The effectiveness of Duolingo on Spanish learners' spelling ability

Abstract

The current study investigated the effectiveness of Duolingo on Spanish learners’ language learning by looking at their spelling errors. The study attempted to address the research question on what is the relationship between the time spent on Duolingo (earned in XP points) and the use of “gloss” feature and correct spelling? Participants were four adult learners of Spanish from different backgrounds. They had proficiency in English and spoke different languages as their L1s. They used Duolingo to learn Spanish for 13 weeks. For data collection, they took a spelling task and filled a post-survey. Following Wing and Baddeley (1980) and Cook (2004) coding, spelling errors were coded into different categories and some codes were adapted based on findings of the study. The findings of the study showed that participants who earned highest XP points spelled most of the words correctly in Spanish compared to the ones with less XP points. Participants committed different spelling errors- starting from most common errors to least: vowel errors, diacritics, omission, double consonants, multiple errors, addition, substitution and transposition errors. Learners also used the “gloss” features to check the spelling of the words while practicing the target language. Findings revealed that there seems to be connection between the earned XP points (time on task) and learners’ spelling ability and it was also influence by the usage of glosses.