L2 Motivational Self System Among Arab EFL Learners: Saudi Prespective

The current paper investigates the validity of the motivational L2 self system tripartite model as to explaining the L2 motivational behaviours of a sample of Arab university level EFL students in southern Saudi Arabia. Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2009) is used as the theoretical framework. A survey was designed and administered to about 400 Saudi male undergraduate students majoring in English. The obtained data were coded and analysed. The results upheld the validity of the of the L2 Self System model’s core components of Ideal L2, Ought-to L2 and learning experiences of English, as well as their relevance in the Saudi context. The findings indicated high significance levels and strong contributions from the Ideal L2 and Language Learning Experiences to the learners’ reported efforts in learning English as the criterion measure. Both components make stronger contributions to explaining the variance than Ought-to L2 component.