Relationship of Musical Intelligence and L2 Proficiency to Iranian EFL Learners’ Perception of Word Stress and Intonation

The present study was an attempt to explore the relationship of musical intelligence as a subcomponent ofthe Multiple Intelligences (MI) framework and L2 proficiency to Iranian EFL learners’ perception ofEnglish word stress and intonation. Moreover, an attempt was made to determine the strongest predictorof the perception of English word stress and intonation. The participants of this study were 80 maleIranian EFL learners aged 14 to 19 (M= 16.5) selected from Iran Language Institute (ILI) of Dezfulbranch. Data were collected via a placement test, an MI questionnaire and a perception of spoken Englishtest. The analysis of the data through standard multiple regression revealed that although both musicalintelligence and L2 proficiency are related to the perception of word stress and intonation, only L2proficiency is a strong predictor of success in perceiving English word stress, whereas the perception ofEnglish intonation appears to be determined by the learner’s knowledge of Persian intonation. Findingshighlight the importance of not only L2 proficiency but also L1 phonological system in the perception ofL2 suprasegmentals.

Keywords:

Multiple Intelligences , Musical Intelligence , L2 Proficiency , Word Stress , Intonation , Standard Multiple Regression