The role of clandestine assessment in Iranian EFL context: a teacher's perceptions about the impact of educational digital-based games on teaching and learning English

Nowadays, the role of factors such as the virtual world, social networks, and online games and their impacts on learners` lives under no circumstances cannot be overlooked and are starting to show their usefulness in second/foreign language learning and testing through creative methods of teaching, learning, and testing (Qiao et al., 2022). Today's learners who have been grown up via Internet facilities almost never experienced a globe without the internet, Children between the ages of five and eight are most likely to learn how to use computers (Dede, 2005; Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005). The use of digital gaming in conjunction with instructional material may aid language learners in comprehending linguistic information. Clandestine assessment games have been found to be excellent learning aids in which learning activities are inserted covertly, enable deep understanding, and results can be measured based on the intended skill without the students being aware of it. In the English classrooms of the Safir language institution, this qualitative case study investigated an instructor`s perspectives to determine to what extent teaching and learning are affected by such assessment games. This study uncovered trends in how and why Iranian EFL learners' linguistic knowledge growth might be guided and supported by covert assessment games.