A Comparative Study on the Effectiveness of Cognitive, Affective, and Personality Traits on English Foreign Language Learners’ Lexical Knowledge

The most affective variables in the process of language learning are related to learners’ emotions, attitudes, and personality; hence, the present study aimed at investigating the possible relationship between emotional intelligence, field dependence/independence cognitive styles, motivation, and lexical knowledge among learners of English as a Foreign Language. Since learners’ affective, cognitive, and personality traits may influence how they receive, perceive, and store vocabulary items in English, investigating such traits to know how they are pertained to the composite and breadth of learners’ vocabulary would be very useful in dealing with teaching vocabulary in a foreign or second language. A number of university Iranian students majoring in English Language Teaching were selected as the participants. Three tests and one questionnaire were employed in this study. Data analysis involved the use of Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple-regression. The results of the data analysis revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence, motivation, field dependence/independence cognitive styles and vocabulary breadth. Additionally, the results indicated that the three independent variables were effective in predicting learners’ vocabulary breadth. Since the outcomes of the present study showed a credible and meaningful relationship between EFL university learners' emotional intelligence, field dependence/independence cognitive styles, motivation and their vocabulary breadth, language teachers can take personal factors into a more serious consideration in their students’ language learning process.