The Effects of Empathy-Focused Teaching on Verbal Communication in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language

Empathy is recognised as a critical dimension of effective oral communication in foreign language education; however, experimental studies confirming that empathy skills can be taught in the context of Turkish as a Foreign Language (TFL) are limited. The present study examined the effects of empathy-focused teaching practices and individual variables on empathy-based verbal communication in TFL. Using a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design, the study involved 350 undergraduate students from different universities in Turkey. Data were collected using an empathy tendency scale, a foreign language anxiety scale, and an empathic verbal communication assessment rubric. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a statistically significant interaction between time and group. The findings revealed that students who received empathy-focused education showed greater development than those in the control group, F (1, 348) = 42.67, p <.001, η² =.11. Multiple regression analysis revealed that empathy tendency positively affected post-test performance, while foreign language anxiety had a negative effect. The findings provide strong experimental evidence that empathy-based verbal communication is an educationally flexible skill that can be systematically developed through purposeful teaching practices in the context of TFL.