GAMIFIED ENGLISH LEARNING: EVALUATING DUOLINGO MOBILE APPS IMPACT ON DET PERFORMANCE AMONG INDONESIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS
Abstract
This study explores the effectiveness of Duolingo, a well-known English mobile application, in enhancing university students’ scores on the Duolingo English Test (DET). The DET itself has transformed to be an official English assessment like TOEFL or IELTS and has been recognized by institutions abroad. The research employed a quasi-experimental design which involved 110 EFL students in an Indonesian university who were asked to use Duolingo consistently for 7 weeks. Pre-test and post-test of DET scores were gathered to measure the impact of regular Duolingo use. The findings revealed a sig (2-tailed) value of 0.001 (0.001 < 0.05) which shows there is an improvement in the university students’ DET scores in the 7th week after intervention, especially on vocabulary, reading and listening comprehension. The results suggest that incorporating mobile-assisted language learning tools like Duolingo can be an effective strategy to enhance students’ English proficiency and test performance. This study contributes to the rising evidence supporting technology involvement in English language learning, especially in preparation for standardized English tests like DET.
References
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Salsabila, T., Nafilah, N., Patangga, F., Zulfa, S., & Listyaningsih, N. (2025). LITERATURE REVIEW: EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI DUOLINGO TERHADAP MOTIVASI BELAJAR BAHASA INGGRIS. Jurnal EMPATI, 13(4), 302–312.
Saputra, V. H., Pasha, D., & Afriska, Y. (2020). Design of English Learning Application for Children Early Childhood. Proceeding International Conference on Science and Engineering, 3, 661–665. https://doi.org/10.14421/icse.v3.582
Tajik, A. (2025). Gamified and Non-Gamified AI Tools in Enhancing EFL Listening Comprehension: An Analysis of Duolingo and Replika’s Impact on Engagement, Motivation, and Learning Outcomes. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6032009/v1
Tiara, A. D., Rahman, M. A., & Handrianto, C. (2021). The Students` Perception About Use of Duolingo Application for Improving English Vocabulary. International Journal of Education, Information Technology, and Others, 4(4), 690–701.
Ullah, S., Yousuf, M., & Ahsan, M. (2024). Exploring the Role of Mobile Phone Applications in Improving Foreign Language Learners’ Vocabulary Stuff. International Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 5(1), 406–422.
Widyastut, M., & Kusumadewi, H. (2018). Penggunaan Aplikasi Duolingo Dalam Meningkatkan Kamampuan Kosakata Bahasa Inggris Pada Tenaga Pengajar Bimbingan Belajar Omega Sains Institut. Jurnal Abdimas BSI: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 2(1).
Xu, J., & Liu, Q. (2025). Uncurtaining windows of motivation, enjoyment, critical thinking, and autonomy in AI-integrated education: Duolingo Vs. ChatGPT. Learning and Motivation, 89, 102100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2025.102100
Yao, D. (2023). Examining the subjective fairness of at-home and online tests: Taking Duolingo English Test as an example. PLOS ONE, 18(9), e0291629. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291629
Alya, P. M., & Kembaren, F. R. W. B. (2025). Indonesian Teachers’ Perception on Duolingo for English Learning: Opportunities and Challenges. IDEAS: Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 13(1), 251–261.
Astarilla, L. (2018). University students’ perception towards the use of Duolingo application in learning English. Conference ProceedingsCelSciTech-UMRI 2018Vol 3-Sep2018ISSN: 2541-3023LP2M-UMRIEDU -1University Students’Perceptiontowardsthe Useof Duolingo Application InLearning English, 1–9.
Atalya, R. E., Karima, R. F. H., & Hidayat, N. (2025). The Effectiveness of Duolingo Apllication to Increase Student’s Listening Skills, a Case of The Fifth Gradestudent’s of SD Negeri Langgenharjo 01 Juwana. Journal of Multidisciplinary Inquiry in Science, Technology and Educational Research, 2(2), 3446–3452.
Blanco, C. (2022). 2022 duolingo language report. Duolingo Blog.
Chen, C.-M., Chen, L.-C., & Yang, S.-M. (2019). An English vocabulary learning app with self-regulated learning mechanism to improve learning performance and motivation. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32(3), 237–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1485708
Fatmawati, I., Sudirman, A., & Munawaroh, T. (2023). Effect of Using Duolingo Application towards Students’ Grammar Mastery in Simple Present Tense. JEPAL (Journal of English Pedagogy and Applied Linguistics), 3(2), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.32627/jepal.v3i2.576
Gou, P. (2023). Teaching english using mobile applications to improve academic performance and language proficiency of college students. Education and Information Technologies, 28(12), 16935–16949. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11864-9
Hardiyanto, M. R. P., Pahlevi, G., & Nugroho, M. F. (2023). Pengaruh Fitur-Fitur Aplikasi Duolingo Terhadap Popularitasnya. Jurnal Sains, Nalar, Dan Aplikasi Teknologi Informasi, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.20885/snati.v3i1.28
Heil, C. R., Wu, J. S., Lee, J. J., & Schmidt, T. (2016). A Review of Mobile Language Learning Applications: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. The EuroCALL Review, 24(2), 32. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2016.6402
Isaacs, T., Hu, R., Trenkic, D., & Varga, J. (2023). Examining the predictive validity of the Duolingo English Test: Evidence from a major UK university. Language Testing, 40(3), 748–770. https://doi.org/10.1177/02655322231158550
Istighfaroh, F., Kumalasari, A., Sari, T. P., & Septiana, V. N. (2025). MENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN BAHASA INGGRIS DI SMP. 9(2), 2127–2136.
Jiang, X., Peters, R., Plonsky, L., & Pajak, B. (2024). The Effectiveness of Duolingo English Courses in Developing Reading and Listening Proficiency. CALICO Journal, 41(3), 249–272. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.26704
Kacetl, J., & Klímová, B. (2019). Use of Smartphone Applications in English Language Learning—A Challenge for Foreign Language Education. Education Sciences, 9(3), 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030179
Kang, O., Kostromitina, M., Yan, X., Thomson, R. I., & Isaacs, T. (2025). Test Takers’ Attitudes Toward Varieties of Accents in Listening Tasks of the Duolingo English Test (2021 test version). Language Assessment Quarterly, 22(1), 29–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2024.2448963
Kazu, İ. Y., & Kuvvetli, M. (2025). Digital language learning with Duolingo: assessing its impact on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Journal of Computers in Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-025-00355-0
Lovantika, E. (2022). Penerapan Aplikasi Duolingo dalam Meningkatkan Penguasaaan Kosakata Siswa Kelas VII SMPN 43 Jakarta Selatan. Prosiding Seminar Nasional Bahasa, Seni, Dan Sastra, 478–486.
Rifdinal. (2021). KEEFEKTIFAN PENGGUNAAN DUOLINGO DALAM PEMBELAJARAN KOSAKATA BAHASA INGGRIS. URNAL MANAJEMEN PENDIDIKAN DAN ILMU SOSIAL, 2(2), 697–704.
Salsabila, T., Nafilah, N., Patangga, F., Zulfa, S., & Listyaningsih, N. (2025). LITERATURE REVIEW: EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI DUOLINGO TERHADAP MOTIVASI BELAJAR BAHASA INGGRIS. Jurnal EMPATI, 13(4), 302–312.
Saputra, V. H., Pasha, D., & Afriska, Y. (2020). Design of English Learning Application for Children Early Childhood. Proceeding International Conference on Science and Engineering, 3, 661–665. https://doi.org/10.14421/icse.v3.582
Tajik, A. (2025). Gamified and Non-Gamified AI Tools in Enhancing EFL Listening Comprehension: An Analysis of Duolingo and Replika’s Impact on Engagement, Motivation, and Learning Outcomes. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6032009/v1
Tiara, A. D., Rahman, M. A., & Handrianto, C. (2021). The Students` Perception About Use of Duolingo Application for Improving English Vocabulary. International Journal of Education, Information Technology, and Others, 4(4), 690–701.
Ullah, S., Yousuf, M., & Ahsan, M. (2024). Exploring the Role of Mobile Phone Applications in Improving Foreign Language Learners’ Vocabulary Stuff. International Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 5(1), 406–422.
Widyastut, M., & Kusumadewi, H. (2018). Penggunaan Aplikasi Duolingo Dalam Meningkatkan Kamampuan Kosakata Bahasa Inggris Pada Tenaga Pengajar Bimbingan Belajar Omega Sains Institut. Jurnal Abdimas BSI: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 2(1).
Xu, J., & Liu, Q. (2025). Uncurtaining windows of motivation, enjoyment, critical thinking, and autonomy in AI-integrated education: Duolingo Vs. ChatGPT. Learning and Motivation, 89, 102100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2025.102100
Yao, D. (2023). Examining the subjective fairness of at-home and online tests: Taking Duolingo English Test as an example. PLOS ONE, 18(9), e0291629. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291629
Published
2025-07-06
How to Cite
ISTIGHFAROH, Faridatul.
GAMIFIED ENGLISH LEARNING: EVALUATING DUOLINGO MOBILE APPS IMPACT ON DET PERFORMANCE AMONG INDONESIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Proficiency, [S.l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 255-264, july 2025.
ISSN 2775-0450.
Available at: <https://ejournal.uniska-kediri.ac.id/index.php/PROFICIENCY/article/view/6992>. Date accessed: 24 jan. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.32503/proficiency.v7i2.6992.
Section
Articles
