Evaluating the reading and listening outcomes of beginning‐level Duolingo courses

• Published in: Foreign language annals Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 974 - 1002
• Main Authors: Jiang, Xiangying, Rollinson, Joseph, Plonsky, Luke, Gustafson, Erin, Pajak, Bozena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Alexandria Wiley 01.12.2021; American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• Subjects: Achievement tests; Classrooms; College students; Comparative Analysis; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer assisted language learning; Computer Software; Control Groups; Course Content; Design; Duolingo; efficacy; foreign language; Foreign language learning; French; French as a second language; Grammar; Guidelines; Higher Education; Instructional Effectiveness; Introductory Courses; Language instruction; Language Proficiency; Listening; Listening Comprehension; listening proficiency; Online instruction; Rating Scales; Reading; Reading Comprehension; reading proficiency; Scores; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Software; Spanish; Spanish as a second language; Standardized Tests; Teaching Methods; Undergraduate Students; University students; United States > US
• ISSN: 0015-718X; 1944-9720
• DOI: 10.1111/flan.12600

Duolingo is a commercial language‐teaching platform that offers free courses on the web and on mobile apps. This study reports the ACTFL listening and reading proficiency levels of adult Duolingo learners who had completed beginning‐level courses in Spanish or French. The participants (n = 225) were learners residing in the United States, had little to no prior proficiency in the target language, and used Duolingo as their only learning tool. The Duolingo learners reached Intermediate Low in reading and Novice High in listening. No other skills were assessed. Their reading and listening scores were comparable with those of university students at the end of the fourth semester of study. The findings of the study suggest that Duolingo can be an effective tool for foreign language learning. The Challenge As more and more learners use digital apps to learn languages, it is important for the field of language learning to understand the effectiveness of these apps. This article presents the listening and reading proficiency of Duolingo learners when they reach the end of its beginning‐level Spanish and French courses.