On the Relationships among Emotional Intelligence, Affective and Social Strategy Use, and Academic Achievement of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

The present study attempted to investigate any significant relationships among Iranian EFL learners' emotional intelligence (EI), their affective and social strategy use, and their academic achievement. 106 Iranian junior and senior EFL students at Kerman University participated in this study. To obtain the required data, the following questionnaires were utilized: Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) developed by Schutte et al. (1998) to measure EI, and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) designed by Oxford (1990) to determine the frequency of affective and social strategy use. The participants' GPAs were also used as a measure of their academic achievement. The following results were revealed. Significant positive relationships between the following pairs-- EI and affective strategy use; EI and social strategy use; EI and academic achievement; and affective and social strategy use were shown. nonetheless, no significant relationships were found between the participants' affective and social strategy use and their academic achievement. This study recommends that EFL learners increase their use of affective and social strategies which will help them improve their EI; moreover, developed EI will lead to greater academic achievement.