E. Scope of the Research
2. The Concept of Duolingo Application a. The definition of duolingo
Duolingo is a free app created by Luis Von Ahn and Severin Hacker in November 2011. Its slogan is “Free language education for the
world.” According to its website, it has more than 30 million registered users. It offers several languages for English speakers as well as others for non-English speakers.
According to International Journal of English Linguistics (2013)
“Duolingo, afree online language learning site, has as its mission to help users tolearn a language while simultaneously using their learning exercises to translate the web”. Language is learned through translation with,according to developers, Duolingo being as effective as any of theleading language learning software. For translating the web, machine translation is not good enough and relying only on professional translators, far too expensive.
Duolingo, we are told, offers a thirdway, with translation as a by- product of its language learning. Translation which will be, if as promised, almost as cheap as if done by machines and almost as good as if by professionals. Launched in June 2012, Duolingo boasts already at the time of writing 300,000 active language learners ready for the task. This article independentlyassesses the extent to which Duolingo, at its current stage of development, meets those expectations”.
Arguably this application is a game, but certainly not an entertainment game in general, games on Duolingo very closely linked with education,especially in learning a foreign language. On operational the user will be given 5 hearts that functions as the life of other user.
Every wrong answer then user loses 1 point of lives, and so on. And if the heart has been exhausted, then it should be repeated the lesson all
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over again. This application combines elements of audio, visual and also questions surrounding the grammar of a language with a very pleasant way.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher can conclude that Duolingo is an online platform and mobile application thatoffers users a free and innovative way to learn new languages.
Figure 2.3 Duolingo Application b. The steps to use duolingo
According to Kartika (2014), there are some steps you must do when you want to use duolingo application, they are:
1) Download the Duolingo app in Google Play Store,
Figure 2.4 Duolingo App in Google Play Store
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2) Select the language you want to learn and speak,
Figure 2.5 Some languages will be learned and spoken 3) You must set your pick a daily goal,
Figure 2.6 Pick a daily goal
4) The app will ask you to choose one of them below,
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Figure 2.7 The First Option when We Join Duolingo 5) Then, you must finish some short exercises in this app. After that,
create a new account. You can sign-up with e-mail, Google or Facebook account (for Android users) and Twitter or Facebook account (for iOS users),
Figure 2.8 Making a Profile in Duolingo App 6) After that, you can start to take lessons in duolingo app.
c. Common exercises in duolingo app
The app then inquires whether the learner already knows anything about the language, and if so, it provides the learner with a placement test. If the learner is new to the language, they start with the basics. It is safe to say that Duolingo is a very straightforward app and verysimple to
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use. Without any more questions or even registration for the course, the learner cango right into their first lesson by tapping Start. The exercises are of many types:
1) translation exercises, in which the learners translate from the language they know to the language they want to learn or the other way around (see Figure 2.9);
2) matching exercises, in which learners see a photo and match it with the words givenor the other way around (see Figure 2.10);
3) pairing exercises, in which learners are given an even number of equivalent words from both languages and are asked to pair them (see Figure 2.11);
4) listening exercises, in which learners listen to a short phrase in the second languageand have to type it correctly (see Figure 2.12);
5) speaking exercises, in which learners have to say what they hear (see Figure 2.13).
Each lesson contains 10 to 15 exercises, a few from each of the categories mentionedabove, and learners have a progress bar on the top of their screens. Every time they get an answer right, the bar moves a little bit forward. Every time they get it wrong, the bar does notprogress, Duolingo points out the mistake and repeats the question at the end of the exercises until the progress bar is completed. Duolingo also allows the learners to go back to whicheverlesson they want, whenever they want, even if they have gotten all the answers right.
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Figure 2.9 A Translation Exercise Figure 2.10 A Matching Exercise
Figure 2.11 A Pairing Exercise Figure 2.12 A Listening Exercise
Figure 2.13 A Speaking Exercise
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d. The strengths and weaknesses of duolingo app
According to Latief (2019:33-34) Duolingo as a learning media have some strength, there are:
1) The application is user friendly, with free, simple, and informative lessons.
2) Learning is based around subjects.
3) Teaches grammatical rules. E.g. masculine and feminine, plural.
4) Tips and notes about grammar at bottom of each lesson.
5) Can be accessed on various electronic devices like mobile phone or PC, so learners can keep a detailed record of progress.
6) Can set daily goals for motivation.
7) Virtual shop with rewards for progress.
8) Courses offered and taught in multiple languages.
Furthermore, this app also has some weaknesses as follows:
1) Requires internet access.
2) Not much about culture is taught.
3) Duolingo’s class as a teacher only can accessed with web address not available at menus’ in Duolingo application.
e. Particular lessons in duolingo
Furthermore, in improving our skill, duolingo make available lessons as follows:
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1) At the first level there are: Basic 1, Basic 2 – these are requirements forthe lessons on the second, which are: Common Phrases, Food, and Animals.
2) third level are Plurals
3) fourth: Adjectives – Predicative 4) fifth : Clothing – Present 1
5) after these five lessons there is a shortcut (illustrated by a key), where a learner can take three attempts to unlock the following lessons withoutpassing these five previous in case he/she is more advanced 6) sixth : Nominative pronouns, Accusative Pronouns
7) seventh : Family
8) eighth : Household, Conjunctions 9) ninth : Dative Case, Numbers
10) tenth : Dative Pronouns, Travel, Negatives 11) again after the tenth lesson there is a shortcut 12) eleventh : People
13) twelfth : Colors, Formal You, Occupations 14) thirteenth : Comparisons, Qualifiers
15) fourteenth : Adjectives – Predicative 2, Prepositions 16) fifteenth : Medical, Verbs – Present 2
17) sixteenth : Dates and Time, Feelings 18) nineteenth : Adverbs 1
19) twentieth : Frequency, Verbs – Modal 20) twenty-first : Nature, Genitive Case
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21) twenty-second : Adjectives – Nominative 1, Adjectives-Accusative 22) twenty-third : Adjectives – Dative– shortcut
23) twenty-fourth : Adjectives – Nominative 2, Places, Adverbs 2 24) twenty-fifth : Verbs – Preterits, Verbs – Present Perfect, Verbs Past
Perfect
25) twenty-sixth : Objects, Communication 26) twenty-seventh : Verbs - Future 1
27) twenty-eighth : Education, Science, Verbs - Future Perfect 28) twenty-ninth : Verbs Reflexive– shortcut
29) thirtieth : Business 1, Language
30) thirty-first : Abstract Objects 1, Verbs - Present 3 31) thirty-second : Verbs – Future 2, Verbs – Conditional
32) thirty-third : Abstract Objects 2, Verbs – Conditional Perfect 33) thirty-fourth : Business 2
34) thirty-fifth : Sports, Spiritual, Arts
35) thirty-sixth : Passive Voice, Verbs – Imperative, Politics 36) thirty-seventh : Abstract Objects 3
37) thirty-eighth : Abstract Objects 4, Verbs – Conditional 2, Verbs – Present 4.
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Teaching Translation C. Conceptual Framework
The theory which supports this research can be shown in logical and clear relationship in the following framework as follow:
Figure 2. 14 Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework above explains the process of learning and teaching translation in class XI MIPA in SMA Muhammadiyah 9 Makassar.
Teaching translation is important for the students because with translation, we can understand the other language. This research uses pre-experimental research that consists of pre-test and post-test. There are many kinds of application that can be used in teaching translation. This research, the researcher will present the materials by using duolingo application.
Pre-Experimental Research
Pre-test
Treatment (duolingo app)
Post-test
Improving students’ translation by Duolingo app
25 D. Hypotheses
The hypotheses are:
1. Ha: there is a significant influence of duolingo app in improving students’ translation at eleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah 9 Makassar.
2. H0: there is no significant influence of duolingo app in improving students’ translation at eleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah 9 Makassar.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design
According to Kumar in Nuraeni (2013) methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. In other word, methodology is the way a researcher answer the question of research. In this study, the researcher applied pre-experimental research which was employ one group pre-test – posttest. This research would be conducted through three steps of process:
pretest- treatment-posttest to investigate whether the use of duolingo application to improve students’ translation. Pretest would be conducted to measure the students’ previous translation before conducting the treatment.
The treatment was the learning process in which duolingo application was used in the learning process. After doing the treatment using duolingo, posttest would be given to measure the students’ translation after the treatment. The diagram would be present as follows:
Table 3.1 Design of Pre-test and Post-test Experimental group : R O1 X O2 Where:
R : Subject of the study
O1: Pre-test of experimental group X : Treatment
O2: Post-test of experimental group
(Sugiyono, 2018:111)
27 B. Population and Sample