چكيده
Motivational regulation has long been recognized as crucial strategies the learners use to actively initiate and increase their motivation in general learning contexts. The study sought to see if the explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies significantly affected Iranian EFL learners' emotional quotient and willingness to communicate in general English online classes, if there was a significant difference between male and female Iranian learners' emotional quotient and willingness to communicate in general English online classes regarding the explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies, what the learners’ assessment of their improvement in willingness to communicate and their EQ-related issues as a result of explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies were, and what the differences between male and female learners in their assessment of the effects of explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies on their willingness to communicate and EQ-related issues in learning were. In order to do so, 130 participants were randomly chosen out of 406 pre-intermediate level students. 92 learners were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. There were 46 learners in the experimental and 46 learners in the control group with nearly equal number of male and female participants in each. The instruments which were used in the study were Nelson proficiency test, Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, McCrosky's Willingness to Communicate Scale, and a Willingness to Communicate and Emotional Intelligence Interview. The results of the current study indicated that the explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies significantly affected Iranian EFL learners' emotional quotient in general English online classes and the male and female experimental groups had higher means than the male and female students in the control group on the EQ posttest. It was also seen that the explicit teaching of motivational regulation strategies significantly affected Iranian EFL learners' willingness to communicate in general English online classes.
