Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Translation Competence in Iranian Translation Studies Students: Modeling and Non-modeling Approaches

The study scrutinized the probable significant relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Translation Competence (TC) in Iranian students of Translation Studies. The first stage of the study followed a conventional statistical approach, in which the significant relationship between the variables as well as the predicting role of emotional intelligence for the translation competence of the participants was examined through Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses. Two questionnaires of emotional competence, derived from Bar-On (1997), and translation competence, derived from Alavi and Ghaemi (2013), were utilized in the study. The findings of the initial phase revealed a significant relationship between the participants’ emotional intelligence and translation competence. In the second stage, a modeling approach was employed to probe the relationship between emotional intelligence and translation competence through structural equation modeling, using LISREL. The results demonstrated a significant relationship between EI and TC, justifying the results of the first non-modeling stage. The findings are of significance as the association between translation competence and emotional intelligence has been scarcely explored. Moreover, the relationship between the two variables was deeply explored through using non-modeling as well as modeling approaches, adding to the novelty of the research. The results reflected that emotional intelligence plays a significant role in predicting language learners’ translation competence. The results have some implications for language teaching. Language teachers can promote language learners’ emotional intelligence to reach successful learning outcomes. Through using useful techniques such as discussion, group-work activities, and answering questionnaires, the learners emotional intelligence can be significantly improved, leading to effective translation achievement.