How the English teachers of SMPK St. Agnes Surabaya motivate the students and maintain the motivation in learning English : an observational study

English is one of the most important languages in the world. That is why the government of Indonesia places English as one of the compulsory subjects in every school. This condition sometimes makes some students feel forced in learning English. They only learn English by following the lesson at school, but they do not have any interest or motivation in learning the language. Mean while, one of the keys to success in language learning is motivation. By having motivation the students learn more actively. If a student is not motivated to learn he will reject the learning situations which can produce the desired changes, in the way, he will not gain any success (Donald, 1966:12). In this case, a teacher has an important role in the classroom in motivating the students and also maintaining the motivation in learning the language. In this study the writer did some observations to know how the English teachers motivate the students and maintain the motivation in learning English. The writer conducted the observation at SMPK St. Agnes Surabaya. So, here the writer observed the English teachers' strategies in motivating the students and maintaining the motivation in learning English. This is a qualitative research that analyzes teaching activities that take place in natural settings. The teaching activities that are observed can be used to describe the teachers' strategies in motivating the students and maintaining the motivation in learning English. After doing five time observations on teacher A and five time observations on teacher B, the writer found out that both teachers almost used the same strategies in motivating the students. The same strategies were: demonstrate and talk about the teacher's enthusiasms for the course material and how it affects him personally, develop a personal relationship with the students, create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom make the curriculum and the teaching materials relevant to the students, take the students' learning very seriously, and promote the development of group cohesiveness. Then, the other strategies of teacher A which were not same with teacher B were: promote the students' awareness of the instrumental values associated with the knowledge of an L2, and promote the learners' language related values by presenting peer role models. Meanwhile, teacher B's strategy which was not same with teacher A was: help to create realistic learner beliefs. Teacher A applied four strategies in maintaining the motivation. The strategies were: make the learning more stimulating and enjoyable for the learner by breaking the monotony of classroom events, make learning stimulating and enjoyable for the learners by enlisting them as active task participation, help diminish language anxiety by removing or reducing the anxiety provoking elements in the learning environment and raise the students' self motivating capacity. However, in terms of maintaining the motivation it was found out that teacher B never used any strategy to maintain her students' motivation in learning English. The writer suggests that a teacher may vary the strategies in motivating the students and maintaining the motivation, so that the students will not feel bored during the lesson. A teacher should also maintain the motivation, so that the students can always be encouraged to learn actively