Emotional Intelligence in English Language Education: Study of the Classroom Practices of Middle School Female and Male Teachers in Chlef Area, Algeria

Abstract

This thesis investigates the issue of emotional intelligence in the Algerian context. It seeks to find out whether middle school teachers of English are emotionally intelligent, and examines the extent to which gender affects their emotional classroom practices. To collect data, three tools were used: a questionnaire addressed to teachers, their pupils and inspectors of English; observation sessions, using an emotional intelligence checklist adapted from Allen’s (2014); and document analysis of inspectors’ official reports. To enhance the reliability of this research, the investigator employed a variety of approaches and methods. Because this research is based on a mixed-methods approach, the reseqrcher used approaches and methods appropriate for both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings revealed that the middle school English teachers targeted in this research are only emotionally intelligent to a certain degree. With reference to gender, the results contradict the belief that women are more emotionally intelligent than men.