Motivation, International Posture and Online Informal Learning of English among Saudi University Students

Learners’ engagement with online media could be strongly associated with language knowledge and cultural understanding and could provide them with the means to improve their English language skills. Consequently, a contemporary field of online informal learning of English (OILE) has emerged with several studies investigating learners’ OILE habits and providing some evidence of the positive impacts of OILE use on language proficiency. However, some studies have suggested that not all learners engage in or use OILE equally and that individual differences, such as motivation and attitude, may influence engagement with informal learning. Recent studies have confirmed that learners’ motivation and their global outlook positively relate to their engagement with informal learning. However, the relationship between motivation and OILE remains under-researched, and none of the existing studies have considered the different natures of OILE experiences. This mixed-methods study of female university students in Saudi Arabia used a questionnaire (n = 550) followed by semi-structured interviews (n = 19) to examine students’ motivations (in light of the L2 Motivational Self System), International Posture (IP), frequency of OILE, and nature of OILE experiences. The study investigated how students’ motivation, global outlook, and OILE experiences relate to their OILE habits. The results show that the participants were moderate users of OILE and had a rather limited global outlook with varying degrees of motivation. Furthermore, the participants’ use of OILE was highly influenced by their Ideal L2 selves and IP. The findings suggest that the participants viewed OILE as a path to connect to the international English-speaking community. Additionally, the participants’ OILE habits were strongly mediated by the varying natures of their OILE experiences. This study suggests several pedagogical implications, mainly that learners should be educated about the potential benefits of OILE use and that institutions within this context should focus on fostering learners’ IP.