2. Literature Review

2.1 Theoretical Basis

2.1.1 Motivation Theory

It is widely acknowledged that motivation stimulates people to work with great enthusiasm and face up the difficulties with great courage just strongly longing for the achievement of the objective. So does motivation in the field of language learning. Indeed, the role of learnersrsquo; motivation in second or foreign leaning has been demonstrated by many researchers interested in this subject (e.g. Belmechr and Hummel,1998 et al).

People from different territories provide different points of view of definition of motivation. According to Ball (ibid,1957), motivated students are those who hope to do things which teachers expect, while unmotivated students are the ones who would not like to do things based on teachersrsquo; expectation. However, Beard and Senior (1980), two behaviorist psychologists, are not in the same line because they hold the opinion that “incentives and rewards” are motivations when behavior is established. Here in this thesis, the former type of definition of motivation is preferred.

2.1.1.1 Classification and characteristics of Motivation

To learn a foreign language just as English obviously requires motivation. And the classification of motivation is one of the indispensable parts to be mentioned if the research involved with motivation is being done. At most of the time, it refers to the distinction between integrative and instrumental orientation, intrinsic and extrinsic orientation of the learner.

Research suggests that intrinsic orientations influence deeply on learning, especially for long-term memory. Though extrinsic motivation is also profitable to the acquisition of a foreign language, intrinsic motivation apparently excels extrinsic motivation. That owes to the fact that intrinsic motivation is a procedure longer than extrinsic motivation. On the other hand, it is really an important prerequisite for success in language learning in the long run.

As for integrative motivation and instrumental motivation, the former “refers to learners wish to integrate themselves with the culture of the target language group, to identify themselves and become a part of that society” (Brown 154) while the latter is involve in practical reasons for language learning instead of social integration of the target language.

As an internal feeling, motivation is based on needs. And the characteristics of it are as what follows. The first is dynamic property which means motivation could make language learners change from a static state to an active state and, at the meantime, preserve the strength of onersquo;s behavior during a period of long time. The second is selectivity which means when learners can be in an active state; it will as well promote them to choose some certain activities over others. The third is intensity. It means the stronger the motivation is, the more intense onersquo;s behavior will be. The last one is persistence. It is easy to understand that the behavior will disappear after the destination is achieved. In other words, if motivation still exists, the behavior will still be lasting.

2.1.1.2 Relation between Motivation Theory and Language Learning

Obviously, the four types of motivation do not work individually but together on learning a foreign language. For the significance role that motivation plays on learning a language, it is teachersrsquo; responsibility to consider carefully about developing activities that are able to arouse studentsrsquo; interests and sustain the interests when learning English so that they can focus more on class and studying instead of being distracted by other more interesting things. Therefore, one good approach is to apply classroom games in teaching English, particularly in vocabulary teaching. When playing games, students have much more motivation and enthusiasm to learn from teachers in order to behave well in the games. As a result, they can understand the vocabulary better in communication with others and put it into use in a better way. It is actually a necessity for students to grasp a language-English.

As what is described above, it can be learned that motivation, especially the intrinsic and integrative motivation, is beneficial to promote and preserve studentsrsquo; curiosity, interest and activeness. And it can be activated by some certain competitive activities like games.

2.1.2 Cooperative Learning

In English class, there is constant cooperation between students and teachers as well as between students and students especially when some activities are planned to be finished by more than one students or one teacher. Here comes a theory—Cooperative Learning—giving educators directions to the appropriate ways to make full use of cooperation into language learning and teaching.

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