چکیده:
Being a successful L2 learner/communicator involves the ability to apply not only linguistic and communicative competences, but also metaphorical competence and fundamental cognitive abilities like emotional intelligence (EI). In fact, EI can act as a predictor of one's success in life. Furthermore, because metaphors are the main means of helping to understand abstract concepts and to act upon abstract interpretations, L2 teachers, being aware of their learners’ EI profiles, should make them aware of their L2 metaphorical competence of the conceptual world. In spite of the importance given to L2 learners’ metaphorical comprehension/usage and their individual differences, almost no systematic attempt investigated the issue. This study scrutinized L2 learners’ EI profiles to underline the leading and the least common type of EI among 126 upper-intermediate L2 learners (51 males and 75 females). First, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to investigate the relationship between the participants’ metaphorical competence and their EI. Second, standard multiple regression analysis was run to see the best predictors of the participants’ metaphorical competence level. The results demonstrated that, first, there was a medium positive correlation between the participants’ metaphorical competence and their EI. Second, the participants’ EI and gender were the 2 predictors of their metaphorical competence level, but EI was a stronger predictor than gender. The findings have implications for L2 pedagogy, suggesting the incorporation of an account of L2 learners’ metaphorical competence development and a report of their individual differences such as a profile consisting of their EI into L2 teachers’ class agendas.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Investigating the Relationship Between L2 Learners’ Metaphorical Competence and Emotional Intelligence Mahmood Hashemian Shahrekord University hashemian-m@sku.
The line of inquiry investigating metaphorical competence, as a crucial building block of awareness in the use of language with regard to L2 teaching/learning, is quite young and deserves further research.
As such, the metaphorical use of language can be seen in different disciplines like biological sciences (Moore, 2002), economics (Henderson, 1982), business (Skorcynska, 2001), and psychology (Gentner & Grudin, 1985; Witztum, Dasberg, & Bleich, 1986).
With respect to L2 teaching and learning, the present study deems it instructive to make an effort to relate the concept of metaphorical competence to one of the most dominant individual differences variables in L2 research and pedagogy, that is, EI.
Furthermore, the study investigated whether gender (which is largely explored in research on discourse, communication, cognition, and language learning in Iran with its special sociocultural milieu) or EI may be a good predictor for L2 learners’ metaphorical competence.
Thus, in this study, gender is suggested as a factor that can affect the metaphorical competence level of Iranian upper-intermediate L2 learners.
In sum, research on learners in an L2 context shows managing L2 learners’ individual differences such as their EI and gender results in a puissant competence in L2 learning and achievement.
Success in L2 learning can be achieved through both good levels of metaphorical competence and EI as affective factors being parts of the emotional features of individual manners.