A Study Of The Relationship Between Senior High School Students’ Trait Emotional Intelligence,Foreign Language Anxiety And English Learning Achievement

Emotion is one of the most essential aspects that affects a student’s English learning.High school students are in adolescence and their emotions are unstable,yet the students’ ability to control emotions at this stage can be easily improved.Research shows that the negative effects of foreign language anxiety(FLA)can be alleviated by using emotional strategies.Cultivating trait emotional intelligence(TEI)is one of the emotional strategies.And the development of TEI is helpful to effectively control emotions,thus promoting students’ English learning.However,there are few studies on TEI,FLA,and English learning achievement.As a result,the purpose of this research is to look at the relationship among the three variables.387 senior high school students from a Kunming middle school are tested using two scales,Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form(TEIQue-SF)and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale(FLCA),to answer the three questions below.And 15 selected students are interviewed in this study.(1)What are the general situations of the senior high school students’ TEI and their FLA?(2)What are the correlations between the students’ TEI,FLA and their English learning achievements?(3)What role does the students’ FLA play in the relationship between their TEI and English learning achievements?The following conclusions are drawn from quantitative research and qualitative analysis of the data gathered.Firstly,the mean value of TEI is 4.45,which means that the students’ TEI is at an intermediate level.Means of the four dimensions of TEI—Emotionality,Well-being,Self-control,and Sociability—are respectively 4.31,4.88,4.25,and 4.53.In addition,the mean value of FLA is 2.86,which also indicates that the students have a moderate level of FLA.As for the mean values of the four dimensions of FLA,General FL anxiety,Nervousness for having FL class,Communicative anxiety,and Anxiety during FL class are respectively 2.77,2.82,3.06,and 2.73.Secondly,there is a significant correlation relationship between TEI and English learning achievement(r=.152,p=.003).The correlation values of the three dimensions of TEI,which are Emotionality(r=.114,p=.025),Well-being(r=.128,p=.012),and Sociability(r=.108,p=.034),exhibit a weak positive correlation link with English learning achievement.In addition,the relationship between FLA and English learning achievement is significantly negative(r=-.466,p=.000).And the four dimensions of FLA,namely General FL anxiety(r=-.458,p=.000),Nervousness for having FL class(r=-.416,p=.000),Communicative anxiety(r=-.379,p=.000),and Anxiety during FL class(r=-.356,p=.000),have moderate negative correlation relationship with English learning achievement.Furthermore,the relationship between TEI and FLA is moderate,negative,and significant(r=-.436,p=.000).Thirdly,the direct correlation between TEI and English learning achievement is no longer significant,in the presence of FLA(β=-.064,p=ns).TEI has an indirect effect on English learning achievement through FLA.It indicates that FLA is a complete mediator in the relationship between TEI and English learning achievement.