EFL Learners’ Construction of L2 Ego and Its Relationship With Emotional Intelligence

The present study mainly aimed at determining the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and L2 ego components. In so doing, initially, to develop a measure to evaluate L2 ego, a sample of 9 university teachers was interviewed, and a pool of 126 English-major undergraduate students responded to the questionnaire designed by the researchers. The result of intercoder reliability proved satisfactory, and structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed support for the factor structure of the measures. The final validated questionnaire included 3 factors and 16 items. The results of SEM showed that there was a moderate positive relationship between L2 ego and EI. The statistical analyses indicated that among L2 ego components, personality traits and cognitive styles made significant contributions to explaining EI. In the end, the interplay between L2 ego components, ego boundaries, and emotions is discussed, and the potentially helpful implications are offered for EFL learners and teachers.