) hypothesis with Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development, based on these findings, I argue that the integration of culturally responsive pedagogical strategies (Gay, 2018) is as vital as technical curriculum design for unlocking the creative potential of the next generation of digital innovators.