The Relation between Reflective Teaching and Emotional Intelligence: The Case of Iranian EFL Teachers

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence and their reflective teaching in an Iranian EFL context. Besides, it was an attempt to compare male and female Iranian EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and their emotional intelligence. For this purpose, 100 male and female Iranian EFL language teachers participated in this study were selected based on availability sampling from language institutes in Shiraz. Their age ranged from 23 to 42 years, and they possess a B.A. or M.A. degree in TEFL, English Literature or Linguistics. The researcher asked the participants to fill two questionnaires of reflective teaching and emotional intelligence. They had no time restriction for filling out the questionnaires. The results of data analysis indicated no significant relationship between teachers’ reflectivity and emotional intelligence. Besides, the findings indicated that gender had no effect on teacher’s reflectivity. Gender was also observed to have no effect on emotional intelligence of EFL teachers. The findings of the present study are valuable for those who are involved in English language education as a foreign language and the educational system in general. The results are beneficial for EFL teachers, teacher educators, administrators, policy makers, textbook developers, and teacher training courses.