Iraqi EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate, Attitudes toward English, L2 Anxiety, and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of L2 Speaking Ability with the Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence
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Abstract This study examined psychological and affective predictors of Iraqi EFL learners’ L2 speaking ability and tested Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a mediating mechanism linking dispositions to performance. 150 Arabic-speaking undergraduates, enrolled in a TEFL course at the University of Babylon completed validated self-report measures of Willingness to Communicate (WTC), attitudes toward English, L2 anxiety, self-efficacy, and EI by using a cross-sectional, predictive–correlational design. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) compared competing specifications of direct and indirect pathways. The best-fitting model retained positive direct paths from WTC and self-efficacy to speaking, a negative direct path from L2 anxiety to speaking, and primarily indirect effect of attitudes routed through motivational/self-belief channels that elevate WTC. EI functioned as an affective self-regulation hub: higher EI was associated with stronger self-efficacy and lower anxiety, which in turn predicted better speaking; mediation patterns were consistent with multiple-/serial-mediator chains. Overall, the results position immediate communicative readiness (WTC), confidence (self-efficacy), and low anxiety as proximal drivers of oral performance, with attitudes operating upstream and EI converting beliefs and feelings into observable proficiency. Pedagogically, findings support classroom designs that engender repeated low-stakes speaking turns, build mastery-based self-efficacy, normalize error through face-supportive feedback, and embed brief emotion-regulation routines.
