International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning 2018 Volume 7 Number 4, 69-79 © The Author(s) / Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND 'The choice is made from no choice': What motivates Libyan EFL teachers to work in times of change? Suwaed, Hameda Sabratha University, Libya (hamedasuwaed@gmail.com) Received: 9 March 2018 Revised: 30 March 2018 Accepted: 20 April 2018 Available Online: 18 May 2018 DOI: 10.5861/ijrsll.2018.3001 ISSN: 2243-7754 Online ISSN: 2243-7762 OPEN ACCESS Abstract Libya is currently experiencing dramatic economic, social and political challenges. These challenges have a significant impact on the educational system. These challenges affect the teachers’ academic, professional and daily lives. Consequently, some teachers feel less motivated to teach. Most English as a foreign language (EFL) research has investigated students' motivation, but there is very little research on teachers' motivation, especially in Libya. Thus, this study aims to investigate the factors that motivate EFL college teachers in Sabratha College of Arts and methods to enhance their motivation. Semi structured interviews with twelve teachers were used to collect data in this study. The findings of the study showed that, among the intrinsic, extrinsic and altruistic reasons, passion about teaching, collegiality, and enjoyment of working with students were considered the most important motivating key factors. Keywords: altruistic; collegiality; extrinsic; intrinsic; teachers’ motivation