Abstract :
Abstract
Literature can establish a particular frame of emotion which allows deeper understanding into it as well as our social relations. Also, emotional intelligence (EQ/EI) which seeks to fuse cognition and emotion interlocks with social and interpersonal mechanisms involved in language learning. In light of these views and lack of empirical study, the present study is intended to explore the relationship between EQ and interpretation of literature among 345 Iranian EFL graduate and undergraduate participants from six universities. As an additional goal, participants’ major of study and gender are investigated to see how they relate to emotional intelligence skills. EQ has been defined in terms of two instruments based on two models and literature has been limited to stories and poems. To collect data, MSCEIT and EQ-Map measures of emotional intelligence as well as fourteen short stories and poems were administered among the participants, majoring in English Literature, Translation and Teaching of English. Pearson Product correlation procedures and multivariate analysis were conducted. The results indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between EQ (MSCEIT and EQ-Map) scores and scores from the interpretation of stories and poems. Furthermore, the female participants were found to have higher EQ than the male participants. However, the participants from three English majors did not differ significantly in terms of EQ scores. Finally, pedagogical implications and suggestions are presented.
