JTE

Journal of Teaching of English

Volume 7 No. 2
e-ISSN: 2548-6810
Students’ Perception on the Use of Duolingo in Learning Vocabulary

Dewa Ayu Nitiari Mayangsari1, Kamaluddin2, Sitti Agustina3

dwayunitiari@gmail.com
1,2,3 Halu Oleo University, Indonesia

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to find out the perception of students who have used Duolingo
to learn vocabulary. This research used quantitative descriptive research with survey method
by giving 25 questionnaires to the samples, where the samples are 100 students with 30
students of Junior and 30 students of Senior High School in Kendari also 40 students of Halu
Oleo University. Three aspects of perception cognitive, affective, and psychomotor from
Walgito (2004) was used to arrange the questionnaires and using likert scale of strongly agree,
agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree as the instrument.. The result
showed that the mean score for cognitive in Junior High School was 4,43, Senior High School
4,27, and University 4 and the total mean for cognitive was 4,23 categorized as very high. The
mean score for affective aspect in Junior High School was 4,49, Senior High School 4,27, and
University 4,06. The total mean for affective was 4,27 also categorized as very high. The
psychomotor aspect Junior High School got 4,41, Senior High School 4,28 and 4 for University
students and the total mean was 4,23 which categorized as very high. From the result can be
said that students have very high perception on the use of Duolingo in learning vocabulary.

Keywords:
Students’ perception, Duolingo, Learning Vocabulary.

1. Introduction

English in Indonesia is limited to precise fields and circles, sometimes only as

a matter of legality. In this modern era, it is not only the field of work that requires
good English skills for prospective workers but also the field of education. In learning
English, there are four skills to be mastered: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
According to Hedge (2000), vocabulary has a vital role in learning foreign languages
and Linse (2005) also stated that language consists of words, and the definition of
vocabulary is a group of words. The amount of known vocabulary can affect how well
the four skills are mastered. Generally, English is taught in Indonesia starting from
junior high school. Some schools also teach it in elementary school, but not all and
only as an additional lesson. Therefore, the researcher wants to know how their
perceptions start from junior high school to college students.
Selwyn (2011) stated that the use of digital technology has a role in supporting
and raising students' cognitive processes and thinking skills. With the development
of technology and the media, autodidact English can be learned using various media.
Learning by reading texts, practicing conversations remotely with friends or teachers,
Journal of Teaching of English Vol. 7 No. 2

or with systems such as AI, hearing training, or learning several skills at once using
videos can be done by learning via smartphones. Many applications can be
downloaded on smartphones to learn various languages, such as English. These
applications make it easier for people who want to learn the language more quickly
and provide a fun way to learn. Duolingo is an application that provides language
learning that can be used on a smartphone. According to Jaelani (2021), Duolingo
makes it easy for students to grasp and learn languages. Duolingo provides a fun
learning with features like learning to complete sentences, listening to sentences and
rewriting them, pronouncing sentences, and arranging words to form a correct
sentence.
In the learning process, the students’ perceptions can affect the process and the
results. Muhiddin (2017) said that there is a relationship between perception and
motivation where both influence each other and can affect effectiveness in learning. If
students have good perceptions regarding how to learn, they tend to be more
motivated and enjoy learning, so they pay more attention and are active in the learning
process. The motivation and confidence of students in learning can affect student
achievement as learning outcomes, this is following the statement of Kpolovie, Joe, &
Okoto (2014), which states that student learning motivation has been proven to have
a significant effect on student achievement in school. Pramesti and Susanti (2020) said
that perception is someone's opinion or how they value and see something in a certain
way. Even when looking at the same object, each person's perception can be different.
There is previous research from Devi (2021) conducted research on teachers’
perceptions in the scientific approach in the 2013 curriculum after seeing that the
researcher wanted to implement the same direction to look for students’ perceptions.
The researcher also saw the results of research conducted by Dina Amalia (2019) in
Medan, she found out that Duolingo can improve students’ vocabulary as indicated
from the results of the post-test mean score in the experimental class which was higher
than control class. In contrast, there are not many users of the Duolingo application
in Kendari. This is because there are still few students and teachers who know about
the Duolingo application. When online learning began to be implemented, most
students had difficulty in learning and it was better if they not only rely on learning
from the teacher but also take additional lessons or study independently. The
students’ perceptions need to be seen, so it can be decided whether this application
can be used as a recommendation for other students who want to learn on their own
as well as for alternative ways of teaching at school either offline or online.
Based on the background described above, the question of this research is
“What is the students’ perception of using Duolingo in learning vocabulary?”

2. Methods

This research used descriptive-quantitative research. According to Sugiyono

(2015), quantitative research is research that is used to examine a specific population
or sample and generally uses a purposive sampling technique in sampling. In this
research, examiners used a survey method by giving questionnaires to active users or
users that had used Duolingo for at least one month to know their perceptions. The
population for this research was the Duolingo Android and iOS users in Kendari, with
Journal of Teaching of English Vol. 7 No. 2

a total of approximately 5.973 users until 2020. The purposive sampling used in this
research is done with specific considerations, namely: (1) Active users who have used
Duolingo for at least one month, (2) Are Indonesian speakers who choose to learn
English on the Duolingo application, and (3) Users should be at least in Junior High
School and at most in University in Kendari.
The sample was determined using the Slovin formula (Rai Utama, 2016) with
the selected error tolerance level of 10%. From the formula calculations, 98,353
samples rounded to the 100 respondents needed in this research. The samples are
divided into three groups according to their education level. There are 30 users of
Junior and Senior High schools in Kendari and 40 users at Halu Oleo University. Each
of them has been using Duolingo for at least one month to learn vocabulary.
The instrument used was a questionnaire using a Likert scale: strongly agree,
agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree. The researcher
adopted three aspects of perception from Walgito (2004) to arrange the questionnaire.
These are the Cognitive or perceptual aspect, Affective or emotional aspect, and
Psychomotor or conative aspect.
The data collection technique used a questionnaire. In this research, researchers
collected Duolingo users from Kendari to ask for their opinions. The researchers used
social media to distribute links that led to the questionnaire being uploaded to Google
Form.
Data analysis in this research was carried out using three aspects of perception
by Walgito (2004) that made up 25 questions. The data of each question is then
converted into a percentage form and categorized into four criteria of mean intervals.
Table 1 Interval Mean Score
No. Interval Score Category
1 0–2 Low
2 2,5 – 3,4 Moderate
3 3,5 – 3,9 High
4 4–5 Very high

3. Result

Cognitive Aspect

1%
19% LOW
MODERATE

61% 19% HIGH

VERY HIGH

.
The cognitive aspect is about the students' beliefs, views, ways of thinking, and
experiences toward the use of Duolingo. The chart above shows representatives of
students in each mean score, which results in 1% low, moderate 19%, high 19%, and
Journal of Teaching of English Vol. 7 No. 2

very high 61%. The total mean score is at 3,9 categorized as high, indicating the
positive response of students to the use of Duolingo.

Affective Aspect

7% LOW
17%
MODERATE
56%
20% HIGH

VERY HIGH

The affective aspect of this study is about students' feelings during the use of
Duolingo in learning vocabulary. The data pie chart above represents each student's
mean score, where 6% is categorized as low, 19% as moderate, 27% as high, and 48%
as very high. The total mean score for the affective aspect is 4,27, which means it is in
the very high category.

Psychomotor Aspect

6% LOW
22%
MODERATE
54%
HIGH
18%
VERY HIGH

The psychomotor aspect of this study discusses the experiences of students

after using Duolingo for learning vocabulary. The total mean score of the psychomotor
aspect is 4.23, which is in the very high category. Then it can be said that students have
a very high perception of the use of Duolingo in learning vocabulary on the
psychomotor aspect.
The mean data of each aspect shows that effective have the higher score
followed by psychomotor and then cognitive aspect.
Mean Data of Each Aspect
4.4
4.2
4
3.8
3.6

Cognitive Affective Psychomotor

4. Discussion
Journal of Teaching of English Vol. 7 No. 2

In the cognitive aspect, the researcher wants to know about the use of Duolingo
to help students learn vocabulary, solve problems, encourage one another, and think
critically. According to Rahmat (2007), the positive response to the cognitive aspect is
due to a change in student understanding; in this case, the change that occurs is the
learning outcomes received by students. It is proven in the results of the questionnaire,
especially number twenty-one, that students master more vocabulary after using
Duolingo, with a percentage of eighty-eight percent of students agreeing with this
statement. It can be said that for the cognitive aspect, the students showed high
perceptions that led to significant learning outcomes.
In the affective aspect, the researcher wants to know about students' feelings
about the use of Duolingo. Because students' feelings about learning have a
relationship with their interest in learning. The feeling of pleasure students feels when
learning makes them more likely to pay more attention to what they are learning. A
higher students' interest in learning will lead to good learning outcomes. Slameto
(2010) also argues that pleasure in learning activities is an indicator of interest in
learning. In this research, the students chose to agree or strongly agree with the
questions in this aspect, which reflects the students' positive view of Duolingo.
In the psychomotor aspect, the researcher wanted to know about Duolingo
materials that can affect students' motivation and confidence. Because the motivation
and confidence of students in learning can affect student achievement as learning
outcomes, this is following the statement of Kpolovie, Joe, & Okoto (2014), which
states that student learning motivation has been proven to have a significant effect on
student achievement in school. Fatimah (2019) also said that motivation has an
important role in success and failure in learning a second language. In this study,
psychomotor in terms of motivation and self-confidence showed high results,
indicating that Duolingo as a learning medium was successful in giving significant
results to student learning outcomes. From the students' answers in the questionnaire,
it can be seen that almost all students chose to agree or strongly agree with the
psychomotor aspect questions.

5. Conclusion

This research aimed to find out the students’ perceptions toward the use of
Duolingo to learn vocabulary. The students used as respondents here are thirty junior
high school students, thirty high school students, and forty college students from Halu
Oleo University that are representative of the population and have used Duolingo for
at least a month to learn vocabulary.
In the cognitive aspect, the researcher wants to know about the use of Duolingo
to help students learn vocabulary and students' beliefs toward the use of Duolingo.
The total mean score was categorized as high. In the affective aspect, the researcher
wants to know about students' feelings about the use of Duolingo. Because the feeling
of pleasure students feel when learning makes them more likely to pay more attention
to what they are learning. A higher students' interest in learning will lead to good
learning outcomes. The total mean score for the affective aspect was a very high
category. The total mean score of the psychomotor aspect was in the very high
category. For the psychomotor aspect, the researcher wanted to know about Duolingo
Journal of Teaching of English Vol. 7 No. 2

materials that can affect students' motivation and confidence. Because the motivation
and confidence of students in learning can affect student achievement as learning
outcomes, from the three aspects resulting in high and very high perception, it can be
concluded that the students have a high perception of the use of Duolingo in learning
vocabulary and that it can bring good outcomes.
The result of the research showed that the use of Duolingo in learning vocabulary has
a high perception and can bring good outcomes, so the researcher wants to give some
suggestions as follows:
1. For Teachers
From the result of this research, the researcher then recommends a teacher use
Duolingo as a medium to teach vocabulary. Teachers can use the Duolingo application
or website as an alternative to teaching online or offline. When offline, the teacher can
direct students to learn from the application, or the teacher can bring the exercises and
implement them in the classroom. For online teaching, teachers must keep an eye on
their students to do the exercises regularly.
2. For Researchers
This research was focused on the use of Duolingo in learning vocabulary. For
further research on this topic, it can be done by researching learning Duolingo for
other skills, such as writing, speaking, and listening because the Duolingo exercise can
also focus on one of those skills. Further research also can discuss the difficulties that
teachers will face when implementing teaching using media such as Duolingo.

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