Hello everyone, welcome back to the blog. This week I’m going to be evaluating a CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) package in an attempt to paint a picture of what a multi-media language learning environment is in 2018. As a language student, I use different types of CALL every day, whether it be spanishdict.com to help with my translations or the Easy German YouTube channel to help brush up on my vocabulary. This week, however, I’ve taken a special look at Duolingo, the massively popular interactive language learning website and app. I’ve used it sporadically in the past, but this week I’ve become a very active user in order to analyse its value to me as a language learner.

There is a long list of criteria used to evaluate CALL, but one crucial factor for an effective CALL package is that it “…includes mental representations and cognitive processes relating not only to the explicit structure and content of the dialogue but also to the general cognitive demands imposed by the system”. (Hammond and Barnard, 1985:56-7)

So, with that in mind, the criteria I’ve chosen to evaluate Duolingo under are as follows: practicality, error correction and feedback, positive impact, and language learning potential. I feel these are the most important elements of any CALL package and that they will give a good idea of how valuable Duolingo is. Specifically, I’m focusing on the service provided to German language learners on the site.

Firstly, over the course of my frequent usage of the German part of Duolingo, I have found it to be highly practical. This is in large part thanks to its wonderfully accessible app. The beauty of an app is you can use it at all times, you don’t need to be in a classroom or by a computer; it’s very practical indeed. The app offers a colourful and user-friendly interface which often makes it feel as though I’m playing a game, and I believe this is no coincidence. This makes the user experience fun and kept me coming back. It’s also free and you can’t get much more practical than that. The following principles are said to be crucial in evaluating an app’s design and I found Duolingo’s layout rated highly within these criteria.

1. Consistency of display
2. An uncluttered screen
3. The grouping of items according to their functions (Smith and Mosier, 1984).

Another important criteria is error correction and feedback, this is vital for language learners (and often lacking). As college students, we don’t get our work corrected nearly as often as in the past and feedback is limited and often unspecific. So, it’s comforting to a poor student like me who’s still adjusting to college when a CALL package offers feedback; Duolingo does. Answers are either correct or incorrect and the practice tests adapt to the user’s answers, so that if you get one wrong it will repeat similar questions until it’s sure you have learned from your mistake. This is a great feature.

In terms of positive impact, Duolingo is quite good, it definitely had a positive effect on my language learning over the past week and I certainly haven’t experienced any negative impacts. I’ve mostly used it to revise some basic German from last year which was great, you can forget a lot over the summer.

And now to the language learning potential. At the end of the day, it is a free service and there is no human interaction, so potential is bound to be limited, and it is. Having said that, it is entirely dependent on the user. For me personally, I know I couldn’t become fluent in a language from only an app, but I do feel it will help in consolidating my German in a fun way as we continue to move quickly through the language in college.

In summary, Duolingo is a wonderful CALL package, and I’ll definitely be using it more from now on.

D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Hammond, N. and Barnard, P. (1985). Fundamentals of Human-Computer Interaction. Academic Press: pp 127-164.
2. Smith, Sidney L and Mosier, Jane. (1984). Design Guidelines for User-System Interface Software. The MITRE Corporation. Project No. 522A: pp 180-9.