How to Foster Emotional Intelligence in Language Classes

It is interesting to note that although a student possesses a high IQ （Intelligence Quotient）, they may have serious problems in terms of interpersonal skills and regulating their emotions, resulting in a failure to promote their individual intellectual growth. In the long term, these difficulties may have some devastating effect on their career and life successes. Enhancing emotional intelligence therefore can enable students to guide their thinking and actions, and can ultimately increase the quality of their relationships with other humans. The aim of this research is to see whether it is possible to foster emotional intelligence of students through incorporating drama into the curriculum. This exploratory study carried out with 53 English-majoring students at Karadeniz Technical University. Following the treatment （preparing for and performing plays）, a structured questionnaire was developed on the basis of domains of emotional intelligence, with 49 items in a five-point Likert-type scale format, and was administered to the participants. In order to obtain more insight into the process, ten students were randomly selected and interviewed. The findings revealed that incorporating drama into the curriculum enables the students to substantially develop their personal, social and emotional intelligence.