CLARA KARJO (BINUS UNIVERSITY)

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DUOLINGO METHOD IN LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES : DIGITAL LITERACIES/LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY

Duolingo is a popular language learning app that makes its users addicted to learning new languages, because of its gamification features. Duolingo basically uses the grammar translation method to teach the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). While Duolingo is designed as a personal learning application, is it possible to apply its teaching method into the actual classroom? This study aims to analyze the merits of Duolingo language teaching method, as well as assess the effectiveness of applying Duolingo method in a conventional classroom. Thus, this study uses a qualitative approach to analyze the method in light of language acquisition theory. Meanwhile, to assess the effectiveness of the language teaching method, we use a semi-experimental design by giving a Duolingo model test to 30 students in a classroom setting. The test material will be taken from the exercise in Duolingo Chinese course, unit 26, Discuss Sport. The participants were purposefully selected university students from Chinese Department. Their test results will show us which language skills gained better scores, which indicates Duolingo's effectiveness in certain language skills. In addition, the results of this study will give language teachers insight into how to teach languages in an exciting and meaningful way.

Dr. Clara Herlina Karjo is a senior lecturer in English Department, Binus University. She holds a doctorate degree in English Applied Linguistics. She has written research articles in various applied linguistic fields such as language teaching, translation, digital discourse, and language testing.