Effectiveness of Duolingo English Course in Developing Reading and Listening Proficiency of Japanese Speakers (73369)
Session: On Demand
Room: Virtual Video Presentation
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
As the offerings of online language learning platforms grow, so does the need to demonstrate their effectiveness. However, recent studies have noted a lack of standardized and validated evidence of the efficacy of such systems (Tarone, 2015). To address this gap, the current research measured the effectiveness of Duolingo, which offers app-based language learning courses.
This study evaluated English reading and listening proficiency of Duolingo learners in its English course for Japanese speakers. The course curriculum was aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and learners were assessed when they reached the end of the A2 content, after completing the first four sections in the course.
The participants of the study were 75 English learners. All the participants self-reported having no or very little knowledge of English before using Duolingo (a rating of 0-2 out of a 0-10 scale) and used Duolingo as their only learning tool. The participants took the reading and listening sections of the STAMP English 4S test by Avant Assessment, which was remotely-proctored by human proctors. Avant Assessment reports proficiency ratings in nine STAMP levels (1-9), which were aligned to the ACTFL proficiency ratings of Novice (low, mid, high), Intermediate (low, mid, high), and Advanced (low, mid, high). Scaled scores were provided in addition to STAMP levels and were also aligned to ACTFL proficiency ratings.
The results indicate that on average, after completing the A2 content in Duolingo’s English course for Japanese speakers, the participants reached Intermediate High in both reading and listening, which is above the expected learning outcomes of the course. These results, together with similar findings from its English courses for Spanish speakers and Portuguese speakers, demonstrate that Duolingo English courses are effective in developing learners’ reading and listening proficiency.
Abstract Summary
Mobile-based language courses have seen accelerated growth but evidence of their effectiveness based on standardized measures remains lacking. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the reading and listening proficiency outcomes of Duolingo learners at the completion of A2 content in its English course for Japanese speakers. The STAMP 4S test by Avant Assessment was used for testing, and findings demonstrated that Duolingo learners reached Intermediate High in both reading and listening at the end of its A2 content, after completing the first four sections of the course.
Authors:
Xiangying Jiang, Duolingo, United States
Ryan Peters, Duolingo, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Xiangying Jiang is a Business Employee at Duolingo in United States
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