teachers emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and perceived english language proficiency: a case of iranian efl teachers

educational researchers have provided evidence that teachers’ emotional intelligence has strong effects on various aspects of teaching and learning. yet, in the field of teaching english to speakers of other languages (tesol), inquiry into teachers’ emotional intelligence is nearly limited. given its documented powerful impact on teaching practices and student learning, it is critical to pursue this line of inquiry into the field. this study examined the relationship between efl teachers’ total emotional intelligence, their competencies of self-efficacy, and their self-reported english language proficiency (overall proficiency and proficiency in four language domains) to determine whether there is any significant relationship between these variables or not. the relationship between teachers’ years of teaching experience and their ei and the difference between teachers’ ei taking into account different university degrees were also investigated. seventy iranian efl teachers participated in the quantitative study by completing an assessing emotions scale (aes), the teachers’ sense of efficacy scale (tses), iranian efl teachers’ perceived english language proficiency scale and a demographic survey. the findings of the study indicated a significant positive relationship between teachers’ emotional intelligence and their competencies of self-efficacy and teachers’ emotional intelligence and their perceived english language proficiency. there was, however, a moderate positive correlation between teachers’ emotional intelligence and their years of teaching experience, but no significant difference was found between teachers’ emotional intelligence in terms of different university degrees. the obtained results indicate that teachers scored themselves at high level of emotional intelligence, but at average levels of self-efficacy competencies and perceived proficiency. the lower averages of self-efficacy competencies and proficiency point to the need for teachers preparation programs, mentoring programs, and professional development centers to enhance and improve teachers by investing in training for emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and perceived proficiency.