In this paper we consider language shaming as a social practice which can be used as a tool in power negotiations taking place along and within class and ethnic lines. We view shame as socially and historically produced (Liyanage and Canagarajah 2019), and consider how it interacts with other kinds of social relations and language practices. Shame can be particularly salient in contexts of language revival and among ‘new speakers’ (Dorian 1994, Misaki 2023, O’Rourke and Ramallo 2013). In Kazakhstan, Russian-dominant ethnic Kazakhs may be subject to shaming if they are judged to be imperfect Kazakh speakers. We draw on a survey of 125 participants, largely Russian-dominant or bilingual ethnic Kazakhs, as well as follow up interviews, on themes of language practices and self- and others’ assessment of their language use. Our analysis finds a lack of conceptual space for Kazakh as a second language for ethnic Kazakhs, which, coupled with a highly reified ideology of Kazakh identity as either wholly 'authentic' or fundamentally flawed, contributes to interactional and discursive practices which attempt to position some Kazakhs, especially Russified urban Kazakhs, as inauthentic and suspect. We consider how these practices align with and arise from other power struggles and attempts at renegotiating hierarchies, especially since Russian remains an important gatekeeping language in Kazakhstan and many Russian-dominant Kazakhs have more access to social and economic capital than monolingual Kazakh speakers. The complexity of a society where monolingual and nationalist ideologies influence policy decisions such as the closure of non-Kazakh schools and yet much of the elite are heavily invested in both Kazakh and Russian provides a particularly illuminating context to examine how language shame arises and is instrumentalized.