Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number3   September 2021                                            Pp.242-256
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no3.17

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Students’ Motivation to Learn English as a Foreign Language in the Context of Saudi
Arabian Learners 

Hind Aljuaid
Department of Foreign Languages, College of Arts
Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
Email: dr.hind@tu.edu.sa

Received: 4/16/2021               Accepted:  8/30/2021             Published:  9/24/2021 

Abstract:
Motivation is the major contributor to the students’ learning English as a second language. However, varying reasons have been suggested by different researchers and theorists to explain the reasons and dimensions of this motivation. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the motivation to learn English as a foreign language (EFL) among 157 Saudi Arabian university students. The instrument used for the analysis was a modified version of the motivation scale developed by Wen (1997), which measures motivation based on six subscales: integrative, instrumental, effort, valence, expectation, and ability. In addition, students’ motivation was compared among students with different English language levels using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on six motivation subscales. The results of the MANOVA revealed that there was no significant difference among students of different levels of English knowledge when each level was compared separately.  Nevertheless, when comparing a merged group of students with English level knowledge of 1^st to 3^rd with the group of 4^th level, the motivation of the latter group was statistically significantly higher. Furthermore, the difference in mean values was significant for integrative, effort, valence, and ability subscales. Thus, the findings of this research depicted that instrumental and integrative motivations could be the main contributor to students’ motivation to learn English as a foreign language.
Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL), instrumental motivation, integrative motivation, language learning, motivation, second language 

Cite as:  Aljuaid, H. (2021). Students’ Motivation to Learn English as a Foreign Language in the Context of Saudi Arabian Learners .  Arab World English Journal, 12 (3) 242-256.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no3.17

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