The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Overcoming Stressful

Abstract

Foreign language anxiety is a big issue from which most of foreign language learners suffer. The current study examines the issue of foreign language verbal production with focal concentration on the oral production, and it aims to realize two main objectives. First, it aims 4 to explore the causes that lead to student’s foreign language speech anxiety, and the negative effects that obstruct their speaking performance and cut the way for effective communication. Second, it aims to look for effective strategies which are related to the learners’ emotional intelligence to overcome, decrease anxiety and develop students' foreign language speaking performance. The study depends on two main data gathering tools: a questionnaire and observations. The questionnaire is administered to 38 M2 students of English at ‘’Abdelhamid Ibn Badis’’ University of Mostaganem. The observations are done along the year of this study. The findings of the study illustrate that most foreign language students tend to be anxious in speaking situations. There are different factors that lead to students‟ foreign language speaking anxiety which hurdle their learning and their speaking performance. However, in this study 100% of students affirm that they can regulate their emotions for the purpose of achieving their goals. In addition to this study illustrates plenty and divers strategies that learners and teachers can employ to minimize foreign language speaking anxiety and which can lead to students' better speaking performance. The findings prove the hypothesis which states that anxiety is a normal feeling which is tidily associated to foreign language oral production and the role of emotional intelligence in regulating this feeling in overcoming stressful situations especially when the students feel motivated .