Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
10th International KTUDELL Conference on Language, Literature and Translation, Trabzon, Türkiye, 29 - 30 Mayıs 2025, ss.121, (Özet Bildiri)
Research literacy (RL), defined as the ability to locate, understand, evaluate, and utilize research effectively, is critical for both academic and professional development. The current study aimed to investigate the RL levels of Turkish EFL students, focusing on their research interests, experiences, and confidence as well as examining the potential influences of gender and grade level. The study involved 207 students from the department of English Language and Literature at Karadeniz Technical University, adapting Barlow’s questionnaire (2023) to assess participants’ research interest, experience, and confidence. The results reveal that a significant majority (83.8%) of participants, even though they attended to a research university, had not previously engaged in research, indicating a need for enhanced research opportunities. One of the interesting findings of the study is that while translation and literature emerged as the most preferred research areas, linguistics was the least favored. Moderate positive correlations were found between the three sub-scales of the questionnaire (i.e. research interest, experience, and confidence). As there are no significant gender differences identified in RL levels, suggesting inclusivity in research engagement. However, significant differences in research experience were found across grade levels, with seniors displaying higher experience due to curricular requirements such as writing a graduation thesis. The study highlights the necessity of fostering research interest early in academic programs to build a strong foundation for research skills and confidence, emphasizing the need for incorporating research opportunities in the curriculum.