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This article was downloaded by: [148.251.80.252] On: 13 May 2014, At: 06:13 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rill20 The relationship between emotional intelligence and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension Parisa Abdolrezapour a & Mansoor Tavakoli a a Department of English , University of Isfahan , Isfahan , Islamic Republic of Iran Published online: 23 Mar 2011. To cite this article: Parisa Abdolrezapour & Mansoor Tavakoli (2012) The relationship between emotional intelligence and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 6:1, 1-13, DOI: 10.1080/17501229.2010.550686 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2010.550686 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: The relationship between emotional intelligence and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension

This article was downloaded by: [148.251.80.252]On: 13 May 2014, At: 06:13Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Innovation in Language Learning andTeachingPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rill20

The relationship between emotionalintelligence and EFL learners’achievement in reading comprehensionParisa Abdolrezapour a & Mansoor Tavakoli aa Department of English , University of Isfahan , Isfahan , IslamicRepublic of IranPublished online: 23 Mar 2011.

To cite this article: Parisa Abdolrezapour & Mansoor Tavakoli (2012) The relationship betweenemotional intelligence and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension, Innovation inLanguage Learning and Teaching, 6:1, 1-13, DOI: 10.1080/17501229.2010.550686

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2010.550686

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: The relationship between emotional intelligence and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension

The relationship between emotional intelligence and EFL learners’achievement in reading comprehension

Parisa Abdolrezapour* and Mansoor Tavakoli

Department of English, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran

(Received 25 September 2010; final version received 20 December 2010)

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to see whether it is possible to enhanceemotional intelligence (henceforth, EI) through prepared literature responseactivities based on Goleman’s framework, and (2) to see whether there is anyrelationship between EI and EFL learners’ reading comprehension achievement.The participants of the study consisted of 63 students studying Interchange 2course in a language center in Iran. To make sure of the initial comparability ofthe two groups, a reading comprehension test of 30 items and the TEIQue-ASF(Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Adolescent Short Form, which isused to measure global trait EI) was administered prior to the experiment. Then,some pieces of literary work including short stories with highly emotional contentwere given to the students of experimental group with the express purpose ofinducing them to talk about their emotions and raising their emotionalintelligence. Results indicated that the participants in the experimental groupshowed greater achievement in reading comprehension and they scored higher onour EI test than students who were taught under the ordinary approaches that didnot place any emphasis on the emotional content or words. The results also havesome implications for EFL teachers and practitioners.

Keywords: emotional intelligence; literature response activities; reading compre-hension; reading; EFL; language achievement

1. Introduction

Emotional intelligence (EI) was first introduced by Salovey and Mayor (1990), which

was in essence consistent with earlier research on social intelligence (Ford and Tisak

1983) and Gardner’s (1993) intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. Since then,

taking into account EI’s definition, measurement, and implementation, a number of

studies have explored this concept in different interdisciplinary areas such as

psychosomatic health, physical health (Saklofske et al. 2007; Schutte et al. 2007),

and work setting (Carmeli 2003; Gardner and Stough 2002; Momeni 2009).

Popular attention was drawn to the relationships between academic success and

emotional and social competency by Goleman in 1995. He argued that EI enjoys more

predictive power than IQ where success in life or education is concerned. Goleman’s

argumentation encouraged researchers to pay more attention to the relationship

between EI and academic success (Abraham 2006; Petrides, Frederickson, and

Furnham 2004; Stottlemayer 2002), and more recently to the relationship between

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching

Vol. 6, No. 1, March 2012, 1�13

ISSN 1750-1229 print/ISSN 1750-1237 online

# 2012 Taylor & Francis

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2010.550686

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emotional intelligence and foreign language learning (Fahim and Pishghadam 2007;

Pishghadam 2009).

As far as language learning in an EFL context is concerned, currently there is a

perceived need for more rigorous empirical research studies aimed at shedding more

light on the relationships between emotional intelligence and different skills or uses

of language � speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This study was designed to

examine the effects of emotional intelligence on EFL learners’ reading comprehen-

sion achievement. Further, the study sought to investigate the possibility of

enhancing language learners’ awareness of their own character traits and personal

strengths/weaknesses (i.e. their emotions) and, in turn, helping them to fulfill their

mental, emotional, and social potentials for better language learning experience.

2. Literature review

2.1. Emotional intelligence

The idea that non-intelligence abilities are essential for learning has attracted

psychologists’ attention for many years, as can be seen from the written records of

Plato, ‘All learning has an emotional base’ (cited in Sharp 2001, 8). However, the idea

has not been under scientific scrutiny until more recently. Salovey and Mayer raised

the possibility of individual differences in abilities to perceive and express emotion

and defined emotional intelligence as ‘the subset of social intelligence that involves

the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate

among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions’ (1990,

189). For Goleman (1995), emotional intelligence is a combination of five

characteristics: (1) knowing one’s emotion, (2) managing one’s emotion (i.e. handling

fear, anxiety), (3) motivating oneself (emotional control, the ability to delay

gratification), (4) recognizing emotions in others, and (5) handling relationships.

Emotional Quotient (EQ) is about the intelligent use of emotions and utilizing the

power or information contained in emotion to make effective decisions (Ciarrochi

and Mayer 2007). According to this characterization, then, emotional intelligence

provides the bedrock for the development of a large number of competencies that

help learners perform more effectively and efficiently.

After the construct of EI was introduced and measures for its assessment were

developed, researchers began to put forth hypotheses with regards to the probable

links between EI and academic success. For instance, Stottlemayer (2002) investi-

gated the relationships between EQ and the academic success of 200 eleventh and

twelfth grade American students in Texas. Results of his study revealed that EI skills

were a significant predictor of academic achievement. In another study, Parker et al.

(2004) examined the relationships between EI and academic achievement in a sample

of high school students. Students were placed into one of three groups based on their

averages (successful, average, and less successful), and at the end of the school year

the students’ academic averages for that year were matched with their scores on the

EQ-i: YV (Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version, Bar-On and Parker 2000).

Results demonstrated that successful students scored significantly higher than the

other two groups on the interpersonal, adaptability, stress management, and total EI

scales of the EQ-i: YV. Their results were confirmed by Eastabrook, Duncan, and

Eldridge (2005) who found a direct link between academic success and interpersonal,

adaptability, and total EI scales.

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The roles of emotional factors in foreign/second language learning contexts have

been addressed with reference to a number of methodologies such as Suggestopedia

and some models such as Krashen’s Monitor Model (see Pishghadam 2009). More

recently a growing body of literature has begun to support the predictive validity of

emotional intelligence in EFL/ESL contexts. For example, Aki’s findings (2006) lend

support to the positive effects of enhancing emotional intelligence on language

acquisition, where the enhancement of emotional intelligence was operationalized as

stimulating the imagination, humor, and creativity in young language learners.Fahim and Pishghadam (2007) explored the relationship between EQ, IQ, and verbal

intelligence with the academic achievement of students majoring in English language.

They found that academic achievement was strongly associated with several

dimensions of emotional intelligence (intrapersonal, stress management, and general

mood competencies). In another study, Pishghadam (2009) examined the role of

emotional intelligence in second language learning by matching EQ-i data with the

students’ academic records, scores in reading, listening, speaking, and writing. He

found that second language learning was strongly associated with several dimensionsof emotional intelligence.

2.2. Literature response activities and EI

Despite the bulk of theoretical and empirical evidence that supports the relationships

between emotional intelligence and academic success, not so much is currently

known about the ways through which to raise EI in educational settings (Weare and

Gray 2003). One potentially appropriate option may be the use of literature response

activities (Zundel 2003). Ghosn (1998, 1999) maintains that literature can nurture

emotional intelligence by providing vicarious emotional experiences that may help

shape the brain circuits for empathy. Meanwhile, it has been argued that the lack of

exposure to stories may consequently limit the development of empathy in children(Pinsent 1996). In fact, ‘texts that carry meaning for readers, that interest them, that

relate to their academic background, leisure interests, intellectual level and so on,

might motivate a deeper reading than the traditional, relatively anodyne or even

contentless texts’ (Alderson 2000, 29). Therefore, there seems to be good reason to

believe that literature response activities may be appropriate tools for raising

learners’ emotional intelligence.

2.3. Reading comprehension and EI

Reading comprehension is now considered to be a highly complex skill, which

involves both lower level processing and higher level processing (Grabe 2002). Lower

level processing concerns ‘automatic’ word recognition and, hence, this kind ofprocessing might not be very much related to a reader’s level of emotional

intelligence since automatic processes are ‘ballistic’ or unstoppable (Segalowitz

2003) and thus, irrespective of a reader’s level of emotional intelligence, the known

word meanings are activated as soon as the reader is visually exposed to a word

(Grabe 2002). Higher level processing, however, pertains to a reader being able to

‘assemble clause-level information into a text model of their understanding . . .’ and

to ‘. . . build an interpretation of the text that conforms to their goals, attitudes, and

background knowledge’ (Grabe 2002, 52). Given the relationships between learners’EI and cognitive functioning, it may be reasonable to hypothesize that learners with

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higher level of EI would be able to carry out higher level processing (and hence read)

both more effectively and efficiently. To date, as of writing this article, no study has

addressed the relationship between emotional intelligence and learners’ reading

comprehension achievement and the effects that may accrue from raising learners’

emotional intelligence via literature response activities in an EFL context. This study

aimed to cover this gap.

3. Research questions

This study investigated the following research questions and the corresponding

hypotheses:

(1) Does exposing learners to literature response activities have any significant

effect on EI? In keeping with Zundel (2003), it was hypothesized that

literature response activities would promote EI.

(2) Does exposing learners to literature response activities have any significant

effect on their reading comprehension level? Following Alderson (2000), itwas predicted that literature response activities, which exposed children to

interesting texts, would positively affect reading comprehension ability on the

part of the learners.

(3) Is there any relationship between EI and reading comprehension achieve-

ment? Based on the theoretical and empirical evidence that supported the

link between EI and academic success, it was hypothesized that there is a

positive relationship between EI and reading comprehension achievement.

4. Method

This study employed a quasi-experimental pre-test treatment�post-test design (more

information about the design is provided in Table 1).

4.1. Participants

The population under study included the EFL learners who enrolled in a language

center in Iran. A total of 63 students studying Interchange 2 participated in this

Table 1. Design of the study.

Pre-test Treatment (8 weeks) Post-test

Experimentalgroup(N�33)

General readingcomprehensiontest�TEIQue-ASF

Giving subjects readingcomprehension activitiesthat included highlyemotional content to inducethem to talk about theiremotions and to raise theiremotional intelligence

General readingcomprehensiontest�TEIQue-ASF

Control group(N�30)

General readingcomprehensiontest�TEIQue-ASF

Giving subjects readingcomprehension activitiesthat did not include anyemotional content or words

General readingcomprehensiontest�TEIQue-ASF

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study. Learners were native speakers of Farsi and they had taken English courses for

three to four years. None of these participants had additional exposure to the

language, apart from the normal TV programs and the Internet, which are almost

impossible to control for. Our participants were in two intact classes, one class taken

as our experimental group with 33 students and the other our control group with 30

students. All participants were female and they varied in age from 15 to 18.

4.2. Instruments

For the purpose of the present study, a number of instruments were used that will be

described in order.

4.2.1. Reading comprehension test

To assess the subjects’ reading comprehension ability prior to and after the

experiment, researchers (one of whom was the instructor of the two classes) builtand administered a reading comprehension test comprised of 30 items. The reading

test included several passages, which were void of emotional content to eliminate the

possible effect of over-performance by the experimental group, each followed by a

few questions assessing reading ability in various forms, for example, multiple choice,

short answer, and true/false. The reliability (Cronbach’s a) of the test was 0.82, which

can be considered satisfactory for a teacher-made test of just 30 multiple-choice

items.

4.2.2. Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire�Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-

ASF)

Petrides and Furnham (2001, 2003) proposed a distinction between two types of

emotional intelligence (i.e. ability EI and trait EI). This distinction is based on the

type of measurement used in the operationalization process. Ability EI concerns

actual emotion-related abilities that can be measured by tests similar in design to

conventional intelligence tests. Trait EI, assessed by self-report, is regarded as anemotion-related dispositional trait that is a lower-level component of personality

(Petrides, Pita, and Kokkinaki 2007). In this study, the short form of the TEIQue

(Petrides et al. 2006) comprised of 30 items was used to measure the students’

emotional intelligence before and after the experiment. TEIQue-ASF is a simplified

version, in terms of wording and syntactic complexity, of the adult short form of the

TEIQue developed for use with adolescents aged 12�18 years. All items are sampled

from the 15 subscales of the adult trait EI sampling domain (two items per subscale).

The test yields scores on four factors, namely well-being (covering self-esteem,happiness, and optimism), self-control (covering low impulsiveness, stress manage-

ment, and emotion regulation), emotionality (covering emotion expression, relation-

ships, empathy, and emotion perception), and sociability (covering assertiveness,

emotion management, and social awareness) in addition to global trait EI. Example

items include ‘I can control my anger when I want to’, ‘I’m happy with my life’, and

‘I’m good at getting along with my classmates’. Higher scores on the TEIQue-ASF

indicated higher levels of trait EI. We opted for the short version with 10-minute

completion time, because we had time limitation and there was a concern thatindividuals might not be able to complete the longer version (e.g. due to reading

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difficulties). Subjects responded on a 7-point Likert scale continuum from

‘Completely Disagree (number 1)’ to ‘Completely Agree (number 7)’. In this study

the reliability of the test was found to be high (Cronbach’s a�.92). Factor analyses

also provide some support for the construct validity of the questionnaire.

4.2.3. Literature response activities

Some pieces of literary work including short stories with highly emotional contentwere given to the students in the experimental group in order to encourage them to

talk about their emotions and to raise their emotional intelligence. The literary

readings were selected from the book Steps To Understanding (Hill 1980) and those

for our control group were from the same book with the difference that in selecting

the readings for the control group every attempt was made so as to select reading

passages that included no emotional words or content.

4.3. Procedures

A test of reading comprehension and TEIQue-ASF (Petrides et al. 2006) was

administered to check the equality of the experimental and control groups in terms

of trait EI and reading comprehension ability. Then, some pieces of literary work

including short stories with highly emotional content were given to the subjects in the

experimental group to induce them to talk about their emotions and to raise their

emotional intelligence.

4.3.1. Experimental group activities

Because the procedure will be described in detail in the Appendix, we summarize it

hereafter, focusing exclusively on the types of activities used to make the students

aware of their emotions and of Goleman’s EI framework. Initially, participants read

a short reading passage and then were asked to talk about their similar experiences

for five minutes.

Here is an excerpt from one of the literary works the experimental group wentthrough:

Harry came to his mother one morning while she was having her breakfast, and said toher, ‘No one at my school likes me, Mother. The teachers don’t, and the children don’t.Even the cleaners and the bus drivers hate me.’

‘Well, Harry,’ his mother answered, ‘perhaps you aren’t very nice to them. If a fewpeople don’t like a person, he or she may not be responsible for that; but if a lot ofpeople don’t, there’s usually something wrong, and that person really needs to change.’(From Steps To Understanding, Hill 1980)

To develop students’ self-awareness, they were asked to define their own emotions

in a way meaningful to them (this activity pertains to the first and second

characteristics of EI proposed by Goleman, i.e. and managing one’s emotion

knowing one’s emotions). Then, they had to work through some questions. An

example of the type of questions used is provided here:

Work through the questions below and write your answers in the spaces provided.Always be honest with yourself.

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(1) I believe I am good at . . .(2) I believe I am poor at . . .(3) I believe that to be successful you must . . .(4) I believe to be happy you must . . .(5) I believe that my life would be better if . . .

It was assumed that performing such activities and answering these questions would

enable learners to become increasingly aware of their emotional states. Another veryimportant component of emotional intelligence is empathy (i.e. recognizing emotions

in others). To improve the level of empathy, they were encouraged to improve their

self-understanding and they were asked to pay attention to the body language of

others (more information about the type of activities used is provided in the

Appendix). They were asked to comment on the behavior of the characters of the

story and to say how others could change his feelings (this activity pertains to

handling relationships).

To raise the level of self-motivation, participants had to think about the positivefeelings the characters of the stories had and the way they could change their

negative feelings. Subsequently, participants were asked to think about what they

want to accomplish and the good reasons they had for learning the language.

Then, some general questions about their experiments in learning a second

language were posed to make them aware that some difficulties are shared among all

students and prepare them to tackle such difficulties:

(1) Make some brief notes of your typical thoughts and feelings when you haveto learn something you think you cannot do.

(2) How do you respond when learning is difficult and you have to do it?

(3) How do you respond when learning is difficult and you don’t have to do it?

However, the stories given to the subjects in the control group were void of emotional

words and content and learners were taught under the ordinary procedure in which

no particular emphasis was placed on emotions during reading comprehension

activities. The treatment lasted for about eight weeks. Participants had about ninehours of English per week � 3.5 hours for reading comprehension activities, and five

hours for speaking, listening and writing. There were 24 lessons between the pre-

and post-tests. At the end of the term (eight weeks), the same general reading

comprehension test and TEIQue-ASF were administered to the subjects of both

groups (see Table 1).

In order to provide plausible answers to the research questions posed above, first,

descriptive statistics were used and the obtained scores were checked in terms of the

normality of distribution using such indices as Kurtosis and Skewness. Then,independent sample t-tests and Pearson Product correlation procedures were

performed.

5. Results

Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics for mean scores on the reading comprehen-

sion test and TEIQue-ASF for both experimental and control groups prior to the

treatment (pre-tests). As it is displayed in the Table 2, the mean scores for both testsare very similar across the two groups; however, to establish whether or not the

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differences between mean scores for the pre-tests were statistically significant, an

independent-sample t-test was performed. Results illustrated in Table 3 do not point

to any statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups in

terms of reading comprehension test (p�0.58) or TEIQue-ASF (p �0.73), to the

effect that the two groups were relatively equal in terms of reading comprehension

ability and EI.

Our first research question concerned whether exposing learners to literature

response activities has any significant effect on EI. To answer this question we need

to examine the results of post-tests (see Tables 4 and 5) for the TEIQue-ASF across

the two groups. Mean scores for TEIQue-ASF presented in Table 4 are indicative of

the considerable difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of

emotional intelligence. Furthermore, the results of the independent-sample t-test

(Table 5) confirm that in the post-test, subjects in the experimental group have

outperformed those in the control group in terms of emotional intelligence

(p �0.000). Given the fact that the control and experimental groups were equal in

the pre-tests (see Tables 2 and 3) and that the only factor that distinguished the two

groups was the experimental group’s engagement in literature response activities (the

treatment), it is reasonable to ascribe the observed difference to the treatment that

Table 2. Descriptives for reading test and TEIQue-ASF.

Group Variables N Mean SD

CG Reading test 30 18.11 1.56TEIQue-ASF 30 90.40 4.65

EG Reading test 33 17.88 1.65TEIQue-ASF 33 90.72 2.98

Table 3. Independent t-tests for EG and CG on pre-test.

Test df Significance (two-tailed) Mean difference

Reading test 61 0.58 0.22TEIQue-ASF 61 0.73 �0.3272

Table 4. Descriptives for reading post-test and post-TEIQue-ASF.

Group Variables N Mean SD

CG Reading test 30 22.60 2.55TEIQue-ASF 30 94.26 4.27

EG Reading test 33 26.72 1.46TEIQue-ASF 33 139.32 11.39

Table 5. Independent t-tests for EG and CG on post-tests.

Test df Significance (two-tailed) Mean difference

Reading test 61 0.00* �4.09TEIQue-ASF 61 0.00* �45.06

*Indicates that the means of the two groups differ significantly (pB0.05).

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the experimental group received. Therefore, there is good evidence to argue that, as it

was predicted, exposing learners to literature response activities could positively

affect EFL learners’ EI.

Our second research question asked whether exposing learners to literature

response activities have any significant effect on their reading comprehension

achievement. Descriptive statistics in Table 4 reveal that subjects in the experimental

group have outperformed those in the control group in terms of reading

comprehension scores on the post-test but not in the pre-test. This indicates that

subjects’ engagement in the literature response activity, which was used as the

treatment given to the experimental group, has positively impacted their scores on

the reading comprehension post-test. This impact is shown to be statistically

significant in Table 5, where the results of the independent-sample t-test point to

the statistically significant difference between the reading comprehension mean

scores of the experimental and control groups (p �0.000).

In order to answer the third research question, which dealt with the relationships

between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension achievement, Pearson

Product correlation was performed. Table 6 presents the correlations between the

scores on TEIQue-ASF and reading comprehension test. The pattern of correlations

was generally consistent with our expectations. Overall, as the results suggest, high

EI were related to more reading achievement (r�0.660, p�0.000). This shows that

subjects’ EI positively correlated with their achievement in reading comprehension.

6. Discussion

Results of the present study provided evidence that exposing EFL learners to

literature response activities positively affects their EI. This finding, which was

consistent with our prediction, is also in accord with the argumentations put forth in

previous research vis-a-vis the possibility of raising EI via literature response

activities (e.g. Ghosn 1998, 1999; Zundel 2003). A question may arise as to why the

participants’ EI, which is part of their personalities, had risen so much in such a

short period of time. This question, however, may be answered if one considers two

important issues: (1) although the treatment period was relatively short, participants

had quite an intensive exposure to instructional materials that raised EI; and (2)

despite the commonsensical belief that personality traits do not change over time,

there is now ample evidence in support of the fact that many traits could be changed

if the individual is motivated enough (Haslam et al. 2007; Helson et al. 2002).

Therefore, one of the possible contributions of this study is that it provides further

empirical support for the utility of literature response activities as pedagogical

instruments for enhancing EFL learners’ EI.

The results of the present study also indicated that participants’ engagement in

literature response activities helped them obtain better scores on the reading

Table 6. Correlations between EI and reading comprehensionachievement.

Pearson correlation Significance (one-tailed)

0.660 0.000*

*Shows the existence of the significant relationship at the level of 0.05.

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comprehension test as compared to those who did not carry out such activities

during the term. Given the fact that literature response activities were shown to have

the potential to raise subjects’ EI, the higher scores on the reading comprehension

test obtained by the subjects in the experimental group could be attributable to their

higher level of emotional intelligence. This may be, in a way, in line with Alderson’s

(2000) claim with respect to the positive effects of learners’ exposure to interesting

reading passages on their reading performance. But, how can we account for this

contribution of EI to the difference in performance? One reasonable explanation forthe contribution of EI to participants’ better performance on the reading

comprehension achievement test could be advanced with reference to the cognitive

accounts of the process of reading comprehension, which conceives of it as involving

both lower level and higher level processing (see section 2.3).

As it was noted above, higher level processing deals with a reader’s ability in

assembling clause-level information into a text model of their own understanding

and is related to their potential to build an interpretation of the text that is consistent

with their goals, attitudes, and background knowledge (Grabe 2002). Since learners’EI and cognitive functioning are closely interrelated, it may be that learners with

higher level of EI would be able to carry out higher level processing (and hence read)

both more effectively and efficiently. Also, this enhancement in reading performance

could be ascribed to the higher levels of motivation, if we consider motivation, as

Goleman (1995) does, as one of the five characteristics that constitute emotional

intelligence. This is partly in line with Downey et al. (2008), who claimed that high EI

contributes to increased motivation, planning, and decision making, which positively

influence academic performance.A number of studies have documented empirical evidence in support of the

positive relationships between EI and academic success (Eastabrook, Duncan, and

Eldridge 2005; Parker et al. 2004; Stottlemayer 2002). Also, there is some evidence

indicating that EI and second language performance are positively related (Aki 2006;

Fahim and Pishghadam 2007; Pishghadam 2009). In this regard, then, this study

complements and contributes to the existing body of evidence confirming the impact

of EI on academic success in general and reading comprehension achievement in

particular.The experiment was found to be appealing to the students. They were all

enthusiastic about and interested in the reading comprehension activities that

fostered higher levels of emotional intelligence. They told us that they had never

thought about their emotions in a language class and when we shared with them the

findings of the study they were excited to learn that reading comprehension activities

such as the literature response activity, positively impacts their reading comprehen-

sion achievement. As one student put it, ‘I can’t believe we’re going to talk about our

emotions in the class. Nobody ever did that before in our classes’.

7. Conclusion

Overall, this study yielded three important findings: (1) exposing learners to

literature response activities prepared according to Goleman’s (1995) framework

has significant effects on EFL learners’ level of EI as measured by TEIQue-ASF, (2)

exposing learners to literature response activities helps EFL learners perform better

on reading comprehension tests, and (3) EI and reading comprehension achievementare positively correlated. A corollary of these findings may be the recognition that a

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multitude of potentially interacting situational, psychological, and cognitive factors

co-determine � to variable extents � the processes of foreign/second language

comprehension, production, and learning. This, in turn, supports the notion of

reading as an interactive and sociocognitive process, which involves a text, a reader,

and a social context (Bernhardt 1991), where, according to the results of the present

study, the emotional status of the reader assumes particular importance.

An important pedagogical implication that follows from the findings of this study

is that in order to have more efficient and effective language instruction, language

centers need to encourage teachers to use instructional techniques that raise EFL

learners’ EI. Notwithstanding, two caveats are in order: first, although the

implementation of the EI approach in an EFL classroom may prove motivational

and useful for students, teachers may encounter difficulties in terminating the formal

syllabus in due time. Thus, the dilemma is that the more teachers adhere to EI

approach principles in the classroom, the more they get away from the specified

objectives of the lesson. Second, the implementation of such procedures that foster

higher EI in EFL learners requires trained teachers and novice teachers may simply

fail to achieve positive outcomes if they attempt to do so. Teacher training programs,

therefore, are needed to help novice teachers implement an EI approach in EFL

contexts successfully.

Notes on contributors

Parisa Abdolrezapour is a PhD student in applied linguistics at the University of Isfahan, Iran.Her research interests include second language acquisition and cognitive aspects of languageteaching and learning.

Mansoor Tavakoli holds a PhD in TEFL and is an assistant professor at the University ofIsfahan, Iran. He has been involved with teaching TEFL courses for more than 15 years. Hisresearch interests include second language acquisition, language teaching and assessment.

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Appendix. Lesson plan

The lesson plan for the experimental group was as follows:

(1) Pre-reading comprehension questions to provide students with background knowl-edge about the subject.

(2) Giving students a story that included most of the new vocabulary items of the text.This strategy had a double advantage: first it was a way to introduce the newvocabulary items in a meaningful context, and second it attracted the subjects’attention to their feelings and how to express them.

(3) While reading the text, students were asked comprehension questions and somequestions about the characters’ feeling.

(4) After reading the text, participants were asked to answer the questions collaborativelyand express their feelings.

The following are some literature response activities that were used for both developingreading skill and nurturing emotional intelligence:

(1) Managing one’s emotions (i.e. handling fear, anxiety): Students were encouraged toadd script to say what the character could have said or done to make himself/herself(who is experiencing disappointments without much support from the others) feelbetter, and they were asked to give their opinions about the ways that the charactercould let others know how he or she was feeling.

(2) Knowing one’s emotion: The instructor helped the students identify their own feelingsand let others know how they feel.

(3) Handling relationships: Some stories that depicted situations in which emotions wereclearly evident were selected. After reading the story, students had to identify thecharacters in the picture and say how the character was feeling. Some suggestionswere listed on the board. It was also an opportunity to invite students to go back tothe story and reread relevant parts. Then they were asked to think about themselves inthe characters’ positions and to say what they would have done to make the characterfeel better?

(4) Recognizing emotions in others: Students were invited to think about the story andthen examine the body language of the characters in the illustration, to say how eachcharacter’s body language shows his feelings. Furthermore, they were asked to returnto the text to find evidence for their interpretations while they tried to figure out howthe author revealed the characters’ emotions. Pupils were invited to read the excerptsand to determine how the characters were feeling. They had to support their responseswith evidence from the text.

(5) Motivating oneself: Students were encouraged to find in the stories examples ofpositive expressions that demonstrated caring, empathy, tolerance, and cooperationand they were asked to record those expressions and try to use them in theirconversation. Moreover, some excerpts in which characters experienced conflict,disagreement, or sadness were selected and pupils were invited to change the dialogueso that it reflects more positive, pro-social communication.

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