Abstract
This study investigates motivation types of Saudi and Chines EFL learners and gender role differences. I selected these two groups because they constituted the most dominant groups that study English abroad. The descriptive and correlational approaches were used to examine the participants’ motivation by collecting the data through questionnaire and interviews. Twenty-five Saudi and Chinese college level English language students were selected as samples for collecting data for answering the research questions. The findings showed that both groups have extrinsic and intrinsic motivation as well integrative and instrumental motivation. The Chinese group’s intrinsic motivation is stronger than the extrinsic motivation. 
Highlights
Motivation is one of the significant factors that facilitate learning a second language
Students are expected to graduate from the school with mastering 2000 English words. After they graduate from the high school, students are supposed to pass the College English Test Band 4 (CET-4) which is designed for non-English major students who want to get a university admission like "in China, a common phenomenon in college or university is that some students though very excellent in learning all major-related subjects are not interested in learning English at all, and can’t get the bachelor degree because they fail to pass CET-4 while this certificate is absolute for the degree" (ZHOU Wan-er, 2008, p. 7)
Item 18 (3.0) gains high mean rating compared to other items in the extrinsic motivation because in Saudi Arabia to get a high GPA in the foundation year, students must pass the English course with a high grade as it is taught for 18 hours per week
Summary
Motivation is one of the significant factors that facilitate learning a second language. Learners’ type of motivation specifies their goal of learning a second language, which facilitates teachers’ mission and enables learners to specify their needs that help them to achieve their goals. ESL/ EFL English teachers are in very bad need to know more about the type of motivation of each group and know more about the differences of each group, "this is a curious state of affairs since motivation is a widely recognized variable of importance in SLA, and perhaps one of the key factors that distinguishes first language acquisition from second language acquisition processes" The descriptive research questions proposed are: 1) What type of motivation do ESL learners (Saudi and Chinese) have for learning a second language?
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