The Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners’ Emotional Intelligence and Their Foreign Language Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate

The EFL learners‟ unwillingness to communicate and the anxiety they tolerate in their classes while performing an oral task inspired the researcher to explore how much these variables are related to the students affect and especially the emotional intelligence. Therefore, the study investigated the relationship of emotional intelligence of EFL learners to their foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate. Hence, a sample of 70 EFL learners from Safir language institute in Tabriz was selected and they answered three questionnaires related to the variables of the study to self-report the degree of each variable. The study was performed in a survey-based correlation design and the results indicated that emotional intelligence had a negative significant relationship with anxiety whereas the relationship between emotional intelligence and willingness to communicate positive and statistically significant. In other words, students with higher degrees of emotional intelligence enjoyed lower level of anxiety and were more eager to communicate with others and vice versa. The findings of the present study can prove useful for EFL learners, teachers, administrators, material writers, and syllabus planners in giving them the hint to consider the affective characteristics of the students in EFL programs

Keywords:

Emotional Intelligence , Foreign Language Anxiety , Willingness to Communicate .