Is emotional intelligence or mental intelligence more important in language learning?

This study on Language Learning provides a definition of intelligence and addresses the question whether emotional intelligence or mental intelligence plays a more significant role in language learning. Intelligence is an innate capacity of the individual that can be enhanced and developed by factors like environment and experience. Then, are individuals with high intelligence always successful ? Or, do those people with high intelligence display a higher level of achievement in learning a language ? Language learning is a concept that depends on both the learner and the instructor in terms of human psychology and interpersonal communication. What is important in language learning is not high intelligence values; it is being emotionally intelligent, that is, having the ability to recognize, employ, comprehend and manage emotions. Emotional intelligence 'is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and other's emotions, to discriminate among them and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions. Only 2% of the population of a human society have an IQ level of 130 or above and it is observed that most of these people tend to be clumsy, shy and suffer from social maladjustment with peers. Language learning, on the other hand, is designed to serve communicative purposes. For all these reasons, success in foreign language learning favors the individuals with high emotional intelligence levels. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.