The relationship between emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety among efl preparatory school students

The main aim of this quantitative study is to explore the relationship between foreign language anxiety levels and emotional intelligence levels of 158 A1 level Çağ University preparatory students learning English as a foreign language in Turkey. In addition, level of EI and FLA , the level of FLA and EI in relation to gender and level of success, relationships between the 15 facets and 4 factors of trait EI and FLA, the effect of the emotional intelligence level on the foreign language anxiety level were examined. Students' level of success was determined by the first term exam scores. The participants were asked to complete the ''Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale" and the ''Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire". Foreign language anxiety level was determined via Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). The emotional intelligence level of the students was measured by using Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), and the data was analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data analysis and statistical calculations demonstrated that the relationship between the FLA and EQ is statistically significant and there is a weak negative correlation between two. Moreover, the relationship between students' 15 facets and 4 trait factors of EI were also found negatively correlated with FLA. The students at Çağ University were found moderately anxious. The emotional intelligence level of the EFL students was found to be approximately % 25 above average level. FLA was found at a moderate. The results indicated that students' language anxiety levels do not differ according to gender. However, level of success was an important factor in students' foreign languge anxiety. Whereas an important difference in terms of the level of success was not found, the difference was found to be significant in terms of male and female students. Accordingly, the results showed that students who are female have higher emotional intelligence level than male students.