Abstract

This paper analyzes and determines the various orientations of 247 Saudi male and female university students for learning English. The descriptive and correlational approaches were used to investigate the participants’ motivations. The researchers adapted questionnaires available from the literature to quantitatively collect data. The results show that university students are highly motivated to learning English and therefore, it suggests that motivation is an important variable that shapes learners' idea about foreign language learning. The results also show that students of different gender and majors had different perspectives about English learning. The conclusions, and recommendations of the present study provide platform for future investigations into EFL learners’ motivation in other areas of Saudi Arabia or in similar settings in Arabic speaking countries to find out differences in students' orientations.

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