Tracing 'Technology' in the Recent ELT Master's Theses and PhD Dissertations in Türkiye

Year 2023, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 69 - 78, 31.12.2023

İsmail Yaman

Abstract

Technology has displayed an unprecedented evolution especially in the last two decades and had remarkable effects in various fields including English language teaching (ELT). Key aspects such as teaching language skills, ELT methodology, testing language skills, materials development, and so on all have been influenced by the non-stop technological developments. Technological trends such as smartboards, smartphones, tablets, mobile applications, augmented reality, virtual reality, and the most recent artificial intelligence issue all have had certain reflections on both the practice and research dimensions of ELT. The current study aims to explore the reflections of technology-related issues on the recent ELT research in Türkiye. To this end, the contents of over 114 PhD dissertations and 625 master's theses written on ELT at Turkish universities between 2018 and 2022 have been analysed in terms of technology coverage and other several relevant variables. The findings suggest a remarkable and rising trend to the favour of research on the integration of technology into ELT at graduate schools at Turkish universities.

Keywords

English language teaching, technology, research, thesis, dissertation

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