Iranian EFL learners' Spiritual Intelligence and Their Language Learning Autonomy

Learning a second/foreign language is a complicated process involving many factors and elements to occur effectively. It requires an investigation of variables and issues related to EFL learners in the process of learning. A limited number of studies have been performed concerning student-related factors to realize EFL learners’ spiritual intelligence and its relation to language learning. The study helped fill this gap by exploring the correlation between EFL learners’ Spiritual Intelligence (SI) and Learner Autonomy (LA). A total of ۳۶۵ EFL students were chosen from different branches of Islamic Azad University. Two validated and reliable questionnaires on SI (Azadi et al., in press) and LA (Dixon, ۲۰۱۱) were distributed among the participants. The SI questionnaire is a ۲۷-item self-report measure consisting of four main factors, and the LA questionnaire contains ۳۸ questions covering six factors. The correlation between the two variables was determined through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed a significant relationship between SI and LA.

Keywords:

EFL learner , learner autonomy , PLS-SEM , spiritual intelligence