One of the disciplines that Social Studies, taught with an interdisciplinary approach, most frequently draws upon is undoubtedly Turkish. Within the Social Studies curriculum, while students develop their skills to express and interpret concepts, opinions, emotions, and facts both verbally and in writing (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), it is also aimed for them to engage in appropriate and creative linguistic interaction within a social and cultural context. The aim of this study is to reveal the trends in research conducted on the four basic language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) within the field of social studies education. The study was carried out using the document analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The data of the study were collected using the Work Review Form (WRF) prepared by the researcher. The study group consists of twenty-two graduate theses that are publicly accessible in the CoHE (Council of Higher Education) thesis database. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the number of studies conducted in the relevant field is very limited, that the studies are not evenly distributed across the four basic language skills, and that the majority of the studies focus on writing skills. It was also found that the sample groups in these studies were mostly determined at the 4th and 7th grade levels, that the studies were generally conducted with sample groups selected using non-random sampling methods, and that there was a heavier focus on quantitative research methods. In contrast, qualitative research methods were used very rarely, and data analysis was generally carried out using similar techniques. According to the results of the studies, it was found that incorporating language skills into educational activities increases students’ motivation toward the course, enhances their academic achievement, and improves the retention of learned information. It also makes the course more enjoyable and shows that language-based activities are effective in developing certain skills and values. In addition, researchers recommended that various institutions, teachers, and future researchers make greater use of language-based activities, conduct more studies using different methods on less-explored topics, and utilize language-based activities more frequently in daily life by drawing on the real-life aspects of social studies.
