DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS IN THE CONTEXT OF TEACHING ENGLISH

Abstract

The research focuses on the problem of incorporating emotional intelligence in the educational process in primary school. The research provides theoretical substantiation and practical elaboration of the methodology of the formation of emotional intelligence in the English lessons in primary school. The formation of emotional intelligence in the process of teaching reading presupposes involving young learners in appropriate activities that will promote the development of the cognitive, controlling, motivational, empathetic and social functions of emotional competence. To develop these functions, a modern English teacher of primary school should create favourable conditions for learners’ self-actualisation, cooperation with peers, manifestation of their leadership qualities, learner autonomy, awareness and understanding of their own and other people’s feelings and emotions. The aim of the study is to develop a system of exercises for the formation of emotional intelligence in primary school learners in the process of teaching them to read in English. The research was conducted with the help of theoretical methods (analysis of psychological, pedagogical, and methodological literature, LifeComp and the Concept of the New Ukrainian School) and empirical methods (methodological experiment to test the methodology suggested, methods of mathematical statistics to process experimental data). As a result, the current state of scientific ideas concerning the problem of the formation of emotional intelligence has been analyzed. The psychological characteristics of primary school learners have been studied, and the need to take them into account in the process of forming emotional intelligence in the English lessons has been justified. The notions of emotional competence and social-emotional skills have been specified; a system of exercises focused on the formation of emotional intelligence in primary school learners in the process of teaching them to read in English has been developed and illustrated with a set of exercises for a thematic cycle of English lessons. The experimental teaching proves the validity of the suggested methodology, which enables us to conclude that due to the balanced approach to the formation of emotional intelligence and reading skills in primary school learners, the average increase in the experimental and control groups constituted 86,2% and 32,3% correspondently.