predicting enjoyment of learning english based on emotional intelligence, willingness to communicate, and self-disclosure

Enjoyment of language learning (ell) is recognized as the most commonly experienced positive emotion in foreign language learning. the present study set out to investigate the relationships between english language learners’ ell as the outcome variable and the three factors of emotional intelligence (ei), willingness to communicate (wtc) in l2, and self-disclosure (sd) as the predictor variables. to this end, 147 iranian english language learners (109 female and 38 male), aged 8 to 50, participated in the study. they were selected through convenience sampling from a population of iranian foreign language learners studying english at different levels in tehran. quantitative data on the predictor and outcome variables were collected through relevant standardized questionnaires. pearson correlation tests, linear regression analyses, and multiple regression analyses were performed to answer the research questions. based on the findings, ell demonstrated moderate to strong positive correlations with ei (.24, p≤ .05), wtc (.54, p≤ .05), and sd (.53, p≤ .05). regression analysis also revealed that the three predictor variables of the study (ei, wtc, and sd) predicted 41 percent of the variance of ell as reported by the targeted iranian learners. the findings of the study contribute to the trends in research and instruction that attempt to identify the factors contributing to learners’ enjoyment of language learning.