Emotional intelligence and reading comprehension in an Amazonian bilingual intercultural school

Abstract

Learning poverty” affects eight out of ten Latin American children and is exacerbated in Amazonian bilingual settings. This cross-sectional quantitative study evaluated the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and reading comprehension in 83 Asháninka-Spanish schoolchildren (40% female; ages 6-12). The ICE: NAA inventory and a standardized reading test were administered; reliability was high (α=.94 and .88, respectively). The results revealed a strong association between total EI and overall comprehension (r=.78; p<.001). An ordinal logistic regression model explained 62% of the variance: each additional point in EI increased the likelihood of reaching the critical reading level by 4.25 (OR=4.25; 95% CI=2.10-8.62). Bootstrap analysis (5,000 replicates) showed a significant mediating effect of self-regulation (indirect β=0.18; 24% of the total effect). These findings suggest that strengthening socioemotional competencies, especially self-regulation, may be an effective way to improve reading comprehension and reduce achievement gaps in intercultural schools. Integrating EI modules into the national curriculum and developing contextualized bilingual reading materials is recommended. Future research should employ longitudinal designs and larger samples to establish causality.