Investigating Iraqi EFL Learners’ Social Intelligence and Their Performance in Speaking: A Correlational Study

Abstract

The ultimate goal of learning a language is to use it when interacting with others regardless of the mode of communication. This use of the language, however, is socially and psychologically affected. In this regard, social intelligence plays a crucial role in creating effective interactions. The problem is that the correlation between social intelligence and speaking skill has received little attention in the field of linguistics concerning the Iraqi context. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the correlation between these variables to better understand how they correlate to each other. It asks to what extent there is a correlation between them and whether some personal variables affect this correlation. To this end, the alternative hypothesis is adopted which claims that there is a statistically significant positive correlation among the variables. For this purpose, the correlation design that draws on the quantitative approach is adopted. Moreover, a sample of 77 EFL third-year students from the University of Mosul for the academic year 2023-2024 was randomly selected. They were males and females coming from ethnic backgrounds, namely, Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen. To collect data, two research instruments were used they were: an adopted and adapted social intelligence scale and a speaking test designed by the researcher. The data were statistically treated by a statistician using SPSS. The results of the study show that there is a positive moderate correlation between social intelligence and speaking skill. It is also concluded that personal variables such as gender and ethnicity have no significant influence on the correlation between the variables. Finally, some recommendations were presented based on the conclusions inferred.