The Instrumentality of Integrativeness: A Case Study of ESL  Saudi Students in Canada (original) (raw)

This study looks into the orientations and attitudes of ESL Saudi students enrolled in the Intensive English Program (IEP) at the University of Manitoba (U of M), Canada. Little research has tackled the orientations and attitudes of Arab ESL students in a native-speaking context. The researchers expect that living in the native social, cultural context of Canada will create more positive attitudes towards Canadians, their culture and society, as well as higher integrative orientation on part of Saudi students. The subjects of this study were 17 Saudi students (11 males and 6 females). An attitudinal questionnaire was used to elicit the participants' attitudes towards Canadians and the Canadian culture as well as the participants' motivation for learning ESL. The data analysis revealed strong favorable attitudes towards Canadians as well as towards their culture. This positiveness was attributed to the native environment in which the learning process is taking place. Moreover, Saudi students exhibited a combination of both integrative and instrumental motivation to learn the target language.