Design And Validation Of Socio-Emotional Intelligence Training To Improve ESL Learners’ Speaking Skill

Abstract

This study pioneers a design-based research (DBR) approach to develop and validate a Socio-Emotional Intelligence (SEI) training for ESL speaking intervention, systematically addressing critical psycholinguistic gaps in L2 pedagogy. Grounded in Goleman’s SEI theory and operationalized through a five-phase DBR cycle (McKenney & Reeves, 2019), the framework: (1) diagnoses contextually relevant SEI traits using the indigenous SEI scale (Arshad & Parveen, 2022; 56 items), (2) maps these traits to five Speaking sub-skills (fluency, pronunciation vocabulary, sentence structure, confidence), (3) prototypes modular training with culturally adaptive scenarios for Pakistani ESL learners, (4) iteratively refines through pilot testing  undergraduates), [1]and (5) validates via mixed-methods analysis including bifactor CFA (CFI=0.94, SRMR=0.03) and 3D instructional alignment modeling (89% congruence, α=0.82). Results demonstrate significant speaking skill gains (Cohen’s *d*=1.32, *p*<0.001) with sustained retention (β=0.68 at 3 weeks), while locally adapted SEI metrics (Cronbach’s α>0.85) confirmed the intervention’s cultural-psychological fit. The study advances a dual-coding theoretical model of SEI-mediated speech production and delivers a scalable implementation blueprint, empirically bridging affective learning with L2 Speaking skill in collectivist educational contexts.