The Relation Between Chinese High School Students’ Emotional Intelligence,Foreign Language Enjoyment,and EFL Learning Achievement

For a long time,Second Language Acquisition(SLA)research focused on the influence of individual differences,such as cognition and motivation on language learning.It treated emotion as an irrelevant and irrational factor(Li & Wang,2020).In the last decade,however,the rapid growth of Positive Psychology in SLA has led to an "emotional movement".More and more scholars are adopting a ’whole-person’perspective on second language learners,focusing on both their learning outcomes and individual well-being(Dewaele & Li,2020;Jiang & Li,2017).Most previous studies focused on foreign language anxiety,and researchers have focused more on university students.There is significantly less research on emotional intelligence and foreign language enjoyment among secondary school students,especially high school students,and fewer scholars have examined the interrelationship between the two and their relation with English-as-a-foreign-language(EFL)learning achievement.From the perspective of Positive Psychology(PP),this study investigates the general profiles of Chinese high school English learners’ emotional intelligence(EI)and foreign language enjoyment(FLE).It examines the triangular relations between L2learners’ EI,FLE,and EFL learning achievement,and whether FLE could mediate between El and EFL learning achievement.This study will provide some insight into Teaching English as a Foreign Language(TEFL)in China and promote the development of PP in the field of SLA.It focuses on the following questions:(1)What are the general profiles of emotional intelligence(EI)and foreign language enjoyment(FLE)of second-year high school students?(2)What are the interrelationships among EFL learning achievement,EI,and FLE?(3)Does FLE plays a mediating role between EI and EFL learning achievement?If so,to what extent?A survey was conducted among second-year high school students in an ordinary high school in Wuhan in December 2022.The total number of valid subjects was 124.Adopting quantitative research methods,a combined questionnaire and tests are used to obtain quantitative data.This study first explores the emotional intelligence and foreign language enjoyment of Chinese high school students through a questionnaire survey.Then,the correlations between these three factors are analyzed based on the students’ multiple performances in standardized tests.The research results showed that:(1)second-year high school students in China had moderate levels of EI and FLE;(2)there were small to medium correlations between EI,FLE,and EFL learning achievement;(3)FLE played a partial mediating role between EI and EFL learning achievement.This study suggests that there is a chain of "emotion regulation(emotional intelligence)-emotion-performance" in the process of learning a second language.The result not only demonstrates the direct and indirect mechanisms by which emotional intelligence influences proficiency in a second language,but also provides empirical support for the two major emotion theories of PP.It has provided vital educational and pedagogical insights.While teachers and parents are concerned about students’ second language performance,they should also pay attention to students’ emotional state,awareness,and ability to regulate their emotions during the learning process.Future educators may consider intervening with emotional intelligence to improve second language learners’ emotional management skills,thus ameliorating their emotional experience during language learning and promoting EFL learning achievement.