Duolingo as a tool for learning the english language in the classroom to improve writing vocabulary

Abstract

The goal of this work was to investigate the efficiency of Duolingo as a tool to assist English as foreign language (EFL) learning. The investigation focused most specifically on the improvement of vocabulary knowledge in writing. The collected evidence emerged from students’ performance before and after the use of the tool. Duolingo is an APP with easy and fun to use platform for studying foreign language. The platform develops as a game in progressive phases and challenges. The methodology used for this research is based on the action research design framework. It thus means the study is characterized as having the teacher and students in a real classroom setting. The participants involved for data collection consist of two different groups. One control group, referred to as A, with twenty-eight 6th graders (eleven girls and seventeen boys) and an experimental group, referred to as B, with twenty-three 6th graders (eleven girls and twelve boys), within the 10-13 years old age range. The classes happened once a week and lasted 100 minutes each. After investigating three experimental lessons with Duolingo application it seems fair to say that not only vocabulary knowledge was improved in writing, but also, it became clear that the App served as a motivational tool for students, since they demonstrated more interest and engagement in classes. The results of this action research suggest that the use of Duolingo as tool for improving vocabulary should be considered a potential tool in classrooms. Duolingo also seems to affect positively on motivational aspects as students were clearly more interested using the App.