Abstract The present research aimed firstly to compare gifted and non-gifted high school students in terms of goal-orientation, internal motivation and L2 achievement. Then, it aimed to focus on gifted students and explore whether their goal-orientation and motivation predicted their L2 achievement. To this aim, two questionnaires (goal-orientation and internal motivation) were submitted to 200 male high school students in a multicultural megacity in Western Asia. Their grade performance average (GPA) was taken as L2 achievement indicator. Cronbach’s alpha test of internal consistency showed the two tests enjoyed an acceptable level of reliability. To compare gifted and non-gifted students’ goal-orientation and motivation, independent-sample T-test was run which showed statistically significant differences. Gifted students’ goal- orientation and motivation showed to be significantly higher than the non-gifted. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation but not statistically significant between goal-orientation and motivation. Multiple regression analysis revealed that motivation was a better predictor of gifted students’ L2 achievement. The overall findings help to cast light on how gifted and non-gifted students differ in terms of two important variables, goal-orientation and motivation. As it also focused more specifically on gifted students, who are often discriminated from ordinary students and receive special governmental and non-governmental attention and facilities, it shed light on important aspects of their goal-orientation and motivation in learning English as a Foreign Language. The results can help course and curriculum designers in Asian education system, usually tinted with different manifestations of discrimination (Brown, 2015), to better serve the goal-oriented and motivational needs and expectations of gifted students in the education system.

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