INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, ENGLISH SELF-EFFICACYAND ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACHIEVEMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AT AN ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) is learners’ self-perceived emotion and recognizes the inherent natural emotional experience whereas English self-efficacy (ESE) is the understanding of context-specific English language use to communicate with others. Together these socio-affective cognitive beliefs can impact English language learners (ELLs) abilities. This significant relationship is developed on the notion of learners as social subjects and their cognitive processes which will reshape their interactive learning experiences. The present study investigated the relationship between Pakistani tertiary-level ELLs’ trait EI and ESE with ELLs’ English language achievement (ELA). The study employed a quantitative correlational research design involving a nonprobability homogenous convenience sampling technique. Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and Questionnaire of English Self-efficacy (QESE) were administered to collect data from 357 (Male = 127, Female = 230) undergraduate ELLs. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis were run using SPSS version-22 (2013) to draw results. The results revealed a statistically insignificant relationship between the trait EI and English language achievement. QESE was also negatively correlated with English language achievement.