Abstract

More than 300 million people use the gamified mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) application (app) Duolingo. The challenging tasks, reward incentives, systematic levels, and the ranking of users according to their achievements are just some of the elements that demonstrate strong gamification elements within this popular language learning application. This application’s pervasive reach, flexible functionality, and freemium business model has brought significant attention to gamification in MALL. The present systematic review aims to summarize different methods, frameworks, settings, and research samples used to assess Duolingo’s design and impact on various learning outcomes. We carried out a complete database search for articles focused on the issues of design, application, and pedagogies in the use of Duolingo. Three hundred and sixty-seven records were initially found, and 35 of those were selected for final inclusion based on language choice, theoretical frameworks, design, sampling, data collection, and analyses (see Appendix 1 for full list). The results indicated that the majority of research from 2012-2020 was design-focused, quantitative in nature, and used non-probability sampling methods. The focus on app design marks an emphasis on the creation of tools rather than the process and outcomes of language learning from using these tools. Additional results revealed preferences for performance-based research questions, for English as language of choice in research, and for the USA as the most prominent context for Duolingo research studies. Furthermore, our review highlights research gaps specific to Duolingo, yet generalizable to other MALL applications. The results are useful to researchers seeking to assess, evaluate, and understand MALL, gamification, and Duolingo as well as to practitioners interested in utilizing MALL in formal and informal learning environments.

摘要

超过 3 亿人使用游戏化的移动辅助语言学习 (MALL) 应用程序 (app) Duolingo。具有挑战性的任务、奖励激励、系统级别以及根据用户成就对用户进行排名只是在这个流行的语言学习应用程序中展示强大游戏化元素的一些元素。该应用程序的广泛应用、灵活的功能和免费增值业务模型使 MALL 中的游戏化得到了极大的关注。本系统综述旨在总结用于评估 Duolingo 的设计和对各种学习成果的影响的不同方法、框架、设置和研究样本。我们对有关 Duolingo 使用中的设计、应用和教学法问题的文章进行了完整的数据库搜索。最初发现了 367 条记录，根据语言选择、​​理论框架、设计、抽样、数据收集和分析，最终选择了 35 条记录（完整列表见附录 1）。结果表明，2012-2020 年的大部分研究都以设计为重点，本质上是定量的，并且使用了非概率抽样方法。对应用程序设计的关注标志着对工具创建的重视，而不是使用这些工具学习语言的过程和结果。其他结果揭示了对基于绩效的研究问题的偏好，将英语作为研究中的首选语言，以及将美国作为 Duolingo 研究最突出的背景。此外，我们的评论强调了 Duolingo 特有的研究差距，还可以推广到其他 MALL 应用程序。这些结果对寻求评估、评估和理解 MALL、游戏化和 Duolingo 的研究人员以及对在正式和非正式学习环境中使用 MALL 感兴趣的从业者都很有用。