EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE INFLUENCE ON COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE INTERACTIONS IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This study examined the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) and cultural intelligence (CI) on English language development, interaction, and academic performance among Nigerian college students. Recognizing that linguistic proficiency extends beyond cognition to encompass socio-emotional and intercultural competencies, a structured questionnaire was administered to 100 students randomly selected from three Colleges of Education. The analysis of data employed descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and multiple regression to evaluate five hypotheses. The findings indicated substantial positive correlations between cognitive intelligence (CI) and English language development, CI and interaction, as well as emotional intelligence (EI) and language development (p < 0.05). The combined influence of EI and CI was also significant, indicating that students with greater emotional stability, empathy, adaptability, and cross-cultural awareness demonstrate stronger communicative competence. Additionally, cultural exposure was found to enhance language fluency, confidence, and engagement. The study concludes that embedding emotional and cultural intelligence frameworks into English language pedagogy can advance holistic learning. It recommends developing affective instructional models that integrate emotional regulation and intercultural understanding for sustainable linguistic growth.