This study aims to investigate English language learning motivation and English language learning anxiety in Saudi military cadets. Some 174 Saudi military cadets completed a questionnaire specifically developed to be used in the context of Saudi Arabia. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyse a proposed model using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 21. The study found that the students’ language learning effort was determined by their Ideal L2 Self and their positive attitudes towards their immediate learning environment. However, the students’ imposed social ideal-self as well as their negative attitudes towards their immediate learning environment contributed to their Ought-to L2 Self, which in turn increased their English learning anxiety. Parental encouragement and religious interest impacted on the Saudi L2 learners’ Ideal L2 Self and their language learning attitudes, which might have helped them to see themselves as future L2 users and to adopt positive attitudes to their immediate learning environment. This in turn motivated them to invest more effort and be more persistent in learning English.