The present study compared and analyzed intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that influence students’ interest to learn critical language. The study was based on comparison of two intrinsic motivational factors, Interest and Choice, and three extrinsic motivational factors, Effort, Travel goals, and Professional goals, between critical language and commonly taught language learners. The study also examined the role of self-efficacy in learning critical and commonly taught languages. There were 573 students enrolled in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, and Spanish classes in the spring semester in 2013 who participated in this study. The participants attended five public universities and three liberal arts colleges. The data was collected using the paper-based survey questionnaire. To analyze the data, the following statistical methods were applied: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and Tukey honestly significant test, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, and path analysis. The results of the study indicated that extrinsic motivation was stronger for both groups of language learners, critical and commonly taught languages. The findings also proved strong correlation between Self-efficacy and the extrinsic construct Effort and the intrinsic construct Interest.