Motivation and Socio-Cultural Milieu of Second Language Learners: Considerations Involved in English Teaching

This study investigates the social, psychological, and cultural dimensions of motivation involved in learning English as a second language in Kuwait. It focuses on students’ experience of motivation, emotions, and their cultural background in search of differences and similarities presented by gender, type of high school, and year in university. The effects of motivation and learning experiences are discussed through using the perpectives of Gardner’s socio-educational model, whereas the influence of learners’ cultural context in second language learning is discussed through using Hofstede’s cultural model. Data were gathered by surveying undergraduate students from a private university in Kuwait, which yielded 233 completed questionnaires. The study employed quantitative methods using SPSS application for descriptive data analysis, correlation analysis, t-tests, and ANOVA. The descriptive statistics were calculated based on the data submitted by the students’ responses. The results revealed significant levels of integrative and instrumental motivation, emphasized by female students, which could be attributed to Hofstede's cultural dimensions of certainty, femininity, and collectivist society. Significant levels were also reported for English classes and English use anxiety, which may be attributed to Hofstede’s power distance, which accounts for the high respect accorded to teachers and teaching. Collectively, the results gained from this study provide guidance to disentangle the multitude of factors that affect English language learners. The findings reported in this study may help instructors who need to understand how learners’ cultural values influence the nature of instruction and point toward future research in analyzing multiple factors that assist language learning.


Introduction
The present study attempts to determine and better understand the many factors that influence Arab students in Kuwait to learn English. It also focuses on attributes presented by learners' gender, the type of high school from which they graduated, and their year in university. In the attempt to analyze learners' motivation toward learning English, Gardner's (2004) attitude/motivation test battery AMTB was used, revealing significant information in the light of students' motivational factors. In addition, in order to understand students' cultural background, Hofstede's model (Hofstede, 2001(Hofstede, , 2011Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005) of cultural dimensions in Kuwait was used.
Most current models of second language acquisition focus on socio-educational and psychological factors, and it is only recently that researchers examining motivation have become interested in the learners' own cultural identity (Wigfield, Eccles, Schiefele, Roeser, & Kean, 2006;. Learners' cultural identity is assumed to be socially formed, grounded in cultural beliefs in the surrounding milieu (Gardner, 1985), though the processes whereby these indivisible environmental influences become internalized in the self are not explicitly theorized or empirically explored within the social-cultural paradigm. This study adds a new dimension to research focusing on English learners' cultural background, because it may shed light on communicative challenges faced by English instructors.

Educational Context of Second Language Learning in Kuwait
As for the study of motivation and the cultural milieu, Kuwait presents a rich cultural milieu with influential economic factors shaping attitudes and students' motivation toward English learning (Al-Bustan & Al-Bustan, 2009). English is the language of business: as such, the importance of English has increased in relation to people's socio-economic position, and parents who support their children to pursue educational and business careers are trying to ensure that their children learn and communicate well in English. English as a medium of instruction is offered from a very young age and is considered compulsory in primary schools. However, in public schools, English is offered as a foreign language (Al-Bustan & Al-Bustan, 2009).
In higher educational institutions, English is the medium of instruction in most of the private universities and colleges; therefore, an English language proficiency benchmark is required (Dashti, 2015). Students enter university directly from high school, and the level of English required by the universities is usually beyond what the students have achieved, especially those who graduated from public high schools. In response, the universities have established foundation units with the necessary English language skills training. Dashti (2015) also states that English teaching has a powerful influence on students' learning, as do the classroom and school environment.

Motivational Factors Influencing Second Language Acquisition
In order to understand the motivation of Arab-speaking learners of English, it is essential to examine the purpose and goal of learning the language. Language learning motivation is the major focus of the socio-educational model in that it concerns the major processes underlying individual differences in language acquisition success. The socio-educational model established by Gardner and his colleagues (Gardner, 1985;Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993) has been introduced to examine the motivation for learning a second language through individual efforts, achieving goals, enjoying the task of learning the language, and its social-psychological determinants (orientation and attitude).
To assess various individual differences based on the socio-educational model, Gardner (2004) developed the attitude/motivation test battery (AMTB). The AMTB gathers self-reported data on how highly second language (L2) learners rate the reasons for learning English, whether they agree or disagree with a particular statement related to the use of English in a specific situation, and how they rate the importance of learning English or certain statements, following a specific cultural belief.
Most current models of second language acquisition, including the AMTB, focus on socio-educational and psychological factors, and it is only recently that researchers examining motivation have become interested in learners' own cultural identity (Wigfield, Eccle, Roeser & Kean, 2006). According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), adults who want to identify with the target people or culture show an integrative orientation. Moreover, in a later study, Gardner (1985) proposes that the degree of integrativeness represents the cultural perspective of learners' socio-cultural background, which fosters the attitude toward learning.
On the other hand, adults who want to study the language for career advancement are instrumentally oriented (Gardner, 1985). These learners believe that by learning the target language, they will meet the school requirements, or might have a better chance of career advancement and business opportunities (Saville-Troike, 2006). Considering the instrumental motivation, Gardner (1985) states that learners' reasons to learn a language could be a substantial factor reflecting cultural differences in society. Gardner (2010) also adds that the model is based on a very simple observation that the learning of a second language involves taking on features of another cultural community. He emphasizes that the process of learning another language can be seen to involve several adjustments and, in time, it is even possible that the individual elt.ccsenet.org English Language Teaching Vol. 13, No. 5;2020 might begin to think in other language or even adopt verbal patterns that are characteristic of another cultural community. This is viewed as the cultural component of second language learning and is represented by the construct of integrativeness (Gardner, 1985(Gardner, , 2004(Gardner, , 2009(Gardner, , 2010.
Thus individual differences will be analyzed in this study in relation to the language learning situation. That is, students' attitudes toward the learning situation will be partly colored by the scholastic nature of the students, their experiences in the classroom, and the course and activities. Language classroom motivation is very important, and knowledge of factors that influence it is very valuable for educators and curriculum designers.

The Cultural Effects in Second Language Acquisition
When focusing on learning another language in the classroom environment, there is another component-the learner's cultural background-that might have an influence on pedagogy and second language classroom interaction. Language learners "enter the classroom with values and norms of their native cultural group" (Rhodes, 2017, p. 50). Because not every instructional approach is effective in every learning context, it is necessary to determine when a particular approach is the best possible match for the learner's needs, the instructor's teaching style, the learning environment, and instructional goals. It is also important to determine how an instructional approach should be used in a given context (Rhodes, 2017). The way that learning experiences are designed varies greatly in different situations, and for learning experiences to be effective, the instructors must take into account the cultural values of the learners. Rhodes (2017) emphasizes that knowing and understanding the characteristics of a student's culture can aid the design of a second language classroom.
Cultural factors influencing second language acquisition and second language teaching have attracted the interest of many researchers (Damen, 1987;Hong, 2008;Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino, & Kohler, 2003;Murray, Gao, & Lamb, 2011), who have studied the influence of the culture in second language acquisition from the pedagogical perspective and classroom interaction. Ammon (2004) even claims that students' motivation toward learning a language is influenced by their own culture. Similarly, Khuwaileh (2000) says that in order for educators to understand students' motivation to learn a language, they need to study the "cultural variables" (p. 282).
There is an increasing number of studies that appear to show how cultural values influence the nature of instructional systems, and it is noteworthy that these cases are generally consistent with existing models. Teachers can increase their students' awareness of cultural differences and assist in advancing students' language learning and in facilitating their effective adaption to a new cultural context and new learning styles. Considering teachers' responsibility in intercultural learning, Hofstede (1986) suggests that teachers' acquisition of their students' culture can enhance their students' successful cultural adaption to "different ways of learning" (p. 316). Hofstede (2001) offers researchers the necessary tools to study national cultures and developed a way to observe fact-based differences that exist between nations. This approach can help make sense of how these differences impact teaching and learning a second language. In this regard, to understand the cultural components of Kuwait, Hofstede's model (Hofstede, 2001(Hofstede, , 2011Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005) of cultural dimensions is used. According to Hofstede's model, Kuwait scores high on power distance (90), indicating that hierarchical pyramids are strictly adhered to elders and are always respected more than younger people. It is a culture in which hierarchical pyramids are respected. Kuwait affords high respect to the teacher, which is a dominant rhetoric in the society. However, women are socialized to be obedient to authority, whether that authority is in the family context or social context.
In terms of uncertainty avoidance, Kuwait scores 80, and thus has a priority to avoid uncertainty. According to Hofstede (2001), changes proceed carefully and through step-by-step planning, implemented by rules, laws, and regulations. Societies with high uncertainty avoidance usually have a dominant religion characterized by rituals and strict rules of conduct for all aspects of life.
While scoring low on masculinity (40), Kuwait is considered a relatively feminine society. Hofstede (2001) states that masculinity is competitive, assertive, materialistic, ambitious, and power-seeking. While femininity is defined as being nurturing and compassionate, placing more value on relationships and quality of life, a society with high masculinity will be driven by competition, achievement, and success. In contrast, a feminine society is associated with values and non-profit, with conflicts resolved by negotiation and compromise.
In terms of the individualism dimension, with a score of 25, Kuwait is considered a collectivist society. According to Hofstede (2001), in collectivist societies, the collectivist culture is characterized by interdependence and reciprocal obligations. In collectivist societies, people belong to 'in-groups' that take care of one another. Poor performance or problems reflect on the entire group, not just on the individual, and generally result in shame or 'loss of face' in front of the group. Based on the Hofstede model, Kuwait has high power distance and uncertainty avoidance and low masculinity and individualism.
Using the Hofstede's model, Selinger (2004) conducted a study in 49 countries with 300,000 students and discovered widely different uses of the same online materials in different cultures. The findings indicated that students in Denmark and Sweden were encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own learning than those in France. The Scandinavians had greater autonomy, collaborated more, and relied less on the tutor than students in France, where there was little use of group work or peer support. These findings are broadly consistent with Hofstede's model, the Scandinavians being, in Hofstede's terms, more feminine, with lower power distance and lower uncertainty avoidance than the French.
Cultural identities are avowed, ascribed, reworked, or resisted at the level of interpersonal interaction and relationships. According to Zhu (2015), they are situated, practical accomplishments in interactions and emerge through both the interplay of self-orientation and ascription-by-others, and the interplay of language use and sociocultural identities. Baker (2009Baker ( , 2011Baker ( , 2016 focuses on the conceptualization of culture in English as a lingua franca (ELF) by drawing on empirical data from L2 learners and users of English at a university in Thailand. His findings show that ELF users draw on multiple cultural frames of reference, moving between and across local, national, and global contexts in dynamic ways (Baker, 2009). The present study sheds further light on English language learners' cultural background, as they learn English during their studies where English is a medium of instruction. To interpret the results in this study, a theoretical framework has been designed based on Hofstede's model, with cultural interpretations for Kuwait; Gardner's (2004) socio-educational model is used to determine possible relationships with the components of Hofstede's model.

Hypotheses and their Correspondence to the Research Design
In examining learners' cultural identity and their motivation toward learning English, the combined model of Hofstede's cultural dimensions for Kuwait and Gardner's (2004) AMTB is used. Questions that arise from these models in the context of this study are: RQ1: How does power distance (i.e., the educational system and teachers) explain the second language motivation of Arab learners in Kuwait?
H1: Teachers play an essential role in learners' motivation toward learning English.
RQ2: Is there a difference between the students' type of high school (public or private) in their motivation to learn English?
H2: Different high school types (public or private) should affect learners' motivation in learning English.
RQ3: Are there differences between the learners' year of study at the university and their motivation to learn English?
H3: Learners' motivation to learn English is expected to be stronger as learners approach graduation, because they are preparing for their careers.
RQ4: To what extent can the dimension of uncertainty avoidance be linked to second language acquisition in Kuwait?
H4: Hofstede's dimension of uncertainty avoidance can be linked to the AMTB variables of integrative and instrumental orientation and attitude toward learning English; these variables are significant in learners' motivation to learn English.
RQ5: To what extent can femininity (as defined in Hofstede's model) be linked to learning values in Kuwait?
H5: There are no significant differences between female learners' and male learners' motivation.
RQ6: To what extent can collectivism rather than individualism be linked mostly to second language motivation? H6: Given the collectivist dimension identified for Kuwaiti society, parental encouragement is a significant factor affecting motivation to learn English.

Research Design
In this study, the major focus was on eight socio-educational variables of Gardner's AMTB (2004) and cultural components of Hofstede's model (2011). The eight socio-educational variables are: (1) integrative orientation (examines students' interest and reasons for learning English because they need to communicate and integrate with people using English in that community); (2) motivational intensity (represents the amount of effort expended on language learning; (3) desire to learn English (examines how much the learner wants to acquire the language); (4) attitude toward learning English (examines the belief that learners hold about the language itself); (5) English class anxiety (measures anxiety related to taking a language test); (6) English use anxiety (examines fear of communication using English in the classroom with the teacher and classmates); (7) instrumental orientation (examines students' driving force to learn English, such as career and business opportunities); and (8) parental encouragement (examines the degree that parents are involved in their child's language learning). The response format of the questionnaire was a six-point Likert scale for each factor, as per the original AMTB test (Gardner, 2004). In the questionnaire, a total of 68 items were used as metric variables.
From the cultural perspective, Hofstede's four dimensions (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, and individualism/collectivism) and Gardner's socio-educational variables from a motivational perspective were observed to determine the cultural understanding of English learners in Kuwait. Measures anxiety related to taking a language test.

English use anxiety (EUA)
Examines fear of communication using English in the classroom with the teacher and classmates.

Power distance
A culture in which hierarchical pyramids are respected. Kuwait affords high respect to the teacher, which is a dominant rhetoric in Arab societies. However, women are socialized to be obedient to authority, whether that authority is in the family or the social context.

Integrative orientation (IO)
Examines students' interest and reasons for learning English, because they need to communicate and integrate with people using English in that community.

Attitude toward learning English (ATLE)
Examines the belief that learners hold about the language itself.

Uncertainty avoidance (Certainty)
Changes carefully proceed through step-by-step planning, implemented by rules, laws, and regulations. Kuwait is a society with high uncertainty avoidance, usually seen where a dominant religion is characterized by rituals and strict rules of conduct for all aspects of life.

Instrumental orientation (IO)
Examines students' driving force to learn English, such as career and business opportunities.

Desire to learn English (DLE)
Examines how much the learner wants to acquire the language.

Motivational intensity (MI)
Represents the amount of effort expended on language learning.

Feminine society
A feminine society is associated with values, non-profit, equality, and solidarity. Kuwait has a strict code of values characterized by equality, with hierarchical levels and solidarity of the family and group. Conflict resolution through negotiation and compromise is the norm.

Parental encouragement (PE)
Examines the degree to which parents are involved in their child's language learning.

Collectivist society
People belong to 'in-groups' that take care of one another. The culture in Kuwait is influenced by government, religion, and family.

Procedure and Instrumentation
Data were collected using the partially adapted questionnaire from the AMTB (Gardner, 2004), comprising the original six-point Likert scale format ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The questionnaire was administered in English because all the participants were attending English composition courses at a private American university in Kuwait. In order to address ethical issues and to gain respondents' trust and support, the researchers complied with all the ethical concerns. The participants' confidentiality was ensured, and maximum respect observed for the individuals and the university as a whole. Respondents were also informed about the study and asked to participate voluntarily, and advised that they could withdraw at any time and for any reason. Next, they were asked to sign a written consent form. Filling out an initial questionnaire followed, where participants provided information about their gender and age, and indicated their type of high school and their year in university.
In order to address ethical issues and to gain respondents' trust and support, the researchers complied with all the ethical concerns. The participants' confidentiality was ensured, and maximum respect observed for the individuals and the university as a whole. Respondents were also informed about the study and asked to participate voluntarily, and advised that they could withdraw at any time and for any reason. Next, they were asked to sign a written consent form. Filling out an initial questionnaire followed, where participants provided information about their gender and age, and indicated their type of high school and their year in university.

Data Analysis
The data were collected over a four-day period for an experimental 3 x 2 mixed model ANOVA, and were processed by using SPSS software for descriptive data analysis in terms of means, standard deviations, and t-tests. Statistical analysis included computation of frequencies, means, and standard deviation for the following descriptive categories: gender, type of high school, and year in university. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Only statistically significant findings are reported in the study.

Participants
This study reports on 233 undergraduate students (107 males and 126 females) composed of 45.9 percent male and 54.1 percent female students. Of the sample, 77.7 percent were between the ages of 17 and 21 years, 19.7 percent were between 22 and 26 years, and the remaining 2.6 percent ranged in age from 27 to 42 years. In all, 89.7 percent were Kuwaiti citizens, 2.1 percent the Gulf Cooperation Council GCC citizens, and 8.2 percent residents of another Arab country. Of the students surveyed, 54.9 percent went to public high schools and 45.1 percent to private high schools. Also, 56.2 percent of the students were freshmen, 34.8 percent sophomores, 6.4 percent juniors, and 2.6 percent seniors.

Reliability
The affective dimension of Gradner's socioeducational model and its associated Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) is reported to have good reliability and validity (Gardner, 1985;. The reliability for the adapted questionnaire was calculated by means of Cronbach's alpha coefficient. According to DeVellis (2003), values ranging from 0.65 to 0.70 indicate an acceptable reliability, while Cronbach's aplpha value ranging from 0.70 to 0.80 indicates a good reliability. Table 2 shows the reliability values of the AMTB items. In this study, coefficient alphas for the eight AMTB items ranged from α 0.71-0.79 indicating that the reliability was good in this particular sample. The construct validity of the AMTB items was also assessed by comparing the relationships among the aggregate measures of the eight items. In this study Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was used as a statistical measure to compare the relationaship among the aggregate measures of the eight AMTB items. According to Cohen, Cohen, West, and Aiken (2003), a correlation coefficient ranging from .10 to .29 is thought to represent a weak or small correlation; a correlation coefficient ranging from .30 to .49 is considered a moderate correlation; and a correlation coefficient of .50 or larger is thought to represent a strong or large correlation.
Strong correlations were found between integrative orientation (r=.451, p<.01); motivational intensity (r=.323, p<.01); desire to learn English (r=.292, p<.01); attitude toward learning English (r=.394, p<.01); instrumental orientation (r=.460, p<.01); parental encouragement (r=.435, p<.01). Significant negative relationship was found between students English class anxiety and English use anxiety, but this was expected. Research participants in the Gardner and MacIntyre (1993) study found significant negative correlations between English-speaking students' language classroom anxiety and language use anxiety of French language.

Descriptive statistics of the questionnaire
The statistical analysis focused on four different metrics: the learners' cultural background, gender differences, the type of high school students attended, and the students' year of study in the university.
An independent sample t-test was performed for the data to compare learners' gender means. Table 3 presents the means considering all eight variables selected from the AMTB.  Table 3 shows that integrative motivation, motivational intensity, desire to learn English, attitude toward English, English use anxiety, and instrumental orientation differed significantly between the groups. Moreover, the female students scored higher compared to male learners in terms of integrative orientation, motivational intensity, desire to learn English, attitude toward learning English, instrumental orientation, and parental encouragement, whereas male learners scored higher in terms of English class anxiety and English use anxiety. The results indicate that gender is a significant factor in determining the motivational level of learners toward English learning.
Additional statistical analysis was carried out to determine whether significant differences exist between learners who graduated from public high schools and private high schools. The results indicate two significant differences related to English class anxiety and English use anxiety.  The results in Table 4 also show that learners who graduated from public high schools had more desire to learn English, were more instrumentally oriented, had stronger parental encouragement, and were more anxious in English classes. On the other hand, learners who graduated from private high schools were more integratively oriented, their motivational intensity was higher, they were more instrumentally oriented, and their English use anxiety was lower. This indicates that the type of high school is also an essential factor related to motivation and attitude toward learning English.
Concerning learners' year in university, learners were divided into freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior students based on their self-reported answers. ANOVA statistical analysis was carried out to determine whether there was a statistical difference in English learning motivation according to year in university. Table 5 presents the means and standard deviations of the students' motivation by year in university. Table 6 presents the variations across the learners' year in university.  Vol. 13, No. 5;2020 As can be seen from According to the descriptive statistics, when learners start their studies as freshmen, they put in more effort to learn English (motivational intensity), while sophomores experience anxiety in terms of English classes and English use. However, students in their third year of study do not experience as much anxiety. Instead, they are more instrumentally oriented: in other words, they are more interested to learn the language for career purposes.
On the other hand, senior learners demonstrate stronger and positive changes in terms of their motivation toward learning English related to integrating with English speaking culture, desire, and attitude toward the language; above all, their level of parental encouragement is powerful.
The data included in Table 6 present the results of the ANOVA, revealing several significant main effects for learners' year in university regarding the AMTB variables that are explored in the present study, with significance at the 0.05 level. The results of the ANOVA reveal a significant difference in three variables of the AMTB: motivational intensity (p<0.02), desire to learn English (p<0.03) and English use anxiety (p<0.00). The results indicate that learners' motivation, operationalized by their year in college, is another important factor related to motivation and attitude toward learning English.

Discussion and Conclusion
In an attempt to capture the picture of Arab learners' motivation toward learning English in Kuwait, six research questions and six hypotheses were created in this study. The results were analyzed directly through using Gardner's AMTB, and indirectly through using Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions.
The first research question of this study concerned the second language motivation of Arab learners in Kuwait and the relationship with Hofstede's power distance and Gardner's AMTB subscale of English instruction. Prior to this study, it was assumed that the power distance related to Gardner's AMTB subscale attributed to the English instruction and that the instructor plays an essential role in learners' motivation toward English (H1). The study confirms this hypothesis, because Kuwait affords high respect to the teacher, which is also a dominant rhetoric in Arab societies. In this regard, this finding is in line with the previous research in which teachers are well respected because they are ususally regarded as experts in education which includes giving feedback, providing information and suggesting practical advice (Van der Westhuizen, 2011; Korver & Tillema, 2014) The assumption that learners' motivation to learn English related to the high school type (public or private) (H2) turned out to be accurate. Students who graduated from private high schools, where English is the medium of instruction (EMI), were more integratively oriented, their motivational intensity was higher, they were more instrumentally oriented, and their English use anxiety was lower. This confirms previous studies indicating that the empowering potential of EMI contributes to students' satisfaction taking the courses in English (Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012;Rhodes, 2017). In addition, the benefits of EMI for students include leacture comprehension, language development and career advancement (Tatzl, 2011;Rose, Curle, Aizawa & Thompson, 2019) The third hypothesis, based on the expectation that the motivation of students approaching graduation would be stronger (H3), has been statistically confirmed. Senior learners-i.e., learners approaching graduation-demonstrated positive changes in terms of their motivation toward learning English, with full parental encouragement. This finding ties well with previous studies (Dörnyei, 2001;Stevens, 2005;Deci & Ryan, 2012) wherein motivational forces originating from the better employment opportunities where they need to speak English, and parental encouragement have a great influence on how much effort students are willing to invest in language learning and highlights the importance of mastering the English proficiency.

AMTB Factors
The fourth hypothesis assumed that Hofstede's dimension of uncertainty avoidance could be linked to the AMTB variables of integrative and instrumental orientation and attitude toward learning English (H4), and these variables have been confirmed to be significant in learners' motivation to learn English. This finding is in accordance with the earlier findings that students' integrative and instrumental orientation is highly associated with attitudes and motivation to learn a second or additional language (González, 2010;Liu et al., 2016). Hofstede's dimension of uncertainty avoidance, in which changes proceed carefully through step-by-step planning, implemented by rules, laws, and regulations, could be considered to be indirectly integrated into learners' own cultural identity (Norton, 2006;Block, 2007;Hall, 2012;).
The assumption that there are no significant differences between female and male learners' motivation in learning English (H5) was not supported by the data generated from the study. Considering that female learners' motivation to learn English was higher in comparison to male learners, and at the same time, male learners put a high value on English class anxiety and English use anxiety, the hypothesis expecting no gender difference must be rejected. This is consistent with what has been found in previous studies indicating that female students are more motivated than male students in learning a second or foreign language (e.g. Dörnyei, Csizér & Nemeth, 2006;Mori & Gobel, 2006). The results of this study also contradict previous research in which no gender diferences were found (Yashima, Nishida, & Mizumoto, 2017).
The hypothesis related to collectivism instead of individualism-i.e., parental encouragement is a significant factor affecting motivation to learn English (H6)-proved to be accurate. A similar conclusion was reached by other studies indicating that parents offer encouragement to their childer to be successful in their education and career (Dörnyei, 2001;Dörnyei & Csizér 2002;Gardner, 2010;Butler, 2014). Thus, it appears that Hofstede's collectivism rather than individualism can be linked most closely to Arab learners' motivation toward learning English in Kuwait.
The results of this study point to some intriguing directions for further research on motivation. Before exploring those directions, however, some interpretations of the findings in terms of the cultural context of Kuwait should be discussed. Specific themes emerged from the data in this study that have not been addressed until now. These themes help situate the findings in the context of the sample, thus offering possible explanations for what was observed.
A phenomenon observed in the gathered data was related to the issue of learners' anxiety. Participants reported anxiety about using English and English classes. Why does anxiety have such a powerful effect on the learners' learning of English? One explanation for English user anxiety is that English has a very high status in Kuwait, and the educational expectations for English proficiency are very high. The other explanation is that the teacher's judgment is unquestioned because the teacher has an influential role in the classroom. This explanation is related to the trust and respect given to teachers in Kuwait, based on the value an Arab society places on learning in general. This also corresponds with Kuwait's high score on Hofstede's dimension of power distance, indicating deference to individuals viewed as higher up in the hierarchal order. Thus, it could be interpreted that the high anxiety in the English classroom might be related to the teacher, because the learners view their teachers as authority figures with high expectations of their performance. Also, based on the high degree of collectivism in Kuwaiti society, poor performance in English is perceived to reflect negatively on the group to which the learner belongs (family, extended family, tribe). Further studies are indicated to test English teachers' attitude, and in what ways their attitude is expressed within the context of the classroom.
In terms of gender differences, females were found to be more motivated than male learners. The question elt.ccsenet.org English Language Teaching Vol. 13, No. 5;2020 remains as to why Arab female learners appear to be more motivated than Arab male learners in Kuwait. One explanation, as suggested by Griffin (2006), is that educated career women are regarded as a symbol of Kuwait's modernization, participating in and contributing to their country's progress. This explanation is well suited to the Kuwaiti context, where women are supported in their educational and career goals, but at the same time are required to be obedient to authority, whether that authority is in the family or the social context.
This study has sought to emphasize that in a study of second language learning, it is important to know the learners, their backgrounds, and the learning context. A critical lens is required, one that incorporates ethnography acknowledges the researcher's position in the meaning-making process, and considers learners' path over time. The educational programs for English teachers should emphasize the awareness of the learners' motivation and the relationship with their cultural background. English teachers should understand their students' cultural backgrounds and create tools to learn and assess their motivation.