Correlation Between Trait Emotional Intelligence And English Academic Achievement Of Junior High School Students

Driven by the upsurge of positive psychology,more and more scholars have paid attention to the impact of trait emotional intelligence(TEI)in different fields.In the field of second language acquisition,researchers have started to focus on learners’ability to regulate emotions in language learning,which can promote their academic achievement.In recent years,a large number of studies have discussed TEI in conjunction with various emotions and academic performance.In fact,trait emotional intelligence is multidimensional,which includes four factors,namely,self-control,well-being,emotionality and sociability,and each sub-factor plays a different role in students’ learning.However,few studies have examined the effect of the four TEI factors on students’ academic achievement.Therefore,based on the affective filter hypothesis and the multiple intelligence theory,this study aimed to explore the correlation between trait emotional intelligence and English academic achievement of junior high school students.The research questions were raised as follows:(1)What are the profiles of junior high school students’ TEI?(2)What are the correlations between junior high school students’TEI(including global TEI and the four TEI factors)and their English academic achievement?A survey of questionnaires was conducted on 214 junior high school students in Grade two in Anhui Province,aiming to understand the current situation of students’TEI through the Short-Form Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire.Then their English scores in three tests were collected for further analysis.The research findings were as follows:In terms of the first research question,junior high school students’ TEI was at a medium level.As for the four TEI factors,students showed the highest level of well-being and the lowest level of sociability.The level of students’ emotionality and sociability were in the second and third respectively,which indicated that most students could identify and express their emotions.However,there were huge individual differences among students.Regarding the second research question,it was found that there existed significant and positive correlation between students’ TEI and their English academic achievement,and the degree of the correlation was moderate.As for the four TEI factors,the results showed that students’ sociability had the strongest correlation with their English academic achievement,while self-control has the weakest effect on their English learning.Based on the findings,this study put forward some suggestions for improving students’ trait emotional intelligence from the perspectives of teachers,schools and students themselves,so as to promote students’ emotional regulation ability in English learning,ultimately increasing their enthusiasm for learning and improving their English academic achievement.