This study’s main purpose was to identify adult learners’ motivation to pursue learning at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu adult-education schools. The study also investigates if there is a difference by gender, by age, and among learners in terms of their internal and external motivation to learn. The study’s theoretical framework came from Knowles’ theory of andragogy. A survey consisting of a self-administered questionnaire was used. The study population included all adult learners (n = 463) at the Yanbu adult-education schools in Saudi Arabia. The results revealed the importance of the five motivators (social contact, family togetherness, social stimulation, cognitive interest, and religious stimulation) for adult learners at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu adult-education schools. However, this study indicated that adult learners are more motivated internally than externally. Therefore, teachers should pay attention to the internal factors more than the external factor to keep up with their students’ level of motivation.

中文翻译：

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激励成人学习者在沙特阿拉伯的成人教育学校学习

本研究的主要目的是确定成年学习者在沙特阿拉伯延布成人教育学校学习的动机。该研究还调查了性别、年龄以及学习者的内部和外部学习动机是否存在差异。该研究的理论框架来自于诺尔斯的女性生殖学理论。使用了由自我管理的问卷组成的调查。研究人群包括沙特阿拉伯延布成人教育学校的所有成人学习者（n = 463）。结果揭示了沙特阿拉伯延布成人教育学校成人学习者的五种激励因素（社会接触、家庭团聚、社会刺激、认知兴趣和宗教刺激）的重要性。然而，这项研究表明，成年学习者的内在动机比外在动机更强。因此，教师更应该关注内部因素而不是外部因素，以跟上学生的学习动机水平。