Motivation is an essential factor in determining the effort of L2 learners and has been a topic of research

for many years. A prime example of this is the L2 Motivational Self System by Dörnyei (2005). Alsharani
(2016) set out to conduct the study “L2 Motivational Self System Among Arab EFL Learners: Saudi
Perspective” in order to investigate the integrativeness of such models in the Saudi region and the
findings proved to bolster the validity of the system. The paper is well-written, however, a literature
review should be included, the study should have targeted a wider range of ages and a diversity in the
sample size could make for better results and generalisability.

Ali Ayed S. Alshahrani (2016) conducted a study using a sample size of 400 students to inquire into the
efficacy of the L2 motivational self esteem system to examine motivational behaviours of students at a
Saudi Arabian university using the Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2009). The findings of Ali Ayed
S. Alshahrani (2016) reinforced the validity of the framework as well as its effectiveness within the Saudi
region.

First of all, it is necessary to have a literature review.

To gain an understanding of the research on the validity of the Motivational L2 self-system, the author
should have included a literature review. Conducting a literature review helps build knowledge in this
field. It would also bring clarity and focus to the research problem, improve the author's research
methodology and contextualise the findings.

In addition, the study sample could target at a wider range of ages

The study was conducted using the questionnaires which were given to students majoring in English at a
southern Saudi Arabian university campus during the 2015 fall semester. It is plausible that a large
number of participants , more than 400 male students, completed the questionnaires. However, the age
range of the participants in this study was limited to between 17 and 24. With such a small range of
ages, it is difficult to generalise these findings to the larger student population. Would the Motivational
L2 self system have any greater impact on the success in language learning of younger and older
students? The answer to this question could be easily found by providing accessible questionnaires
which are appropriate to the various age ranges. As Elisabet Tort Calvo mentioned in his article
“Motivation provides the force to start learning an L2 and to sustain the later learning process (Dörnyei,
2001a)” (Elisabet Tort Calvo June 2015).

Finally, the diversity of universities and participants’ genders should have been considered to be more
convincing.

Experimental methods are fully described in detail through their agreement on a six-point Likert scale
ranging, which is specifically anonymous and could be surveyed anywhere by participants, which helped
the students to be more willing to make their choices. Nevertheless, part 3.1 shows that ''the study
sample targeted students majoring in English at a southern Saudi Arabian university campus during the
2015 fall semester.'' The study should have been finalised at a variety of universities so that more
convincing evidence could be gathered showing the selection of the whole Saudi Arabian student
demographic and not exclusively one university.

Ali Ayed S. Alshahrani (2016) showed the important correlations within the L2 Motivation Self System, as
the study findings support the integrity of said system. However, the lack of symmetry between the
participants’ sexes could limit the generalisability of the findings. Future studies on the subject matter
with a diversity of universities and participants’ genders could prove instrumental to provide further
insights on the L2 motivational self-esteem among Arab EFL learners.