TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ QUỐC DÂN

_______________

WRITING 4

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

FACTORS INFLUENCING ENGLISH LANGUAGE - MAJOR STUDENTS’

INTENTION TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE THROUGH DUOLINGO
AT NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

Students St ID Class
1. Nguyễn Huyền Đan 11211222 NNA-63C
2. Đào Trâm Anh 11216401 NNA-63C
3. Nguyễn Phương Linh 11182779 TATM-60B
4. Nguyễn Thanh Ngọc 11202853 NNA-62A
5. Đỗ Hoàng Hà 11216416 NNA-63A

Instructor: Dr. Ngụy Thùy Trang

Hà Nội, 04/2023
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our group of five researchers would like to express our deepest gratitude to our
teacher Dr. Nguy Thuy Trang for instructing and supervising us during the process of
conducting the research. This study also would not have been completed without the
support of our Writing 4 classmates and other students from the Faculty of Foreign
Languages at National Economics University who have been interested in our research
and participated in our survey.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................6

1. Rationale............................................................................................................6

2. Purposes.............................................................................................................7

3. Research question..............................................................................................7

4. Research scope...................................................................................................7

5. Research structure..............................................................................................7

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................9

I.1. Literature review of international research........................................................9

I.2. Literature review of domestic studies..............................................................10

I.3. Research gap....................................................................................................10

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..................................................12

II.1. Mobile learning................................................................................................12

II.1.1. The concept of mobile learning.............................................................12

II.1.2. Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL).......................................13

II.2. Factors influencing the intention to adopt MALL...........................................15

II.2.1. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)...........................................15

II.2.2. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)..15

II.3. Overview of Duolingo.....................................................................................18

II.3.1. What is Duolingo?.................................................................................18

II.3.2. Products and services............................................................................18

II.3.3. Key features...........................................................................................19

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY..........................................................................21

III.1. Context of the study.........................................................................................21

III.2. Participants.......................................................................................................21
 III.3. Research instruments.......................................................................................21

III.4. Data collection procedures...............................................................................22

III.5. Data analysis procedures.................................................................................22

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION......................................................24

IV.1. The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language..............24

IV.2. Factors influencing intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo..24

IV.2.1. Performance expectancy.......................................................................24

IV.2.2. Effort expectancy...................................................................................25

IV.2.3. Social influence.....................................................................................26

IV.3. Reasons for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language...........................27

CHAPTER V: RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................29

V.1. For teachers......................................................................................................29

V.2. For Duolingo application developers...............................................................29

CONCLUSION............................................................................................................31

1. Summary..........................................................................................................31

2. Limitations.......................................................................................................31

3. Suggestions for further studies........................................................................31

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ALM………………………………………………………………Audiolingual Method
CALL…………………………………………….Computer-assisted language learning
CTAMTPB……………………Combined TAM and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
EFL……………………………………………………..English as a Foreign Language
FFL………………………………………………………Faculty of Foreign Languages
IDT………………………………………………………..Innovation Diffusion Theory
MALL……………………………………………..Mobile-assisted Language Learning
MPCU………………………………………………………….Model of PC Utilization
NEU……………………………………………………National Economics University
SCT……………………………………………………………Social Cognitive Theory
TAM……………………………………………………Technology Acceptance model
TAM2………………………………………………………...Extension to TAM model
UTAUT…………………...The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: The TAM model............................................................................................15
Figure 2: The UTAUT model........................................................................................16
Figure 3: The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language............24
Figure 4: Students’ opinions on performance expectancy on using Duolingo..............24
Figure 5: Students’ opinions on effort expectancy on using Duolingo.........................25
Figure 6: Students’ opinions on social influence on using Duolingo............................26

Table 1: Students’ opinions for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language…... ..27
 INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Along with the development and globalization of all elements of business,
education, and society nowadays, students place a premium on becoming multilingual.
Those who desire to study a new language are aware of the advantages of learning
more than two languages. Many studies suggest that learning a foreign language not
only improves brain health but also helps students achieve their future job goals.
The present world is a post-globalization world. This means that
communication between people from different countries is at a fundamentally different
level at present. It is completely common for us to relocate, study abroad,
communicate with foreigners, and use foreign languages for commercial purposes.
Now, not knowing at least one foreign language excludes a person from many aspects
of life. English is now possibly the most important foreign language. However, one
cannot confine oneself to them in relation to the development of China, Japanese and
Korea.
As previously stated, mastery of a foreign language is an unquestionable asset
for career success. However, not everyone can devote a few days per week to rigorous
language acquisition. With the advance of technology, mobile apps that allow you to
learn at any convenient time and place have developed to assist individuals who are
extremely busy. In fact, the current world produces situations in which a foreign
language is incredibly useful and important in daily life, but the level of globalization
is not high enough to allow constant communication in this language from the outside
environment. This situation creates a demand for mobile applications that help people
maintain their language level when they do not have the opportunity or need to study
with an instructor. Teachers have the option of directly developing these programs or
using artificial intelligence to complete internal duties. Due to the recent COVID-19
pandemic which forced many educational institutions to temporarily close, the
importance of mobile-assisted learning apps has been more emphasized.
The research focuses on factors that affect English language-major students’
intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo - a popular educational mobile
application which provides plentiful foreign languages learning programs, at National
Economics University.
2. Purposes
The study is aimed at:
 Analysing the main factors affecting the intention to learn a foreign
language through Duolingo of English-major students at National
Economics University.
 Proposing some suggestions for foreign language teachers and Duolingo
application developers that help them attract students using it.
3. Research question
The research aims to answer the following questions:
The first question is: What are the main factors affecting NEU English-major
students’ intention to learn foreign languages via Duolingo and how do those factors
affect the students’ decisions?
The second question is: What are the reasons why the other students chose not
to use Duolingo for the support of their foreign languages learning process?
The third question is: What can be done to improve the features of this
educational mobile application to satisfy their current users and encourage more
students using them to learn foreign languages?
4. Research scope
Content scope: The research focuses on the main factors affecting the intention
to learn foreign languages through Duolingo of English language-major students at
National Economics University. Additionally, the research is carried out to investigate
the main reasons why the other FFL students refuse to use Duolingo for their language
learning process, and to suggest some recommendations for teachers and developers to
encourage students using this mobile application for learning foreign languages.
Time scope: The study was conducted from December 2022 to March 2023.
Geographical scope: The study was based at NEU, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
5. Research structure
The study includes three main parts:
 Introduction presents the rationale, objectives, research questions, research
scope and design of the study.
Development consists of five chapters.
Chapter I: Literature review - investigates the existing domestic and
international studies about factors affecting English-major students’ intentions to use
foreign languages learning mobile applications that are similar to Duolingo to find out
the research gap.
Chapter II. Theoretical Framework – reviews related concepts, as well as their
definitions, and existing theories that support the research study.
Chapter III. Research Methodology - describes the method of the investigation
conducted in the study.
Chapter IV: Results and discussion - provides an analysis and findings on the
participants’ attitudes and opinions about the factors affecting their intention to learn
foreign languages through Duolingo at National Economics University.
Chapter V: Recommendations.
Conclusion presents the summary of the study, limitations, and the suggestion
for further study.
 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. Literature review of international research
Internationally, there have been numerous studies to investigate the factors
affecting the intention to learn foreign languages for university students. However, few
researchers have examined factors influencing students’ intention to learn through
Duolingo, despite the fact that the number of students choosing to learn via
educational mobile applications is remarkable. Until now, we have identified three
other research that investigate the similar topic to our paper.
Berns, Isla-Montes, Palomo - Duarte, and Dodero (2016) created “The
VocabTrainerA1 app” for European students who do not have enough opportunities to
apply their language skills to face-to-face communication. A survey was conducted
among 104 German language students (A1.2 CEFR) who had previously been enrolled
in a first-semester A1.1 level course at a Spanish university. The aim of this study is to
measure learners’ motivation, perceived usefulness and added value of hybrid game-
based applications. Moreover, this paper showed that learning applications which
combine individual and collaborative learning tasks can motivate learners and better
meet language learning needs.
Fouz-González (2020) assessed the effectiveness of pronunciation training
mobile applications on 52 Spanish students enrolled in English Studies degrees. This
study was set up to explore the potential of the English File Pronunciation app to help
learners improve their perception and production of a range of English sounds. Pre-
and post-tests were used to evaluate the participants’ perception and production
(imitative, controlled, and spontaneous) before and after training. It showed that this
educational application fostered substantial improvements in the learners' perception
and production of the target features.
Ke Yang (2020) investigates potential variables that might affect students'
motivation in MALL in real-world learning settings. Four fundamental language skills
are taught and learned in conjunction with developing technology. The benefits of
mobile devices in facilitating language acquisition have been discovered in recent
research. Because of the intricacy of the virtual learning environment, motivation
needs further scholarly investigation. This qualitative study intends to investigate
numerous elements that could encourage or deter the motivation of EFL students in a
real-world MALL setting.
Although some studies discuss similar topics, none of these conducted a
research on Duolingo separately, as well as targeting specific audiences in certain
regions of the world. Therefore, the research directs at a specific language learning-
assisted application named Duolingo, as well as is conducted in Vietnam, especially in
National Economics University, will bring a new perspective on the factors
influencing the intention to learn foreign languages through Duolingo of students,
which is more suitable to the actual situation during the technology era of Vietnam.
I.2. Literature review of domestic studies
Even though Vietnam encourages technological growth and desires to apply
technology to education, this issue has gotten little attention in Vietnam. As a result,
very little research on the same topic has been undertaken. We discovered only one
study in Vietnam on the similar topic of factors influencing Vietnamese students’
intention to use mobile apps as a tool for learning foreign languages.
Bui Thu Huyen & Dao Trung Kien (2020) uses a structured questionnaire as a
research data collection tool to evaluate the influence of factors on the intention to use
educational mobile applications for Vietnamese students. The research model was
developed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and perceived
enjoyment. Analytical results from 306 users at universities show that intention to use
educational applications is influenced by (1) perceived ease of use; (2) perceived
usefulness, (3) perceived enjoyment, and (4) service attitude. The study also provides
some research implications for developers and service providers who need to focus on
exploiting the advantages of mobile applications based on ease of use, usefulness as
well as family services. increase in entertainment for users.
I.3. Research gap
Previous studies have shown that motivation plays an important role in the
foreign language learning process through general educational mobile applications.
Although Anke Berns's study indicated that vocabulary could improve reading and
writing skills, and enhance overall linguistic competence, and fluency, learners
benefited more in terms of vocabulary rather than in terms of grammar. On the other
hand, Jonas Fouz-González research focused on the pronunciation aspect and showed
that training was necessary for helping English learners. Yang Ke and Bùi Thu Hiền,
Đào Trung Kiên studies empathized the internal forces that contribute to the language
learning process. However, the participants of Anke Barns's research were beginner
German language students at a Spain university, and Jonas Fouz-González one was
students who had completed a B2 course in the first year of their degree and they were
now in the first of two courses preparing them for C1. In addition, Yang Ke and Bùi
Thu Hiền, Đào Trung Kiên investigations were mainly concentrated on internal forces
and neglected the external forces. While people who will participate in our research
are students at National Economics University who have different levels, goals, and
foreign languages that they want to learn. Since there is no research on this topic with
National Economics University students, therefore, we will work to investigate this
gap and propose possible solutions to close it.
 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
II.1. Mobile learning
II.1.1. The concept of mobile learning
Portable learning is now an important aspect of educational technology and can
be used in a variety of topics. It is considered as a type of understanding that
incorporates remote, advanced gadgets and technologies. Because the adoption of
mobile learning has just become mainstream. Some research has been conducted to
consider the capability of portable improvements in improving study hall instructing
learning exercises in advanced education institutions. Portable learning has also been
shown to be effective in improving language abilities even when documented on paper
in a few previous studies (Azar, A. S., & Nasiri, H., 2014). Nevertheless, even among
ESL students, research shows that college students favour MALL education.
As a result, many academics and educators believe that mobile learning has a
great potential as an e-learning replacement. Below, here are three mobile learning
principles that provide a greater level of educational training.
 Mobility of technology
 Mobility of learning
 Mobility of learner
The notions of mobile learning can be divided into three major categories. The
concepts of portability can be classified into three broad categories: versatility of
innovation, versatility of pupils, and versatility of adaptation, particularly in higher
education. The fruitful arrangement of advanced education advice is dependent on the
multilateral significance of the term portability as it is used in higher education.
(Kulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008).
So, these three notions are related and are accordingly significant in making
mobile phones conceivable as gadgets for the conveyance of advanced education
instructional contents (Salai, 2014). Mind mapping is a suggested tool for assisting
with any form of writing. Similarly, Dominic (2004) proposed in his study that
understudies can create mind maps employing programming. This product technique
enables students to control and use colours when creating mind maps. A research
project used programming mind mapping systems with the test group, but not the
benchmark group, to quantify its overall outcomes for understudies' composing
fulfilment. The outcomes of this venture indicate that the previous gathering will score
significantly higher than the last gathering.
II.1.2. Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL)
II.1.2.1. Definition
In 2006, Chinnery defined MALL as language learning that is assisted or
strengthened by the use of a handheld mobile device such as, mobile phones
(cellphones/smartphones), MP3 and MP4 players, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
Miangah and Nezarat (2012, p.6) stated that MALL provides “a more
convenient environment for people to learn English is one of the strategic educational
goals towards improving the students' achievement and supporting differentiation of
learning needs”. They also claimed that the areas of MALL are mainly on enhancing
vocabulary, listening, grammar, phonetics, and reading comprehension. In Kim and
Yeonhee’s research (2012, p.35), MALL was considered as “a subset of both mobile
learning and computer-assisted language learning”.
Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra (2018, p.3) called MALL as “a
branch of technology-driven learning which can be applied in several forms including
face-to face, distant or on-line modes”. It is different from CALL in its use of
personal, portable devices that afford new ways of learning, emphasizing continuity or
spontaneity of access and interaction across different contexts of use (Kukulska-Hulme
& Shield, 2008).
II.1.2.2. Advantages and disadvantages
Many prior researchers have found numerous advantages of MALL.
In 2012, Kim and Yeonhee in their research indicated three significant pros of
MALL. First, MALL enables students to access language learning materials and
communicate with people at any time, from anywhere more easily and more promptly.
Second, the nature of digital technology facilitates students’ participation in both
collaborative and individualized language learning activities synchronously and/or
asynchronously allowing rapid development of speaking, listening, reading, and
writing skills. Third, mobile technology provides various resources and tools for
language learning that encourage learners to be more motivated, autonomous, situated
(site-specific), and socially interactive.
Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra. (2018, p.4) praised MALL because
of its accessibility: “learning through mobile devices is convenient and free from
space-specificity and can happen in a place at any time”. They also pointed out that
MALL can enhance the access to the classroom activity-subjects and helps learners to
communicate and have contacts with their teachers and peers at any time and in every
place. According to the study. MALL provided invaluable opportunities for those
learners who suffer from disabilities: “In such cases, technologies can function as
sound and precious substitutes for textbooks. They can listen to many audio files in
tune with their language level and in this manner enhance their proficiency more
easily”.
Some disadvantages of MALL had also been indicated.
The first disadvantage came from mobile phone’s technology. This included
having a small screen and difficulty in reading on such a screen, limited audio-visual
contact, small keyboard, the limited length of messages and data storage. The reason
for this is because many of the mobile devices have not been created to serve
educational goals. Therefore, it is difficult for the students to use them for
accomplishing the tasks given by their teachers when using MALL.
The next cons resulted in the high possibility and likelihood of cheating of
students. MALL was also said to reduce creativity, ideas, and contents. Group of
researchers Mohammadi, Elham & Shirkamar, Zahra explained in their study: “Mobile
devices are constantly connected to the network and go through upgrades, the
creation of a burden upon learners’ shoulders to adopt themselves to technology, and
their limitation in teaching experimental courses and topics such as laboratory
experiments for biology and chemistry students”.
Last but not least, MALL can create a sense of cultural opposition in language
learners. That is to say, second language learners can take it as a cultural threat
imposed upon them and as a result, they guard against such a learning method and
develop a sense of inhibition and resistance toward the whole process of foreign
language learning.
 II.2. Factors influencing the intention to adopt MALL
II.2.1. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
The Technology Acceptance Model was first proposed by Fred Davis in 1989
as a model to explain the adoption of new technology based on individuals’ behaviour
(Scherer R., Siddiq F. & Tondeur J., 2019).
Despite the variety of variables within the TAM such as TAM2 (Davis, 1993),
the most prominent version of TAM is the original one (Scherer R., Siddiq F. &
Tondeur J.,2018), which includes two main factors explaining users’ behaviour
towards technology.

Perceived
Usefulness
Attitude Behavioral Actual
toward use intention to use use
Perceived
ease of use

Figure 1: The TAM model

Perceived usefulness is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that

using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance” (Davis, 1993). It
can be simplified that the likelihood of the technology’s usefulness for their work
explain their decision to use it or not.
Perceived ease of use is described as “the degree to which a person believes
that using a particular system would be free from effort” (Davis, 1993). If the new
technology is claimed to be difficult to use, it may receive few acceptances.
II.2.2. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
It is proposed in the theoretical model of UTAUT that behavioural intention
directly impacts the actual use of technology. Along with that, the influence of
predictor variables is affected by age, gender, experience, and voluntariness of use
among research subjects (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Alike with TAM, UTAUT also has a
plenty of extending versions (Nicholas-Omoregbeet al., 2016), however the original
one presented by Venkatesh remains the most popular used for research purposes.

Performance
Expectancy

Effort Behavioral
Expectancy Intention

Use
Social behaviour
Influence

Facilitating
Conditions

Voluntariness
Gender Age Experience
Of Use

Figure 2: The UTAUT model

Performance expectancy is defined as "the degree to which an individual

believes that using the system will help him or her to attain gains in job performance"
(Venkatesh et al., 2003). This element is developed by the concepts from TAM,
TAM2 (an extension to TAM), Combined TAM and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
(CTAMTPB), Motivational Model (MM), the model of PC utilization (MPCU),
Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT).
Effort expectancy is described as "the degree of ease associated with the use of
the system" (Venkatesh et al., 2003). This factor is based on the perceived ease of use
– a measure suggested by TAM, MPCU, IDT. These two elements bear a resemblance
in their definitions and scales.
Social influence is termed as "the degree to which an individual perceives that
important others believe he or she should use the new system" (Venkatesh et al.,
2003). Social influence shares a similarity with the subjective norms, social factors and
image constructs used in TRA, TAM2, CTAMTPB, MPCU, SCT and IDT. The impact
of this factor is remarkable when the use of technology is mandated (Venkatesh et al.,
2003). It is explained that in that situation, people might accept using technology
because of the compliance requirements rather than their personal preferences
(Venkatesh & Davis, 2000).
Facilitating conditions is expressed as "the degree to which an individual
believes that an organizations and technical infrastructure exists to support the use of
the system" (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The mentioned factor is formed from
compatibility, perceived behavioural control, and facilitating conditions constructs
driven from CTAMTPB, MPCU and IDT. This element brings positive impact on
intention to use, however after a certain period of use, it becomes less significant.
Therefore, UTAUT suggests that facilitating conditions have a direct important
influence on use behaviour (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
The effects of age, gender, experience, and voluntariness of use explain the
strength of predictor variables on intention to use. To be specific, all four key factors
are affected by age. Additionally, gender impacts the relationships among effort
expectancy, performance expectancy and social influence. With experience, it has a
moderating influence on the relationships among effort expectancy, social influence
and facilitating conditions. And the relationship between social influence and
behavioural intention is impact by voluntariness of use (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
The UATUT model is chosen for guiding this research because the theories
offer more detailed insights into individual’s behaviour basis, which make them
applicable to a wide range of research contexts, not limited to information system
management (Marikyan, D., & Papagiannidis, S.,2021). Its model as well as appears to
be more suitable for the research scope of the study. In this study’s research scope,
only the factors affecting the behavioural intention to use technology are investigated.
Therefore, the three first mentioned elements, namely (1) performance expectancy, (2)
effort expectancy and (3) social influence of the model are the factors this research aim
to discuss.
 II.3. Overview of Duolingo
II.3.1. What is Duolingo?
Duolingo is a free learning platform that provides language education programs
through its mobile application and website. Luis Von Ahn and Severin Hacker created
it on November 11 with the slogan “Free language education for the world”. Duolingo
has become the world’s most popular language learning application with more than
575 million users, providing 102 available courses in 2022. It is the top 1 language
learning application in both Google Play and App Store. Especially, Haina Xiang,
Duolingo Marketing Manager in China and Southeast Asia, stated that the Vietnam
market has its most users in Southeast Asia with incredible growth speed in recent
years. This has become a bright spot as the number of people learning foreign
languages is increasing daily.
II.3.2. Products and services
Duolingo is a gamified application that provides amusing and personalized
education to learners globally. Duolingo can be accessed either through the web on a
desktop or laptop or through a cell phone or a tablet. It offers more than 40 languages
and more than 100 courses for its users through fun and exciting lessons. Through a
series of exercises, divided into lessons and skills, the app’s goal is to teach language
learners of vocabulary and grammar, and to bring students to a higher language level
by having them complete all required nodes.
The usage of spaced repetition, in which its algorithms determine when a user
needs to review words or chunks that may have faded from memory, is one of its key
characteristics. While repetition is necessary to learn new skills, spaced repetition has
proven to be particularly beneficial for learning vocabulary. Cavus and Ibrahim's
(2009) highly intriguing cell phone experiment showed that students who used the
gadgets enjoyed doing so and learned new terms, and the students themselves
recommended in their survey that other teachers should use similar tools to supplement
their instruction.
Moreover, the lessons intersperse different skills from pronunciation to
translation, and offer various activities. Users are expected to translate sentences, and
complete exercises (matching pictures with the corresponding words, matching a word
with its definition) and therefore foster their learning through repetition of vocabulary
and grammar structures. In addition, Duolingo also offers instant feedback to users
after each task.
II.3.3. Key features
II.3.3.1. Grammar translation method
One of the most common methods when learning a language is text translation
(Nushi, M., & Eqbali, M. H.,2017). Duolingo’s learners are expected to translate
sentences in non-mother tongue language by memorizing vocabulary and grammar
structures. Users make constant transfers from their native language to a foreign
language. They are expected to understand sentences in a foreign language while they
are given definitions of each word in the sentence in their native language.
The Grammar Translation technique is similar to how Duolingo promotes
accuracy. For instance, if the word "el" in Spanish is translated as "a or an" rather than
the proper "the," the statement will be deemed improper. Nonetheless, Duolingo is
forgiving of typos and overlooks the lack of an accent in languages like Spanish or
French or the failure to capitalize nouns in German. The translated sentence is not
regarded as erroneous if the user does not utilize accents or proper capitalization, but a
message is displayed that highlights the right format.
II.3.3.2. Audiolingual method
The Audiolingual method (ALM), which was created in the 1960s to aid
students in developing oral competency, is embodied in Duolingo. In essence, it is a
behaviourist theory since rules are taught to learners who subsequently self-discover
them after which they are repeatedly reinforced and rewarded for giving the right
answers. Although Duolingo does not emphasize speaking abilities, we can still see
ALM principles in the way that the lessons are organized. The following list of typical
ALM activities from Duolingo lessons is provided:
a. Replacement: A word gets swapped out for another word from the same
speech category or topic. This might help students to drill in a certain
grammar structure.
b. Inflection: Users are asked to repeat certain grammar structures in which
the word form is changed. For instance, singular nouns are introduced to
 learners, and after that, the same nouns are presented but in plural form
in the next lesson.
c. Restoration: A set of words is shown to users and their job is to put them
in the correct order so as to form a correct grammatical sentence.
II.3.3.3. Digital game-based language learning
Duolingo is one example of a Digital Game-based Language Learning
application. Edutainment is defined as a hybrid mix of education and entertainment
that relies less on basically heavy theories, and didactic styles of address make use of
visual material, and narratives or game-like formats. This education style is prevalent
in Duolingo and creates dynamic and interesting lessons for users. There are three core
elements that appear in edutainment design: Multimodal (interaction factors,
multimedia elements, and narrative), Task (completion of challenges), and Feedback
(assessment of progress and rewards that are meant to stimulate users’ motivation).
How these elements are implemented in a game environment has a strong impact on its
success.
a. Multimodal: audio for each word in the phrases, pictures for new
vocabulary terms, and sound effects for accomplishing classes and
performing accurate translations in foreign languages.
b. Task: comprehensive lessons, perform at the top of each lesson's level.
c. Feedback: achievements (badges awarded when users complete pre-
determined actions), experience points and crown levels (both are
awarded upon completing lessons).
 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
III.1. Context of the study
The research was conducted at the Faculty of Foreign Language, National
Economics University, Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The Faculty of Foreign Language was
established in the early 1970s. The major missions of the faculty are to teach not only
foreign languages such as English, Chinese, and French to NEU FFL students but also
provide the students with fundamental and advanced knowledge of economics in
general and business management specifically. Besides, the Faculty is in charge of
conveying significant employability skills to students studying at the university. At
present, FFL has 4 intakes from K61 to K64.
As a matter of fact, there is always a demand for effective methods that support
the learning foreign languages process of FFL’s students. Therefore, they are
continuously searching for resources to help them with that, such as after school
classes, coaching 1 by 1, and so on. And since technology is increasingly developing
nowadays, language learning mobile-assisted applications, for example Duolingo,
Elsa, Cake, etc. are gradually reaching out to more and more students. As a result, the
survey was carried out on all 4 intakes of the faculty with a total participant of 196 on
the factors affecting their intention when it comes to studying a foreign language on
Duolingo.
III.2. Participants
The participants of the research include 196 FFL students at NEU, and they
were randomly selected from all intakes in the 2022-2023 academic year. To be
specific, students in intake 63 had the greatest rate of 28.6%. It was followed closely
by both students in intake 61 (and above) and 62, accounting for 27.6% and 24.5%
respectively. Lastly, first-year students participated at least, namely 19.4%.
In terms of gender, the number of female and male students was quite equal. In
particular, 49% were female while only less than 2.6% were male. The proportion of
students who prefer not to reveal their gender in the study was only 4.6%.
 III.3. Research instruments
In this study, data was collected through one survey questionnaire for English
language-major students in NEU. The objective of the survey is to identify factors that
influence the intention of learning foreign languages through Duolingo as well as the
reasons for not choosing to learn foreign languages of English language-major
students with this application in NEU.
The survey questionnaire consists of 3 parts. The first part is mainly about
students' background information. The second focuses on the factors affecting
students' intention to learn non-mother tongue languages through Duolingo. In this
part, the 3 highlight aspects that the questionnaire wants to concentrate on are
performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence. The last part is to
investigate the reasons why some students decide not to use Duolingo as an
educational mobile application to learn foreign languages.
III.4. Data collection procedures
The procedures of data collection consist of 3 main stages as follows:
1. Preparation
The group of researchers designed the questionnaires and created the survey
form on an online platform named Google Forms, which is a popular site to create
online forms and surveys with multiple question types. The researchers group decided
the specific period for collecting data.
2. Answer receiving
Survey form was shortened into different types of access such as link, QR
code… for easier approach and more convenient data statistics. Researchers sent the
questionnaires link to a plenty of FFL’s students through their mutual chat groups, or
suggest some to scan the QR code which directs them to the survey form. Students
were encouraged to leave comments if any questions or instructions seemed unclear.
The survey data were collected as soon as students pressed “submit” at the end of the
questionnaire form.
3. Completion
The group of researchers stopped accepting responses since the collecting data
period had ended.
 III.5. Data analysis procedures
Researchers reviewed the received answers, therefore might delete any response
that was substandard. All 196 responses met requirements for data analysis.
The questionnaires had already been divided into sections from the design
stage, based on the research questions. Therefore, it was convenient to classify the
information gathered. The data collected from the questionnaires was then synthesized
and illustrated by diagrams or tables according to each research question.
 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
IV.1. The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language

Figure 3: The number of students using Duolingo to learn a foreign language.

Described in the diagram above is the number of NEU English language-major

students who have ever learned a foreign language through Duolingo. The majority of
these students chose “Yes”, which accounted for about two-thirds of those filling the
survey, 61,7% for details. And the other ones claimed that they have never used
Duolingo to learn a foreign language.
IV.2. Factors influencing intention to learn a foreign language through
Duolingo.
IV.2.1. Performance expectancy

Figure 4: Students’ opinions on performance expectancy on using Duolingo.

The chart above indicates students’ performance when using Duolingo to learn
foreign languages. In this question of the survey, students were asked to express their
thought on nine aspects: improvement in speaking, listening, writing, reading, and
vocabulary; practice in translating words and sentences; grammar and language
structure acknowledgment; spending more time on language learning and learning
languages independently.
Overall, it can be seen that most respondents’ learning language experience
were expected to be improved with the Duolingo. Only a small number of participants
showed disagreement and strong disagreement with each the statements below 20%.
The exception is writing skills be improved through Duolingo, this assessment
received the highest disagreement with 22,67%.
To be specific, the figure from the chart shows an expectation that Duolingo
helping its users enhance word and sentence translation practice has the highest
number of people showing agreement and strong agreement (more than 63%).
Meanwhile, Duolingo was expected to help students with listening skills (around
51,33%), encourage them to study independently (58% approximately), and promote
them to spend more time learning languages outside the class (about 60%).
In contrast, it can also be concluded from the chart that Duolingo did not help
students make any significant improvement in writing skills. Additionally, 33,33% of
participants show neither agreement nor disagreement that their reading skill was
expected to enhance via Duolingo, the statement received the highest neutral
assessment. Followed by listening skills with 31,3% of FFL students having an
unprejudiced point of view.
IV.2.2. Effort expectancy

Figure 5: Students’ opinions on effort expectancy on using Duolingo.

 The second question in Chapter II of the survey questionnaire deals with
students’ effort expectancy when it comes to studying English on Duolingo. The bar
chart above describes their opinion on five factors: simple to use, easy to access,
interesting features, independence which is the ability to use Duolingo without help,
and their enjoyment when using Duolingo.
As can be seen, the trend of participants’ assessment of five factors was quite
similar. Most of the respondents showed their agreement on these statements
(approximately 60% - 70% of responses showing agreement and strong agreement).
Subsequently, studying by Duolingo was thought to be effective since it had received
positive feedback from its users. Almost all participants in the survey agreed and
strongly agree that they were able to use Duolingo without needing any support, and
Duolingo was easily accessible. These two factors both accounted for around 75%
totally. The factor receiving the most disagreed/neutral opinions was user’s
satisfaction with 17,33%. This implied that some of Duolingo’s student users had not
yet been enjoyed experiencing the app. The study will discuss the reasons for this
situation in later parts. However, the overall opinion still graded Duolingo as a decent
app to use for studying foreign languages.
IV.2.3. Social influence

Figure 6: Students’ opinions on social influence on using Duolingo.

The above figure illustrates the social factors which impact students’ behaviour
regarding Duolingo use. It is clear that opinions on these factors are diverse. While the
application’s advertisement and students’ learning injunctions were considered as the
influential factors motivating them to use Duolingo, friends’ suggestions received less
agreement than the others. More than half of the total students participating in the
survey - 50,76% for the advertisement factor and 62,12% for learning demand -
believed these factors inspired them to use Duolingo. In contrast, just 34.09% of the
students appeared to share the same opinion regarding friends' suggestions.
IV.3. Reasons for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language.
The survey pointed out that over one-third of students did not use Duolingo to
learn a foreign language, specifically 38.3% (Figure 3). Students’ opinions are also
discussed in detail in order to find some main reasons for the case.

Opinion Number of students Percentage

I do not believe Duolingo can help me learn a

foreign language better than academic linguistic 63 50,4
institutions.
I believe learning a foreign language requires
supervision rather than self-independence and
58 46,4
Duolingo promotes self-learning more than strict
supervision to its learners.

Duolingo is complicated to use. 19 15,2

Duolingo is difficult to access. 16 12,8

Duolingo’s features do not interest me. 44 35,5

My friends and acquaintances who are learning

44 35,2
foreign languages do not use Duolingo.

I hardly approach Duolingo in the advertising

27 21,6
media.

I find learning a foreign language through mobile

44 35,2
applications unnecessary.

Table 1: Students’ opinions for not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language.
 It can be seen from the table that roughly half of the students believed that the
language academic institutes where they learn by traditional methods, and the teachers
directly meet, teach, and interpret the knowledge helped them learn foreign languages
better than Duolingo - a mobile application. Less than 4%, namely 46.4%, assumed
that supervision was a required factor in learning a foreign language process, while
Duolingo encourages self-learning as the time to study and the amount of knowledge
acquired depends on each student’s self-discipline; thus, if they do not have this
awareness, it will be very difficult to learn a foreign language through mobile apps.
Furthermore, students did not use Duolingo because of reasons like people around
them also did not use it, they found its features boring, and it was unnecessary to learn
a foreign language through mobile apps, which individually registered more than 35%.
It was followed by 21.6% of survey participants who thought that Duolingo was rarely
mentioned in advertising media, which means that they hardly approach as well as use
it to learn. Lastly, an insignificant number of students claimed that Duolingo is
complicated to access and use, recording 12.8% and 15.2% respectively.
Overall, through the survey, there are four main reasons for students not using
Duolingo to learn a foreign language. Firstly, students believed that learning through
Duolingo was ineffective and unnecessary compared to traditional learning. Secondly,
students assumed that learning foreign languages needs to be supervised. Lastly,
students did not know Duolingo. Lastly, students were not interested in Duolingo’s
features.
 CHAPTER V: RECOMMENDATIONS
Some recommendations can be proposed from the discussion above for
University English teachers, as well as Duolingo application developers.
V.1. For teachers
The Duolingo application's learning activities can contribute to good
improvements in the methods for teaching and learning a new language. Therefore,
incorporating Duolingo as a teaching strategy might assist teachers in fostering a rise
in learners' levels of confidence when their students are able to acquire new
vocabulary words outside of the classroom, as well as at their own speed and level.
It is recommended that grammar and oral teachers should encourage their
students to utilize Duolingo. Because of Duolingo’s interesting gamification aspects,
teachers can use this application to alternative traditional homework or assignments.
Moreover, teachers can use Duolingo as a tool of support students’ independent
learning beyond the course’s requirements. Through Duolingo for Schools, teachers
can keep track of their student’s development and provide additional specialized
practice challenges to help students with vocabulary or grammar structures that may
still seem difficult to them.
Taking advantage of Duolingo’s environment in learning vocabulary with
images, sounds, and translations would be less stimulating and more constructive for
students. Thereby, it is advised that educators use Duolingo as a clever technique for
connecting topic words to graphics and vice versa. The Duolingo app may also be used
as a post-course tool to retain students at their current proficiency level and enable
them to continue language practice wherever and whenever they feel the need to do so.
V.2. For Duolingo application developers
It is a fact that Duolingo does not support advanced English learners while the
survey participants are mainly the one who study advanced English. There have been
some key features of Duolingo which made it not suitable for those learning advanced
English. Therefore, its developers should update more contents that are more suitable
for this group of learners.
In English or any other language, context plays a significant role. It helps
readers/listeners to understand exactly the meaning of the words because a word can
have different meanings in different contexts. On the other hand, the language in
Duolingo is random and therefore can be interpreted in different ways by different
people. Consequently, it is recommended that developers design games and quizzes
containing communication context for the learners to better improve their language
skills.
Duolingo’s vocabulary and grammar are too basic, which is one of the reasons
that makes it too simple for Duolingo learners to reach a higher band. As a result, it’s
undoubtedly easy to guess the right answer when learning through Duolingo. For
example, when Duolingo asks its learners to translate a sentence, it gives them a
number of words to choose from, so they basically just have to put the words in the
right order. In practice, this means that Duolingo users barely learn, even if they get
the answer right. The learners can easily make the right answer but in fact, their
language skills are not improving at all. This feature may be improved that when
reaching a higher level of learning, users are asked to type the answer sentence
themselves.
Another feature of Duolingo that its developer should update is real speaking
practices. As a matter of fact, speaking is one of the most difficult skills to practice
alone. Speaking is necessary when it comes to learning a language. Developers may
want toad some features that help learners have the chance to practice speaking with
other learners.
Many survey participants report that using Duolingo is quite boring since the
lessons are repetitive. The lessons are quite the same and it makes learners feel bored
after 15-20 hours of using the app. As a result, developers should improve user
experience by, for example, creating connection and communication between different
learners.
 CONCLUSION
1. Summary
The research was conducted in order to investigate factors influencing English
language - major students’ intention to learn a foreign language through Duolingo at
National Economics University. In this study, three main factors including
performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence were discussed,
recommendations were proposed for foreign language instructors and creators of the
Duolingo application to help them draw in more users.
Based on the study topics, the questionnaires had previously been organized
into sections during the design phase. Then, a survey has been conducted on 196
students of the Faculty of Foreign Language. The data gathered from the surveys was
then combined and presented in diagrams or tables.
The majority of participants responded that they have been experiencing
Duolingo. Three factors shared approximately the same effects influencing students’
intentions. Besides, the survey also revealed a number of reasons that some FFL
students not using Duolingo to learn a foreign language.
2. Limitations
The sample size (N = 196) is insufficient to represent the whole FFL’s students
learning at NEU. The sample was only randomly derived from those whom
researchers know or ask our friends to share survey with same-faculty students.
Moreover, the study period was constrained, the number of samples was likewise
limited so they might not give a thorough picture of view reflecting the whole research
subjects. The accessibility and evaluation of those questions in the questionnaire by
respondents may be inaccurate due to misunderstanding between the respondents'
opinions and the purpose of the corresponding question. A related constraint in the
study is the honesty of respondents in answering questions during the survey.
3. Suggestions for further studies
This investigation could act as a foundation from which the conclusions could
be used to stifle interest in future studies. Further research should thus address the
challenges identified while planning this study. Future studies using a more
sophisticated quantitative methodology may use a much bigger sample size for more
detail and deeper analysis. However, in-depth semi-structured interviews and
classroom observations should be accepted as methods to advance evaluations related
to this issue. Moreover, questionnaire questions should be organized and designed to
help participants understand easily.
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 APPENDIX
Factors influencing NEU FFL students’ intention to learn a foreign language through
Duolingo and reasons for not doing that Questionnaire.
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
1. Which is your gender?
● Male
● Female
2. What intake are you in?
● 64
● 63
● 62
● 61
3. Have you ever used Duolingo to learn a foreign language?
● Yes (Answer questions in II)
● No (Answer questions in III)
II. FACTORS INFLUENCING INTENTION TO LEARN A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE THROUGH DUOLINGO.
Evaluate the statements below.

Level of agreement
Factors
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree

Performance Expectancy

4. I can enhance my vocabulary

by using Duolingo.

5. I can improve my listening

skill using Duolingo.

6. I can improve my reading

skill using Duolingo.
 7. I can improve my writing
skill using Duolingo.

8. I can improve my speaking

skill using Duolingo.

9. I can practise translating

words and sentences using
Duolingo.

10. I can learn grammar or

language structure using
Duolingo.

11. Duolingo encourages me to

spend more time learning
languages outside of the
classroom.

12. Duolingo encourages me to

learn languages
independently.

Effort Expectancy

13. Duolingo is simple to use.

14. Duolingo is easy to access.

15. Duolingo features are

interesting and variative.

16. I can use Duolingo

independently without
others’ help.
 17. I enjoyed using Duolingo for
studying foreign languages.

Social Influence

18. I use Duolingo because of

my friend's suggestion.

19. I find Duolingo’s

advertisement quite
interesting and attractive.

20. I was looking for a foreign

language learning app, and
Duolingo was one of the
recommendations.

III. REASONS FOR NOT USING DUOLINGO TO LEARN FOREIGN

LANGUAGES.
21. Choose the statements considered to be your situation.
● I do not believe Duolingo can help me learn a foreign language better than
academic linguistic institutions.
● I believe learning a foreign language requires supervision rather than self-
independence and Duolingo promotes self-learning more than strict supervision
to its learners.
● Duolingo is complicated to use.
● Duolingo is difficult to access.
● Duolingo’s features do not interest me.
● I cannot use Duolingo independently without others’ help.
● My friends and acquaintances who are learning foreign languages do not use
Duolingo.
● I hardly approach Duolingo in advertising media.
● I find learning a foreign language through mobile applications unnecessary.