سمانه یعقوبی

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.