Abstract The current study investigated the relationship among emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, language learning strategy use, and second language achievement of Iranian EFL learners. One hundred and fifty intermediate and upper-intermediate level Iranian EFL learners, studying at private language institutes in Kerman, were selected as the participants of the study. The participants completed three questionnaires: The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Bar-On, 1997), The Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008), the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990). All the three instruments adopted had already been validated extensively in various EFL/ESL contexts including Iran. Also, the participants’ GPAs were collected and regarded as the measure of their second language achievement. The results of Pearson Product Moment correlation analyses revealed that second language achievement was significantly positively correlated with both emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence as well as language learning strategy use of Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that, among the predictor variables of the study, strategy use was a significantly stronger predictor of second language achievement of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the findings of multiple regression analysis indicated that among the components of strategy use, metacognitive strategy use was a stronger predictor of second language achievement. The findings of the content analysis of the interviews, conducted with 50 participants selected randomly from among the participants of the study, also confirmed the quantitative findings pinpointing the fact that strategy use was of prime importance in foreign/second language learning. The results are discussed in more detail in the paper.
