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    The influence of student perception of teacher emotional intelligence and happiness on foreign language learning

    Moskowitz, Sharona (2021) The influence of student perception of teacher emotional intelligence and happiness on foreign language learning. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

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    Abstract

    Most students have private beliefs and opinions about their foreign language teachers, who often assume the role of facilitator, authority figure, and lead motivator. Not only is the student/teacher relationship mutually involved and reciprocal, it is usually interwoven in complex ways. This study investigates how student perceptions of language teachers relate to student self-reported motivation and attitudes. Data were collected from high-intermediate to advanced level ESL/EFL students. General background information was gathered to control for factors such as the number of years of past English study and exposure outside of the classroom. An online questionnaire was administered consisting of sections about student perceptions of teacher emotional intelligence using an adapted version of the TEIQue 360° Short Form (Petrides & Furnham, 2006), student perceptions of teacher happiness using an adapted version of the Oxford Happiness Inventory (Argyle, Martin & Crossland, 1989), and student self-reported motivation and attitudes using an adapted form of the AMTB (Gardner, 1985). Respondents were also asked about their teacher’s classroom behavior, as past research has shown that teachers with a higher level of EI tend to be more enthusiastic and enjoy their students more (Dewaele & Mercer, 2017). The findings reveal that students who report a higher score for their teacher’s EI and happiness indices themselves show greater levels of motivation and positive feelings and lower levels of anxiety. The results indicate that while both teacher EI and happiness are influential, teacher EI matters more to students than teacher happiness. The aim of this project is threefold: to give students a voice, as they are rarely given a platform to honestly express their opinions of their teachers, to shed light on the complex student/teacher relationship and its potential influence on foreign language acquisition, and to offer practical suggestions for applied use by teachers in the FL classroom.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Thesis
    Additional Information: Originally submitted to the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication, School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy.
    Copyright Holders: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted.
    Depositing User: Acquisitions And Metadata
    Date Deposited: 21 Oct 2021 11:10
    Last Modified: 01 Nov 2023 14:56
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/46380
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00046380

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