An action research study an emotional literacy improvement programme for EFL teachers in the view of humanistic approach

If the contribution of the quality, commitment and expertise of a teacher is considered in relation to the success of any educational process, it can be concluded that, in-service teacher development plays its key role in terms of enhancing the teaching quality. However, the educational systems all over the world have been undergoing profound changes bringing about new tasks and challenges for schools, teachers, and administrators. Consequently, there is an increasing need for improving the teachers' competencies along with the changing role of schooling influence and correspondingly, determining the contents of the in-service programmes. The primary aim of this action research study is to develop in the researcher an understanding of how to design and conduct emotional literacy improvement courses for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) for future use. As a secondary aim, the participant teachers of this study are expected to raise their awareness on the emotional basis of learning in self and in others and accordingly identify behaviours that will result from learning about emotional intelligence. Thus, in this study we hope to determine a framework of a teacher development programme within which the teachers at YADIM/ Çukurova University, Turkey improve their emotional literacy with its underlying skills, traits and behaviours and/or feel the need to consider these constructs both in their classroom settings and in their personal lives as human beings. The assessment of the effects of this study can be interpreted in terms of change in participant teachers. However, this study aimed to combine professional development r£S^AS¥<* m***as a form of in-service teacher development and maturation of the framework of an emotional literacy improvement programme for EFL teachers for future use. Seventeen volunteer participant teachers who teach at YADIM, Çukurova University (seven teachers in the piloting and ten teachers in the main study) participated in the Emotional Literacy Improvement (ELI) Programme since the programme aimed to integrate both the teachers' immediate needs and the requirements of the study. Therefore, regarding the design of the study, the frame of reference of this study is mainly related to the tools of data collection, particularly EQ Map-An Integrated EQ Assessment and Individual Profile, Version 4.5, EQ Map Interpretation Guide, The EQ Map Scoring Grid, EQ Map Results Evaluation Document, All about me Participant Profile Checklist, researcher's footnotes, researcher's diary, participant teachers' learning logs and Course Evaluation Questionnaire. These instruments are chosen to be employed due to the fact that their rationale is based on both the theoretical and the methodological framework of this study.Key Words: Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Literacy, Personal Development, Professional Development, Humanistic Approach