LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ALM………Audiolingual Method CALL……….Computer-assisted language learning CTAMTPB………Combined TAM and the Theory of Planned Behaviour EFL………..English as a Foreign Langua
Rationale
Along with the development and globalization of all elements of business, education, and society nowadays, students place a premium on becoming multilingual Those who desire to study a new language are aware of the advantages of learning more than two languages Many studies suggest that learning a foreign language not only improves brain health but also helps students achieve their future job goals
The present world is a post-globalization world This means that communication between people from different countries is at a fundamentally different level at present
It is completely common for us to relocate, study abroad, communicate with foreigners, and use foreign languages for commercial purposes Now, not knowing at least one foreign language excludes a person from many aspects of life English is now possibly the most important foreign language However, one cannot confine oneself to them in relation to the development of China, Japanese and Korea
As previously stated, mastery of a foreign language is an unquestionable asset for career success However, not everyone can devote a few days per week to rigorous language acquisition With the advance of technology, mobile apps that allow you to learn at any convenient time and place have developed to assist individuals who are extremely busy In fact, the current world produces situations in which a foreign language is incredibly useful and important in daily life, but the level of globalization is not high enough to allow constant communication in this language from the outside environment This situation creates a demand for mobile applications that help people maintain their language level when they do not have the opportunity or need to study with an instructor Teachers have the option of directly developing these programs or using artificial intelligence to complete internal duties Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic which forced many educational institutions to temporarily close, the importance of mobile-assisted learning apps has been more emphasized
The research focuses on factors that affect English language-major students’ intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo - a popular educational mobile application which provides plentiful foreign languages learning programs, at National Economics University.
Purposes
The study is aimed at:
Analysing the main factors affecting the intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo of English-major students at National Economics University
Proposing some suggestions for foreign language teachers and Duolingo application developers that help them attract students using it.
Research question
The research aims to answer the following questions:
The first question is: What are the main factors affecting NEU English-major students’ intention to learn foreign languages via Duolingo and how do those factors affect the students’ decisions?
The second question is: What are the reasons why the other students chose not to use Duolingo for the support of their foreign languages learning process?
The third question is: What can be done to improve the features of this educational mobile application to satisfy their current users and encourage more students using them to learn foreign languages?
Research scope
Content scope: The research focuses on the main factors affecting the intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo of English language-major students at National Economics University Additionally, the research is carried out to investigate the main reasons why the other FFL students refuse to use Duolingo for their language learning process, and to suggest some recommendations for teachers and developers to encourage students using this mobile application for learning foreign languages
Time scope: The study was conducted from December 2022 to March 2023 Geographical scope: The study was based at NEU, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
Research structure
The study includes three main parts:
Introduction presents the rationale, objectives, research questions, research scope and design of the study
Development consists of five chapters
Chapter I: Literature review - investigates the existing domestic and international studies about factors affecting English-major students’ intentions to use foreign languages learning mobile applications that are similar to Duolingo to find out the research gap
Chapter II Theoretical Framework – reviews related concepts, as well as their definitions, and existing theories that support the research study
Chapter III Research Methodology - describes the method of the investigation conducted in the study
Chapter IV: Results and discussion - provides an analysis and findings on the participants’ attitudes and opinions about the factors affecting their intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo at National Economics University
Conclusion presents the summary of the study, limitations, and the suggestion for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review of international research
Internationally, there have been numerous studies to investigate the factors affecting the intention to learn foreign languages for university students However, few researchers have examined factors influencing students’ intention to learn through Duolingo, despite the fact that the number of students choosing to learn via educational mobile applications is remarkable Until now, we have identified three other research that investigate the similar topic to our paper
Berns, Isla-Montes, Palomo - Duarte, and Dodero (2016) created “The VocabTrainerA1 app” for European students who do not have enough opportunities to apply their language skills to face-to-face communication A survey was conducted among 104 German language students (A1.2 CEFR) who had previously been enrolled in a first-semester A1.1 level course at a Spanish university The aim of this study is to measure learners’ motivation, perceived usefulness and added value of hybrid game- based applications Moreover, this paper showed that learning applications which combine individual and collaborative learning tasks can motivate learners and better meet language learning needs
Fouz-González (2020) assessed the effectiveness of pronunciation training mobile applications on 52 Spanish students enrolled in English Studies degrees This study was set up to explore the potential of the English File Pronunciation app to help learners improve their perception and production of a range of English sounds Pre- and post-tests were used to evaluate the participants’ perception and production (imitative, controlled, and spontaneous) before and after training It showed that this educational application fostered substantial improvements in the learners' perception and production of the target features
Ke Yang (2020) investigates potential variables that might affect students' motivation in MALL in real-world learning settings Four fundamental language skills are taught and learned in conjunction with developing technology The benefits of mobile devices in facilitating language acquisition have been discovered in recent research Because of the intricacy of the virtual learning environment, motivation needs further scholarly investigation This qualitative study intends to investigate numerous elements that could encourage or deter the motivation of EFL students in a real-world MALL setting
Although some studies discuss similar topics, none of these conducted a research on Duolingo separately, as well as targeting specific audiences in certain regions of the world Therefore, the research directs at a specific language learning-assisted application named Duolingo, as well as is conducted in Vietnam, especially in National Economics University, will bring a new perspective on the factors influencing the intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo of students, which is more suitable to the actual situation during the technology era of Vietnam.
Literature review of domestic studies
Even though Vietnam encourages technological growth and desires to apply technology to education, this issue has gotten little attention in Vietnam As a result, very little research on the same topic has been undertaken We discovered only one study in Vietnam on the similar topic of factors influencing Vietnamese students’ intention to use mobile apps as a tool for learning foreign languages
Bui Thu Huyen & Dao Trung Kien (2020) uses a structured questionnaire as a research data collection tool to evaluate the influence of factors on the intention to use educational mobile applications for Vietnamese students The research model was developed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and perceived enjoyment Analytical results from 306 users at universities show that intention to use educational applications is influenced by (1) perceived ease of use; (2) perceived usefulness, (3) perceived enjoyment, and (4) service attitude The study also provides some research implications for developers and service providers who need to focus on exploiting the advantages of mobile applications based on ease of use, usefulness as well as family services increase in entertainment for users.
Research gap
Previous studies have shown that motivation plays an important role in the foreign language learning process through general educational mobile applications Although Anke Berns's study indicated that vocabulary could improve reading and writing skills, and enhance overall linguistic competence, and fluency, learners benefited more in terms of vocabulary rather than in terms of grammar On the other hand, Jonas Fouz-González research focused on the pronunciation aspect and showed that training was necessary for helping English learners Yang Ke and Bùi Thu Hiền, Đào Trung Kiên studies empathized the internal forces that contribute to the language learning process However, the participants of Anke Barns's research were beginner German language students at a Spain university, and Jonas Fouz-González one was students who had completed a B2 course in the first year of their degree and they were now in the first of two courses preparing them for C1 In addition, Yang Ke and Bùi Thu Hiền, Đào Trung Kiên investigations were mainly concentrated on internal forces and neglected the external forces While people who will participate in our research are students at National Economics University who have different levels, goals, and foreign languages that they want to learn Since there is no research on this topic with National Economics University students, therefore, we will work to investigate this gap and propose possible solutions to close it.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Mobile learning
II.1.1 The concept of mobile learning
Portable learning is now an important aspect of educational technology and can be used in a variety of topics It is considered as a type of understanding that incorporates remote, advanced gadgets and technologies Because the adoption of mobile learning has just become mainstream Some research has been conducted to consider the capability of portable improvements in improving study hall instructing learning exercises in advanced education institutions Portable learning has also been shown to be effective in improving language abilities even when documented on paper in a few previous studies (Azar, A S., & Nasiri, H., 2014) Nevertheless, even among ESL students, research shows that college students favour MALL education
As a result, many academics and educators believe that mobile learning has a great potential as an e-learning replacement Below, here are three mobile learning principles that provide a greater level of educational training
The notions of mobile learning can be divided into three major categories The concepts of portability can be classified into three broad categories: versatility of innovation, versatility of pupils, and versatility of adaptation, particularly in higher education The fruitful arrangement of advanced education advice is dependent on the multilateral significance of the term portability as it is used in higher education (Kulska- Hulme & Shield, 2008)
So, these three notions are related and are accordingly significant in making mobile phones conceivable as gadgets for the conveyance of advanced education instructional contents (Salai, 2014) Mind mapping is a suggested tool for assisting with any form of writing Similarly, Dominic (2004) proposed in his study that understudies can create mind maps employing programming This product technique enables students to control and use colours when creating mind maps A research project used programming mind mapping systems with the test group, but not the benchmark group, to quantify its overall outcomes for understudies' composing fulfilment The outcomes of this venture indicate that the previous gathering will score significantly higher than the last gathering
II.1.2 Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL)
In 2006, Chinnery defined MALL as language learning that is assisted or strengthened by the use of a handheld mobile device such as, mobile phones (cellphones/smartphones), MP3 and MP4 players, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
Miangah and Nezarat (2012, p.6) stated that MALL provides “a more convenient environment for people to learn English is one of the strategic educational goals towards improving the students' achievement and supporting differentiation of learning needs” They also claimed that the areas of MALL are mainly on enhancing vocabulary, listening, grammar, phonetics, and reading comprehension In Kim and Yeonhee’s research (2012, p.35), MALL was considered as “a subset of both mobile learning and computer-assisted language learning”
Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra (2018, p.3) called MALL as “a branch of technology-driven learning which can be applied in several forms including face-to face, distant or on-line modes” It is different from CALL in its use of personal, portable devices that afford new ways of learning, emphasizing continuity or spontaneity of access and interaction across different contexts of use (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield,
Many prior researchers have found numerous advantages of MALL
In 2012, Kim and Yeonhee in their research indicated three significant pros of MALL First, MALL enables students to access language learning materials and communicate with people at any time, from anywhere more easily and more promptly Second, the nature of digital technology facilitates students’ participation in both collaborative and individualized language learning activities synchronously and/or asynchronously allowing rapid development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills Third, mobile technology provides various resources and tools for language learning that encourage learners to be more motivated, autonomous, situated (site- specific), and socially interactive
Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra (2018, p.4) praised MALL because of its accessibility: “learning through mobile devices is convenient and free from space- specificity and can happen in a place at any time” They also pointed out that MALL can enhance the access to the classroom activity-subjects and helps learners to communicate and have contacts with their teachers and peers at any time and in every place According to the study MALL provided invaluable opportunities for those learners who suffer from disabilities: “In such cases, technologies can function as sound and precious substitutes for textbooks They can listen to many audio files in tune with their language level and in this manner enhance their proficiency more easily”
Some disadvantages of MALL had also been indicated
The first disadvantage came from mobile phone’s technology This included having a small screen and difficulty in reading on such a screen, limited audio-visual contact, small keyboard, the limited length of messages and data storage The reason for this is because many of the mobile devices have not been created to serve educational goals Therefore, it is difficult for the students to use them for accomplishing the tasks given by their teachers when using MALL
The next cons resulted in the high possibility and likelihood of cheating of students MALL was also said to reduce creativity, ideas, and contents Group of researchers Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra explained in their study: “Mobile devices are constantly connected to the network and go through upgrades, the creation of a burden upon learners’ shoulders to adopt themselves to technology, and their limitation in teaching experimental courses and topics such as laboratory experiments for biology and chemistry students”
Last but not least, MALL can create a sense of cultural opposition in language learners That is to say, second language learners can take it as a cultural threat imposed upon them and as a result, they guard against such a learning method and develop a sense of inhibition and resistance toward the whole process of foreign language learning.
Factors influencing the intention to adopt MALL
II.2.1 The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
The Technology Acceptance Model was first proposed by Fred Davis in 1989 as a model to explain the adoption of new technology based on individuals’ behaviour (Scherer R., Siddiq F & Tondeur J., 2019)
Despite the variety of variables within the TAM such as TAM2 (Davis, 1993), the most prominent version of TAM is the original one (Scherer R., Siddiq F & Tondeur J.,2018), which includes two main factors explaining users’ behaviour towards technology
Perceived usefulness is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance” (Davis, 1993) It can be simplified that the likelihood of the technology’s usefulness for their work explain their decision to use it or not
Perceived ease of use is described as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort” (Davis, 1993) If the new technology is claimed to be difficult to use, it may receive few acceptances
II.2.2 The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
It is proposed in the theoretical model of UTAUT that behavioural intention directly impacts the actual use of technology Along with that, the influence of predictor variables is affected by age, gender, experience, and voluntariness of use among research subjects (Venkatesh et al., 2003) Alike with TAM, UTAUT also has a plenty
Actual use of extending versions (Nicholas-Omoregbeet al., 2016), however the original one presented by Venkatesh remains the most popular used for research purposes
Performance expectancy is defined as "the degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help him or her to attain gains in job performance" (Venkatesh et al., 2003) This element is developed by the concepts from TAM, TAM2 (an extension to TAM), Combined TAM and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (CTAMTPB), Motivational Model (MM), the model of PC utilization (MPCU), Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)
Effort expectancy is described as "the degree of ease associated with the use of the system" (Venkatesh et al., 2003) This factor is based on the perceived ease of use – a measure suggested by TAM, MPCU, IDT These two elements bear a resemblance in their definitions and scales
Social influence is termed as "the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system" (Venkatesh et al., 2003)
Social influence shares a similarity with the subjective norms, social factors and image constructs used in TRA, TAM2, CTAMTPB, MPCU, SCT and IDT The impact of this factor is remarkable when the use of technology is mandated (Venkatesh et al., 2003)
It is explained that in that situation, people might accept using technology because of the compliance requirements rather than their personal preferences (Venkatesh & Davis,
Facilitating conditions is expressed as "the degree to which an individual believes that an organizations and technical infrastructure exists to support the use of the system" (Venkatesh et al., 2003) The mentioned factor is formed from compatibility, perceived behavioural control, and facilitating conditions constructs driven from CTAMTPB, MPCU and IDT This element brings positive impact on intention to use, however after a certain period of use, it becomes less significant Therefore, UTAUT suggests that facilitating conditions have a direct important influence on use behaviour (Venkatesh et al., 2003)
The effects of age, gender, experience, and voluntariness of use explain the strength of predictor variables on intention to use To be specific, all four key factors are affected by age Additionally, gender impacts the relationships among effort expectancy, performance expectancy and social influence With experience, it has a moderating influence on the relationships among effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions And the relationship between social influence and behavioural intention is impact by voluntariness of use (Venkatesh et al., 2003)
The UATUT model is chosen for guiding this research because the theories offer more detailed insights into individual’s behaviour basis, which make them applicable to a wide range of research contexts, not limited to information system management (Marikyan, D., & Papagiannidis, S.,2021) Its model as well as appears to be more suitable for the research scope of the study In this study’s research scope, only the factors affecting the behavioural intention to use technology are investigated Therefore, the three first mentioned elements, namely (1) performance expectancy, (2) effort expectancy and (3) social influence of the model are the factors this research aim to discuss.
Overview of Duolingo
Duolingo is a free learning platform that provides language education programs through its mobile application and website Luis Von Ahn and Severin Hacker created it on November 11 with the slogan “Free language education for the world” Duolingo has become the world’s most popular language learning application with more than 575 million users, providing 102 available courses in 2022 It is the top 1 language learning application in both Google Play and App Store Especially, Haina Xiang, Duolingo Marketing Manager in China and Southeast Asia, stated that the Vietnam market has its most users in Southeast Asia with incredible growth speed in recent years This has become a bright spot as the number of people learning foreign languages is increasing daily
Duolingo is a gamified application that provides amusing and personalized education to learners globally Duolingo can be accessed either through the web on a desktop or laptop or through a cell phone or a tablet It offers more than 40 languages and more than 100 courses for its users through fun and exciting lessons Through a series of exercises, divided into lessons and skills, the app’s goal is to teach language learners of vocabulary and grammar, and to bring students to a higher language level by having them complete all required nodes
The usage of spaced repetition, in which its algorithms determine when a user needs to review words or chunks that may have faded from memory, is one of its key characteristics While repetition is necessary to learn new skills, spaced repetition has proven to be particularly beneficial for learning vocabulary Cavus and Ibrahim's (2009) highly intriguing cell phone experiment showed that students who used the gadgets enjoyed doing so and learned new terms, and the students themselves recommended in their survey that other teachers should use similar tools to supplement their instruction
Moreover, the lessons intersperse different skills from pronunciation to translation, and offer various activities Users are expected to translate sentences, and complete exercises (matching pictures with the corresponding words, matching a word with its definition) and therefore foster their learning through repetition of vocabulary and grammar structures In addition, Duolingo also offers instant feedback to users after each task
One of the most common methods when learning a language is text translation (Nushi, M., & Eqbali, M H.,2017) Duolingo’s learners are expected to translate sentences in non-mother tongue language by memorizing vocabulary and grammar structures Users make constant transfers from their native language to a foreign language They are expected to understand sentences in a foreign language while they are given definitions of each word in the sentence in their native language
The Grammar Translation technique is similar to how Duolingo promotes accuracy For instance, if the word "el" in Spanish is translated as "a or an" rather than the proper "the," the statement will be deemed improper Nonetheless, Duolingo is forgiving of typos and overlooks the lack of an accent in languages like Spanish or French or the failure to capitalize nouns in German The translated sentence is not regarded as erroneous if the user does not utilize accents or proper capitalization, but a message is displayed that highlights the right format
The Audiolingual method (ALM), which was created in the 1960s to aid students in developing oral competency, is embodied in Duolingo In essence, it is a behaviourist theory since rules are taught to learners who subsequently self-discover them after which they are repeatedly reinforced and rewarded for giving the right answers Although Duolingo does not emphasize speaking abilities, we can still see ALM principles in the way that the lessons are organized The following list of typical ALM activities from Duolingo lessons is provided: a Replacement: A word gets swapped out for another word from the same speech category or topic This might help students to drill in a certain grammar structure b Inflection: Users are asked to repeat certain grammar structures in which the word form is changed For instance, singular nouns are introduced to learners, and after that, the same nouns are presented but in plural form in the next lesson c Restoration: A set of words is shown to users and their job is to put them in the correct order so as to form a correct grammatical sentence
II.3.3.3 Digital game-based language learning
Duolingo is one example of a Digital Game-based Language Learning application Edutainment is defined as a hybrid mix of education and entertainment that relies less on basically heavy theories, and didactic styles of address make use of visual material, and narratives or game-like formats This education style is prevalent in Duolingo and creates dynamic and interesting lessons for users There are three core elements that appear in edutainment design: Multimodal (interaction factors, multimedia elements, and narrative), Task (completion of challenges), and Feedback (assessment of progress and rewards that are meant to stimulate users’ motivation) How these elements are implemented in a game environment has a strong impact on its success a Multimodal: audio for each word in the phrases, pictures for new vocabulary terms, and sound effects for accomplishing classes and performing accurate translations in foreign languages b Task: comprehensive lessons, perform at the top of each lesson's level c Feedback: achievements (badges awarded when users complete pre- determined actions), experience points and crown levels (both are awarded upon completing lessons).
METHODOLOGY
Context of the study
The research was conducted at the Faculty of Foreign Language, National Economics University, Ha Noi, Viet Nam The Faculty of Foreign Language was established in the early 1970s The major missions of the faculty are to teach not only foreign languages such as English, Chinese, and French to NEU FFL students but also provide the students with fundamental and advanced knowledge of economics in general and business management specifically Besides, the Faculty is in charge of conveying significant employability skills to students studying at the university At present, FFL has 4 intakes from K61 to K64
As a matter of fact, there is always a demand for effective methods that support the learning foreign languages process of FFL’s students Therefore, they are continuously searching for resources to help them with that, such as after school classes, coaching 1 by 1, and so on And since technology is increasingly developing nowadays, language learning mobile-assisted applications, for example Duolingo, Elsa, Cake, etc are gradually reaching out to more and more students As a result, the survey was carried out on all 4 intakes of the faculty with a total participant of 196 on the factors affecting their intention when it comes to studying a foreign language on Duolingo.
Participants
The participants of the research include 196 FFL students at NEU, and they were randomly selected from all intakes in the 2022-2023 academic year To be specific, students in intake 63 had the greatest rate of 28.6% It was followed closely by both students in intake 61 (and above) and 62, accounting for 27.6% and 24.5% respectively Lastly, first-year students participated at least, namely 19.4%
In terms of gender, the number of female and male students was quite equal In particular, 49% were female while only less than 2.6% were male The proportion of students who prefer not to reveal their gender in the study was only 4.6%.
Research instruments
In this study, data was collected through one survey questionnaire for English language-major students in NEU The objective of the survey is to identify factors that influence the intention of learning foreign languages through Duolingo as well as the reasons for not choosing to learn foreign languages of English language-major students with this application in NEU
The survey questionnaire consists of 3 parts The first part is mainly about students' background information The second focuses on the factors affecting students' intention to learn non-mother tongue languages through Duolingo In this part, the 3 highlight aspects that the questionnaire wants to concentrate on are performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence The last part is to investigate the reasons why some students decide not to use Duolingo as an educational mobile application to learn foreign languages.
Data collection procedures
The procedures of data collection consist of 3 main stages as follows:
The group of researchers designed the questionnaires and created the survey form on an online platform named Google Forms, which is a popular site to create online forms and surveys with multiple question types The researchers group decided the specific period for collecting data
Survey form was shortened into different types of access such as link, QR code… for easier approach and more convenient data statistics Researchers sent the questionnaires link to a plenty of FFL’s students through their mutual chat groups, or suggest some to scan the QR code which directs them to the survey form Students were encouraged to leave comments if any questions or instructions seemed unclear The survey data were collected as soon as students pressed “submit” at the end of the questionnaire form
The group of researchers stopped accepting responses since the collecting data period had ended.
Data analysis procedures
Researchers reviewed the received answers, therefore might delete any response that was substandard All 196 responses met requirements for data analysis
The questionnaires had already been divided into sections from the design stage, based on the research questions Therefore, it was convenient to classify the information gathered The data collected from the questionnaires was then synthesized and illustrated by diagrams or tables according to each research question.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language
Figure 3: The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language.
Factors influencing intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo
IV.2 Factors influencing intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo
Figure 4: Students’ opinions on performance expectancy on using Duolingo
The chart above indicates students’ performance when using Duolingo to learn foreign languages In this question of the survey, students were asked to express their thought on nine aspects: improvement in speaking, listening, writing, reading, and vocabulary; practice in translating words and sentences; grammar and language structure acknowledgment; spending more time on language learning and learning languages independently
Overall, it can be seen that most respondents’ learning language experience were expected to be improved with the Duolingo Only a small number of participants showed disagreement and strong disagreement with each the statements below 20% The exception is writing skills be improved through Duolingo, this assessment received the highest disagreement with 22,67%
To be specific, the figure from the chart shows an expectation that Duolingo helping its users enhance word and sentence translation practice has the highest number of people showing agreement and strong agreement (more than 63%) Meanwhile, Duolingo was expected to help students with listening skills (around 51,33%), encourage them to study independently (58% approximately), and promote them to spend more time learning languages outside the class (about 60%)
In contrast, it can also be concluded from the chart that Duolingo did not help students make any significant improvement in writing skills Additionally, 33,33% of participants show neither agreement nor disagreement that their reading skill was expected to enhance via Duolingo, the statement received the highest neutral assessment Followed by listening skills with 31,3% of FFL students having an unprejudiced point of view
Figure 5: Students’ opinions on effort expectancy on using Duolingo
The second question in Chapter II of the survey questionnaire deals with students’ effort expectancy when it comes to studying English on Duolingo The bar chart above describes their opinion on five factors: simple to use, easy to access, interesting features, independence which is the ability to use Duolingo without help, and their enjoyment when using Duolingo
As can be seen, the trend of participants’ assessment of five factors was quite similar Most of the respondents showed their agreement on these statements (approximately 60% - 70% of responses showing agreement and strong agreement) Subsequently, studying by Duolingo was thought to be effective since it had received positive feedback from its users Almost all participants in the survey agreed and strongly agree that they were able to use Duolingo without needing any support, and Duolingo was easily accessible These two factors both accounted for around 75% totally The factor receiving the most disagreed/neutral opinions was user’s satisfaction with 17,33% This implied that some of Duolingo’s student users had not yet been enjoyed experiencing the app The study will discuss the reasons for this situation in later parts However, the overall opinion still graded Duolingo as a decent app to use for studying foreign languages
Figure 6: Students’ opinions on social influence on using Duolingo
The above figure illustrates the social factors which impact students’ behaviour regarding Duolingo use It is clear that opinions on these factors are diverse While the application’s advertisement and students’ learning injunctions were considered as the influential factors motivating them to use Duolingo, friends’ suggestions received less agreement than the others More than half of the total students participating in the survey
- 50,76% for the advertisement factor and 62,12% for learning demand - believed these factors inspired them to use Duolingo In contrast, just 34.09% of the students appeared to share the same opinion regarding friends' suggestions.
Reasons for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language
The survey pointed out that over one-third of students did not use Duolingo to learn a foreign language, specifically 38.3% (Figure 3) Students’ opinions are also discussed in detail in order to find some main reasons for the case
Opinion Number of students Percentage
I do not believe Duolingo can help me learn a foreign language better than academic linguistic institutions
I believe learning a foreign language requires supervision rather than self-independence and
Duolingo promotes self-learning more than strict supervision to its learners
Duolingo is complicated to use 19 15,2
Duolingo is difficult to access 16 12,8
Duolingo’s features do not interest me 44 35,5
My friends and acquaintances who are learning foreign languages do not use Duolingo 44 35,2
I hardly approach Duolingo in the advertising media 27 21,6
I find learning a foreign language through mobile applications unnecessary 44 35,2
Table 1: Students’ opinions for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language
It can be seen from the table that roughly half of the students believed that the language academic institutes where they learn by traditional methods, and the teachers directly meet, teach, and interpret the knowledge helped them learn foreign languages better than Duolingo - a mobile application Less than 4%, namely 46.4%, assumed that supervision was a required factor in learning a foreign language process, while Duolingo encourages self-learning as the time to study and the amount of knowledge acquired depends on each student’s self-discipline; thus, if they do not have this awareness, it will be very difficult to learn a foreign language through mobile apps Furthermore, students did not use Duolingo because of reasons like people around them also did not use it, they found its features boring, and it was unnecessary to learn a foreign language through mobile apps, which individually registered more than 35% It was followed by 21.6% of survey participants who thought that Duolingo was rarely mentioned in advertising media, which means that they hardly approach as well as use it to learn Lastly, an insignificant number of students claimed that Duolingo is complicated to access and use, recording 12.8% and 15.2% respectively
Overall, through the survey, there are four main reasons for students not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language Firstly, students believed that learning through Duolingo was ineffective and unnecessary compared to traditional learning Secondly, students assumed that learning foreign languages needs to be supervised Lastly, students did not know Duolingo Lastly, students were not interested in Duolingo’s features.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For teachers
The Duolingo application's learning activities can contribute to good improvements in the methods for teaching and learning a new language Therefore, incorporating Duolingo as a teaching strategy might assist teachers in fostering a rise in learners' levels of confidence when their students are able to acquire new vocabulary words outside of the classroom, as well as at their own speed and level
It is recommended that grammar and oral teachers should encourage their students to utilize Duolingo Because of Duolingo’s interesting gamification aspects, teachers can use this application to alternative traditional homework or assignments Moreover, teachers can use Duolingo as a tool of support students’ independent learning beyond the course’s requirements Through Duolingo for Schools, teachers can keep track of their student’s development and provide additional specialized practice challenges to help students with vocabulary or grammar structures that may still seem difficult to them
Taking advantage of Duolingo’s environment in learning vocabulary with images, sounds, and translations would be less stimulating and more constructive for students Thereby, it is advised that educators use Duolingo as a clever technique for connecting topic words to graphics and vice versa The Duolingo app may also be used as a post-course tool to retain students at their current proficiency level and enable them
For Duolingo application developers
It is a fact that Duolingo does not support advanced English learners while the survey participants are mainly the one who study advanced English There have been some key features of Duolingo which made it not suitable for those learning advanced English Therefore, its developers should update more contents that are more suitable for this group of learners
In English or any other language, context plays a significant role It helps readers/listeners to understand exactly the meaning of the words because a word can have different meanings in different contexts On the other hand, the language in Duolingo is random and therefore can be interpreted in different ways by different people Consequently, it is recommended that developers design games and quizzes containing communication context for the learners to better improve their language skills
Duolingo’s vocabulary and grammar are too basic, which is one of the reasons that makes it too simple for Duolingo learners to reach a higher band As a result, it’s undoubtedly easy to guess the right answer when learning through Duolingo For example, when Duolingo asks its learners to translate a sentence, it gives them a number of words to choose from, so they basically just have to put the words in the right order
In practice, this means that Duolingo users barely learn, even if they get the answer right The learners can easily make the right answer but in fact, their language skills are not improving at all This feature may be improved that when reaching a higher level of learning, users are asked to type the answer sentence themselves
Another feature of Duolingo that its developer should update is real speaking practices As a matter of fact, speaking is one of the most difficult skills to practice alone Speaking is necessary when it comes to learning a language Developers may want toad some features that help learners have the chance to practice speaking with other learners
Many survey participants report that using Duolingo is quite boring since the lessons are repetitive The lessons are quite the same and it makes learners feel bored after 15-20 hours of using the app As a result, developers should improve user experience by, for example, creating connection and communication between different learners
The research was conducted in order to investigate factors influencing English language - major students’ intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo at National Economics University In this study, three main factors including performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence were discussed, recommendations were proposed for foreign language instructors and creators of the Duolingo application to help them draw in more users
Based on the study topics, the questionnaires had previously been organized into sections during the design phase Then, a survey has been conducted on 196 students of the Faculty of Foreign Language The data gathered from the surveys was then combined and presented in diagrams or tables
The majority of participants responded that they have been experiencing Duolingo Three factors shared approximately the same effects influencing students’ intentions Besides, the survey also revealed a number of reasons that some FFL students not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language
The sample size (N = 196) is insufficient to represent the whole FFL’s students learning at NEU The sample was only randomly derived from those whom researchers know or ask our friends to share survey with same-faculty students Moreover, the study period was constrained, the number of samples was likewise limited so they might not give a thorough picture of view reflecting the whole research subjects The accessibility and evaluation of those questions in the questionnaire by respondents may be inaccurate due to misunderstanding between the respondents' opinions and the purpose of the corresponding question A related constraint in the study is the honesty of respondents in answering questions during the survey
This investigation could act as a foundation from which the conclusions could be used to stifle interest in future studies Further research should thus address the challenges identified while planning this study Future studies using a more sophisticated quantitative methodology may use a much bigger sample size for more detail and deeper analysis However, in-depth semi-structured interviews and classroom observations should be accepted as methods to advance evaluations related to this issue Moreover, questionnaire questions should be organized and designed to help participants understand easily
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APPENDIX Factors influencing NEU FFL students’ intention to learn a foreign language through
Duolingo and reasons for not doing that Questionnaire
2 What intake are you in?
3 Have you ever used Duolingo to learn a foreign language?
● Yes (Answer questions in II)
● No (Answer questions in III)
II FACTORS INFLUENCING INTENTION TO LEARN A FOREIGN
4 I can enhance my vocabulary by using Duolingo
5 I can improve my listening skill using Duolingo
6 I can improve my reading skill using Duolingo
7 I can improve my writing skill using Duolingo
8 I can improve my speaking skill using Duolingo
9 I can practise translating words and sentences using
10 I can learn grammar or language structure using
11 Duolingo encourages me to spend more time learning languages outside of the classroom
12 Duolingo encourages me to learn languages independently
13 Duolingo is simple to use
14 Duolingo is easy to access
15 Duolingo features are interesting and variative
16 I can use Duolingo independently without others’ help.