ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN IRANIAN UNDERGRADUATE EFL LEARNERS’ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, MOTIVATION AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence, motivation and vocabulary knowledge in undergraduate students. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 59 undergraduate English as a Foreign Language students took part in this study. The investigation was done through using two tests and one questionnaire including Vocabulary Size Test (VST) (Nation, 2007), the Schutte Self-report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) (Schutte et al., 1998), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) developed by Pintrich, Smith, Garcia and Mckeachie (1991). Using the Vocabulary Size Test (VST), the participants were divided into three groups of high, mid, and low. To analyze the data, One-Way ANOVA and Multiple Comparisons (Scheffé) were used. To check the correlation, Pearson correlation coefficient was run. Considering the participants’ levels, it was found that motivation had a positive and significant correlation with emotional intelligence in high, mid, and low groups. The findings, furthermore, indicated that all components of motivation had positive and meaningful correlation with all subscales of emotional intelligence in high, mid, and low groups. That is, by increasing vocabulary knowledge, students become motivated to use information consisted in emotion to make effective decisions. In other words, those who are more emotional intelligent and motivated can produce positive emotions in their own and others to ask their questions and expand their vocabulary knowledge.