An Investigation into the Effect of Using Duolingo to Enhance Students’ Vocabulary

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of using Duolingo to enhance students’ English vocabulary. It focused on students in Hanoi who learn English as a second language. The researcher adopted a mixed method. For data collection, a questionnaire was administered to 163 students in Hanoi, and then the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 of them who learned English with Duolingo. Concerning data analysis, the computer program Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is used to analyze the numerical data, and the interview results are used to support the analysis process. Overall, the study results illustrated that Hanoi students have positive attitudes toward using Duolingo to learn vocabulary. This indicates that the hypotheses of this study were accepted, suggesting that the Duolingo application can be utilized to enhance students' vocabulary. Despite several advantages such as progress tracking and interactive exercises, this application has some disadvantages that unsatisfied users’ learning process, including the lack of depth and contextualization in certain vocabulary areas, and limited customization options. As a result, the researcher suggests that English teachers integrate the Duolingo application into the Teaching-learning process as it makes English learning more enjoyable and interesting. Moreover, Duolingo’s designers should add more specialized vocabulary and offer customization options to broaden students’ experiences.