EFL Learners’ Construction of L۲ Ego and Its Relationship With Emotional Intelligence

The present study mainly aimed at determining the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and L۲ ego components. In so doing, initially, to develop a measure to evaluate L۲ ego, a sample of ۹ university teachers was interviewed, and a pool of ۱۲۶ English-major undergraduate students responded to the questionnaire designed by the researchers. The result of intercoder reliability proved satisfactory, and structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed support for the factor structure of the measures. The final validated questionnaire included ۳ factors and ۱۶ items. The results of SEM showed that there was a moderate positive relationship between L۲ ego and EI. The statistical analyses indicated that among L۲ ego components, personality traits and cognitive styles made significant contributions to explaining EI. In the end, the interplay between L۲ ego components, ego boundaries, and emotions is discussed, and the potentially helpful implications are offered for EFL learners and teachers.

Keywords:

Cognitive Styles , Emotional Intelligence (EI) , L۲ Ego , Personality traits