The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Speaking Skills of Iranian Advanced EFL Learners
The role of emotional intelligence as a significant factor contributing to academic achievement was central in the area of research for several years. In second language learning research, personal and social skills seems to be critical as individual differences in language production. In this regard, this study has attempted to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and speaking skills of Iranian advanced EFL learners. In order to achieve this goal, 96 advanced EFL learners including 48 males and 48 females were randomly selected from eight institutes in Tehran. The design of the study is a quantitative, non experimental research utilizing a correlational approach. The data were gathered through an EQ questionnaire (namely EQ i: S, designed by Bar On) and speaking test (from ILETS samples of speaking tests in the form of individual interview) The value of Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and speaking score of advanced EFL learners. The findings of the present study which denoted the role of EQ in speaking ability can be efficiently implemented in educational system through social and emotional learning programs to improve students' oral proficiency in language classroom. And it is the job of English teachers to exploit students' full potential in order to facilitate language learning.