Implied meaning in dramatic texts: An elt context

This study aims to investigate the function of theories of speech act and conversational implicature in inferencing the implied meaning in dramatic texts. Additionally, it aims to investigate whether the implied meaning in drama can be arrived at by the student- readers in ELT department in Çukurova University. In order to investigate students? awareness of implied meanings in drama a participant group of third- year students in ELT department in Çukurova University have been selected. Participants have been assigned to read two specifically selected extracts from dramatic texts and answer questions measuring their understanding of implied meanings. The findings have revealed that participants have showed a better performance in inferencing the implied meanings in the extract 2 which do not include ironies or metaphors whereas they have showed a relatively poor performance in inferencing the extract 1 which includes ironies and metaphors. Findings have also revealed that participants have showed a better performance when they are guided to implied meanings. Thus, considering the results it can be asserted that students can be directed to implied meanings in the theatrical text by highlighting the illocutionary aspect of utterances and implicatures drawn from these utterances. Additionally, the evaluation of the results illustrates that using speech act theory and conversational implicatures in interpreting the drama in ELT departments can be an efficient approach to the study of drama. Key words: Speech acts, conversational implicature, inferencing, dramatic texts.