HomeAbstract of 8th-worldcteMapping the Interface Between Pragmatics and EFL Teaching in Türkiye: A Comprehensive Review Study of Current Research Trends and Gaps

Mapping the Interface Between Pragmatics and EFL Teaching in Türkiye: A Comprehensive Review Study of Current Research Trends and Gaps

  • Jun 1, 2025
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Abstract Book of the 8th World Conference on Teaching and Education

Year: 2025

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Mapping the Interface Between Pragmatics and EFL Teaching in Türkiye: A Comprehensive Review Study of Current Research Trends and Gaps

Merve Gültekin & Sevgi Şahin (Ph.D.)

 

ABSTRACT:

This review study aims to depict the status-quo of research on pragmatics in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Türkiye in an effort to reveal trends and gaps in the literature. To this end, it examines relevant master’s theses (M.A.) and doctoral dissertations (Ph.D.), thoroughly investigating their scope, purpose, research design, and data collection instrument. The data were elicited from the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center, employing 40 different combinations of keywords to gather corresponding dissertations conducted in the last 10 years. Then, the created corpus of M.A. and Ph.D. theses was analyzed using systematic content analysis. The findings revealed that 84 theses on pragmatics in the context of EFL teaching were conducted in Türkiye within the past decade. Results also demonstrated that the studies primarily focused on cross-cultural pragmatics and speech acts (e.g., apologies, refusals, and requests) while showing less interest in other topics such as pragmatic failure, politeness, and implicatures. Considering methodology, most studies adopted a mixed-method research design, displaying a notable preference for surveys and discourse completion tasks. It can be concluded that research conducted over the past decade in Türkiye tend to be more conventional, whereas recent global research trends in pragmatics in the EFL context have deflected the focus into topics such as digital communication, intercultural communicative competence, and assessment of pragmatic competence. This study is believed to yield valuable insight for researchers in applied linguistics by identifying gaps in the relevant literature and offering recommendations for further research in deficient areas of study.

Keywords: EFL teaching, interlanguage pragmatics, appropriacy, pragmatic competence, review study