Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
7 th International Symposium on New Issues Teacher Education , Bursa, Türkiye, 3 - 05 Eylül 2025, cilt.1, ss.1-2, (Özet Bildiri)
Abstract
Pragmatics has well-documented significance in English language teaching, and teacher education programs play a critical role in developing pre-service teachers’ pragmatic awareness. Teachers with strong pragmatic awareness can prepare their students for real-life communication in many ways. Despite its significance, limited research has focused on the interconnected relationship between pragmatic awareness and teacher education programs, especially in the context of Turkish EFL teachers. Adopting a qualitative research design, this study aims to explore how Turkish pre-service teachers perceive the role of pragmatic awareness in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and investigates how their teacher education programs shape their understanding and application of pragmatic competence throughout their training. This qualitative study involves seven participants from a state University, TR who, having previously taken elective pragmatics courses in their teacher education program, are now in their final year and currently undertaking their teacher training at secondary schools. These participants shared their experiences and perceptions by answering semi-structured interview questions. This study reveals that education programs need to be developed to better integrate pragmatic awareness into the curriculum. The findings further suggest involving practical, real-world communication strategies can improve pre-service teachers' ability to apply pragmatic competence in the classroom.
Keywords: English as a foreign language teacher, pragmatic awareness, pragmatic competence, pre-service teacher’s teacher education, teacher training
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