Finding and minding the gaps for language education in Turkey: A content analysis on doctoral dissertations in ELT programs from 2010-2020

Abstract

The number of ELT doctoral dissertations is growing every year, and these are great sources to spot the leading research trends and the research gaps in the field. Previous studies have been conducted to explore research trends in Turkey, accordingly journal articles and conference proceedings were examined. However, little research has aimed to investigate doctoral dissertations. As the number of graduates increases every year, a current study exploring the research trends of ELT in Turkey is needed. Therefore, the present research aims to fill this gap by examining 252 doctoral dissertations published between 2010 and 2020. Content analysis was conducted on the titles and abstract parts of the dissertations and then, coding was applied with the help of a priori codes suggested by the relevant literature. Findings have suggested that Teacher Professional Development is the leading research topic while Culture, Social, and Gender Issues are found to be under-researched. The results imply that these areas need improvements on both local and global scales. In light of the findings, further research in certain areas is suggested for local researchers.