The relationship between emotional intelligence and writing ability of Iranian EFL learners

Abstract

As opposed to traditionally attached advantage to IQ, Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory is increasingly characterized as contributing to students' ability to jump-start their achievement. In this study, the body of female BA sophomores of English Literatureat Urmia University, (N =47), was given a close look in terms of their EI, uaing an intact group sampling procedure. The starting point was the students' being given Bar-On's Emotional Quotient Inventory, for which the participants were asked to respond based on the relevance of the statements to themselves using a Likert Scale. Thereafter, the students' scores on the advanced  writing coursefinal exam were obtained and correlated with their EI scores. The scoring of writing papers was done analytically following pre-specified criteria. The writings were scored once by two trained raters, yielding the inter-rater reliability of 0.8.Analyses conducted through Multiple Regression indicated a positive relationship between writing ability and emotional self-awareness, a subcategory of EI. This finding can create a room for highlighting emotions in one's educational life.