Abstract

The aim of the present study was to alleviate the students' motivation and alphabet learning weaknesses through applying action study. The participants were 12 male seven graders in one of South Khorasan junior high schools.
Lesson 5 alphabets were taught by precise following of the Teacher Guide. The Mixed methods research was applied. Three instruments applied were the checklist used by observers to record what happened in the classroom, self-evaluation cards filled by the students, and test scores from this part of the lesson. After not achieving ideal results, especially in writing skill and motivation level, a gap in communicative activities and games in accordance with five-fold elements of National Curriculum (thinking, faith, knowledge, acting, and morality) was felt. The students' motivation and learning were increased by the use of many various kinds of games, task completion activities, group work in which other features of Communicative Language Teaching and National Curriculum like communicative competence, interaction and cooperation, pleasant learning environment, students' individual differences can be established. The results of paired samples t-test showed a significant difference between the scores obtained from lesson 6 test compared to lesson 5.
Hopefully, the present action study findings may help authors and teachers teach more effectively by applying the suggested activities.