The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Tolerance of Ambiguity in Academic Iranian EFL Learners' Willingness to Communicate

Abstract

The present study was set up to detect any possible relationship among learners' emotional intelligence (EI), tolerance of ambiguity, and willingness to communicate inside the classroom. For this purpose, 64 undergraduate EFL university students were chosen. The instruments utilized in this study were a) Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I) to measure learners’ emotional intelligence, b) Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (SLTAS) to identify participants’ tolerance of ambiguity, and c) willingness to communicate questionnaire to evaluate learners' willingness to initiate and take part in the interpersonal communication inside the classroom. The gathered data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation Product Moment test. The results showed that although the relationship between emotional intelligence and tolerance of ambiguity was not statistically meaningful, the two variables were positively correlated with learners' willingness to communicate .