Lacking learning motivation has been a common phenomenon among students of non-English speaking countries in the world. Without motivation, learning definitely results in failure or ineffeciency, and that is why so many educators and language experts worldwide have been cudgeling their brains trying to find out the cause of motivelessness and figure out the solution to the problems. The paper aims to disclose the importance of motivation on foreign language(English)teaching and learning, and state briefly on the history and development of learning motivation. It was 1970s,when the Canadian scholar Gardner et al., from social cultural angle, first proposed the most revolutionary theory on motivation, afterwards, a bunch of scholars and specialist joined the debate trying to raise doubts and amendments from all aspects to make some adjustment and theory on teaching as well as the suggestions to the overcoming of the blind spot that researchers might come across in the future study. 缺乏學習動機一直是全世界非英語系國家學生普遍的現象。沒有學習動機必然導致學習成效不彰，也因此全世界許多教育學家及語言專家無不絞盡腦汁，試圖尋找缺乏動機背後的原因及提供有效的解決之道。本文旨在揭櫫動機在外語教學及學習上之重要性；並簡述動機理論之沿革與發展。７０年代加拿大籍教授Gardner等人採社會文化的角度率先提出最具革命性的動機理論，接著有諸多學者專家提出後續相關論述，嚐試從各種角度提出對既有理論之質疑、修正並作為研究方向之調整與轉移。本文最後提出動機理論在教學上之應用，同時對於未來進行相關研究時有待克服之盲點提出建議。
