Motivation is the driving force that puts a person in action to achieve his/her goal. Motivation determines the direction of the action. The present study attempts to interpret what important factors affect the motivation of Saudi students in English. The study also looks at the relationship between English language learning motivation of Saudi students and their achievement in English. The data were collected from preparatory year programme, Najran university students. The quantitative approach has been used for data. The major finding of the study is that students don’t want to be looked down upon as ignorant. It has been found that students prefer to learn English due to its international hype and they want to look like English people because they are very impressed by the western culture. The findings also reveal that there is a positive correlation between Saudi students’ motivation and their achievement in English. The study shows interesting effects of motivational factors in learning English.
Keywords: Arab Students, Motivation, Preparatory Year, SLA, attitude
