سارا کاظمی

Known as what educational contexts do not teach, null curriculum has been considered one of the most significant types of curricula due to its absence, being left out or overlooked. This non-existent curriculum brings an important theoretical tool to the field of curriculum development for the idea that something which is not offered to students has an educational significance and effect. To follow the purpose of the study which is teachers' perspectives on the null curriculum at the BA level, 300 university instructors were selected to participate in this study. To answer the research questions various statistical methods (one-way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Scheffe’s test) have been utilized. Results of this quantitative study revealed that among the sub-constructs of the 21 st century, critical thinking, collaboration skills, creativity and innovation skills, self-direction skills, technological literacy, global and local connection skills, economic and financial literacy, business and entrepreneurial literacy and media literacy should be considered as aspects of the null curriculum in TEFL curriculum in BA level in Iran, and they should be added to the present curriculum; however, communication skills are not regarded as aspects of null. In addition, Iranian EFL university instructors’ ratings on different components of 21 st -century skills as one aspect of the null curriculum significantly differed. Finally, a model was proposed to describe the relationship between the ratings of the components of 21st-century skills as one aspect of the null curriculum by Iranian EFL university instructors. The findings of the present study can help to a better understanding of the ELT curriculum, aspects of the null curriculum, and 21 st -century skills in the Iranian context.

The need to use effective new strategies and instruments for the sake of reinforcing the EFL learners’ speaking fluency and accuracy is the main goal of the language learners and teachers. Hence, the present research aimed to discover the effect of online-based gamification on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners' speaking accuracy and speaking fluency by using a quasi-experimental design. Forty Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners from Gooyesh English Language Institute in Mashhad were selected through convenience sampling as the target participants of the study. At the outset of the study, a researcher-made pre-test of speaking fluency and accuracy was administered to the 40 participants of the study. Then, online-based games such as What Happens Next Game, Picture that Story, Online ESL Jigsaw Activity, Show and Tell Game, and ESL A- B gap Fill Game were used to expand the speaking fluency and accuracy of the experimental group's learners while traditional methods were utilized to teach speaking fluency and accuracy to the participants of the control group. Finally, a researcher-made speaking post-test was administered to the participants of both groups. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were calculated to answer the research questions. The findings displayed that online-based games significantly improved Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners' speaking accuracy and fluency. However, there was no significant difference between the speaking accuracy and fluency of the participants of the experimental group after using the online-based gamification. Based on the findings of the study, gaming can be considered the most appropriate instrument in the process of learning speaking skills such as speaking fluency and accuracy.