1

Teaching with Duolingo

PaulMagnuson
December2014

Introduction
PersonalUseofDuolingo
SchoolandClassroomContext
Twomajorprojects
Theconnectionbetweenthetwoprojects
ProjectBasedLearning
Grading
StudentuseofDuolingo
Duringclass
Ashomework
Asaninstrumenttoteachselfmotivation
Asanadditiontoatraditionalcurriculum
Developingindependence,selfpacing.
Additionaltimeontask
Interestandmotivation
Teachermonitoring
Counterpoint
Progressinwrittenlanguage
Progressinspokenlanguage
Thingsthatstudentsdidthatsurprisedme
Thingsstudentsdidntdo(ordidntdomoreoften)thatsurprisedme
Astrangelysilentclassroom
PilotDesign
PilotResults
RecommendationsforDuolingoifpursuingclassroomuse
ProgressQuizzes
Measuringprogress
Summary
Thanks

Introduction

DuolingolaunchedinJune2012.Itisagamifiedplatformforlearningforeignlanguages.It
consistsoftwomajorcomponents:grammarandvocabularyexercisesandaninterfaceto
translatearticlesfromtheweb.ThefinishedDuolingotranslationsarethecombinedeffortof

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

manyindividualstudents,whodothemforfree.Thecompanysrevenuecomesfromselling
someofthesetranslatedarticlestoclients.

Interestingly,thelessonsfornewlyintroducedlanguagesarenowcreatedbyvolunteers.
Thoughthecompanyundoubtedlyhasacoreofperhapsseveraldozenemployees,agreat
dealoftheworkisdonebyfreebytheusers,includingboththegrammarandvocabulary
exercisesaswellasthetranslations.

Duolingoisnotbuiltasalearningmanagementsystemforteachersofforeignlanguagesto
usewithstudents,butthereisobviousutilitytoforeignlanguageteacherswhenaproductis
free,gamified,setuptoallowoneusertofriendanother,andcomeswithadiscussionboard
forgrammarandvocabularyquestions.

InFall2014IbeganusingDuolingowithaclassofhighschoolstudents.Thisarticlerecords
myexperienceitwithDuolingduringthefirstsemesteraswellasrecommendingtoDuolingo
whatcouldbeaddressedbythefolksatDuolingoiftheywanttocreateabettertoolforthe
teacherinaclassroomcontext.

Personal Use of Duolingo

IcreatedaDuolingoaccountonJanuary10,2013,twoyearsago.

Ibeganwithlanguagesmostfamiliartome,German,French,andSpanish,butrelatively
quicklyaddedItalianandPortuguese.IdidntaddDutchuntilJuly2014,thenaddedDanish,
Irish,andSwedishduringthefirstsemesterIusedDuolingowithstudents,inFall2014.

Ihavereachedthemaximumlevel(25)inGerman,FrenchandSpanish,buttheprogram
doesntmakeonestop.Itisalwayspossibletoreviewgrammarandvocabularyandalways
anoptiontotranslatearticlesfromtheselanguagesintoEnglish.Ihavefinishedthegrammar
exercisesinDutch(15),Italian(19),Portuguese(23),andSwedish(13).Iwillfinishthe
grammarexercisesinDanish(11)inthenextseveralweeks.Irish(7)isawholenotherstory.
Gaeilge
isdifficult.

BynomeansdoIspeaktheselanguages,andonesthatIdospeaktosomedegreearenotin
generalduetoDuolingo.However,IhavefoundthatIcanenjoypostsonsocialmedia,
newspaperarticles,andexcerptsfromnovelsinthelanguagesforwhichIvefinishedthe
grammarandvocabularyexercisesofferedinDuolingo.

InmytopfiveDuolingolanguagesIvedoneafairamountoftranslating,reachingfromlevel6
tolevel8ineachofthem.Duolingograntsatranslatinglevelforevery100sentencesyou
havetranslatedwhichhavealsobeengiventhethumbsupbyanotherDuolingouserthat
otherusermusthaveclickedtheLooksgoodbuttonforyourtranslationtoearnapoint.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

Level6representsthan500599sentencesthatotherusersthoughtcorrect(butasentence
canbeasinglewordorshortphrase,forexampletheheaderofasectionofanarticle).

IvetakenthefinalprogressquizinalllanguagesforwhichIvefinishedthegrammarand
vocabularyexercises.TheyarenotbenchmarkedwithanyfamiliarlanguagetestasfarasI
know,buttherankorderofthequizresultsaccuratelyreflectshowIwouldselfreportmy
readingabilityineachofthelanguages.

Imcurrentlyonastreakofover400daysinarowofatleastsomelanguagelearningwith
Duolingodaily.

School and Classroom Context

IworkataninternationalboardingschoolinSwitzerland.Thestudentbodyof330students
spanseighthtotwelfthgradeand40nativelanguages.Moststudentsspeaktwoormore
languages.MoststudentsarenonnativeEnglishspeakers.Theschedulefollowsaseven
periodday,classesmeetfourtimesweeklyduetoblockclassesontwodaysand,duringski
season,twoafternoonsoffeachweekforslidingdownthelocalmountain.

TheclassinwhichIintroducedDuolingoiscalledLinguistics&Languages.Itisanelective,
offeredforthefirsttimethisschoolyearaspartofourresearchschoolwithinaschool.Itisin
facthalfofourresearchcentershackschoolinitiative,inwhichwegivestudentsan
environmentofcoolstuff(theotherclassisroboticsandcoding)andtimetoexperimentand
findtheirownintrinsicmotivationandpersonalmethodstolearnbest.Weareintentionally
settingthestudentsuptohacktheirowneducation.1

Theclassbeganandendedthefallsemesterwith16students,6girlsand10boys,grades10
to12.NativelanguagesincludedChinese(4),English(3),Portuguese(2),Russian(2),Arabic
(1),French(1)Italian(1).Kazakh(1),Spanish(1).Adultsfromtheschoolwereinvitedto
attendaswell.Twoadultsattendedregularly,twoorthreeotherscamefromtimetotime.
Theirrolewastolearnlanguageindependentlyfortheirownenjoyment.Twoofthemused
Duolingo.AllofthemwerenativespeakersofEnglish.

Two major projects

ThestudentsinLinguistics&Languageswereaskedtotakepartintwomajoractivities.

AllstudentswererequiredtouseDuolingotobeginortocontinuelearningalanguage(or
morethanonelanguage)ontheirown.Theywereoftengiventimeinclass,particularlyinthe
firsthalfofthesemester.ForthoseforwhomDuolingowasntinteresting,Icreatedaprocess
1

Astudentinthecodingactivitysignedupbecausethenameledhimtobelievewewouldbeillegally
hackingintocomputers.Whenhefoundoutnoillegalactivitywasplanned,hisfaceregistereddeep
disappointment.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

toallowanystudenttoresearchadifferentonlinelanguagelearningtool,presentthetoolto
class,andthenusethenewtoolexclusivelyorinconjunctionwithDuolingo.Duringthefirst
semester,onlyonestudentmovedawayfromDuolingo.

ThesecondmajorproductisthecreationofabookcalledLanguageAwareness.Thebook
iscomposedoftwomajorsections.Onesectionisareviewofonlinelanguagelearningsites,
usingthesametemplatethatstudentscanusetomoveawayfromDuolingo.Thegoalisto
havetwelvegoodreviewsinthebook.

Theothersectionisacollectionofactivitiestoraiseawarenessaboutlanguage,servingasan
introductiontothestudyoflinguistics.StudentshelpfinishactivitiesIhavestartedforthem,
andwithtime,studentswillinitiateandcreateactivitiesfromthebeginning.Theyworkin
groupsoffourusingaspecializedapproachtoprojectbasedlearning(seebelow),pilotingthe
activityafterapproximatelythreeclassesofworktime.Thisbetatestingoccurseitherwithin
theLinguistics&Languagesclassorwithanotherlanguageclassoncampus.Thegoalisto
havetwelvetosixteenactivitiesinthebook.

Sampleactivities,andthelinguistictopictheyintroduce,areinTable1.

TABLE1:
Somesamplelanguageawarenessactivities

Activity...

servingasanintroductionto

Whatdoesthemean?

Translatability

IntroductiontoArabicwriting

Writingsystems

Thefirstword

Originsoflanguage

Basicwordorder

Syntax

FormalandinformalYou

Sociolinguistics

The connection between the two projects

AsIworkonlanguageswithDuolingo,Inoticenowandagainsomethinginterestingabout
howaparticularlanguageworks.Thesenoticingsareonesourcefornewideasforthe
languageawarenessactivities.Anoverarchinggoalfortheclassisthatstudentsbeginto
noticewhattheyhaventnoticedbeforeaswell,perhapsleadingtoselfinitiatedideasfor
newlanguageawarenessactivities.IdliketothinkImprovidinganenvironmentinwhichthey
candevelopaninquisitivestancetowardlanguage,andtowardlearningingeneral.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

Project Based Learning

Acomplementarypieceofactionresearchthatwasnotpartoftheoriginalplanarosefromthe
needtostructurethegroupworkonthereviewsforonlinelanguagelearningandthe
languageawarenessactivities.WiththeadviceandhelpofcolleaguesfromourschoolsIT
officeandresearchcenter,IbeganusingideasfromeduScrum.2 TheDutchdevelopersof
eduScrumwouldnodoubtsayIhavefartogobeforeIcansayIm
doing
eduScrum.Forour
purposeshere,itsufficestosaythatImsupportingselfdrivenstudentgroupworkwithwhatI
understandatthemomentastheirprocess.Thishasbecomearesearchprojectinitselfand
acolleagueandIwilladdressitinthefuture.

Grading

Eachweekthestudentsreceivedapass(4.0)ornopass(0.0).Therewere12totalgraded
weeksinthefirstsemester.Thefinalgradewasanaverageofthepassesandnopasses.

Ididnotfixarequirednumberofearnedpointstoreachacertaingrade(moreonthisbelow),
butIdidrequireadequateprogressfromeachstudenteachweek.Ifrequentlycommunicated
withstudentsusingtheactivitystreaminDuolingoitself,givingencouragementand
commentingwhenIcouldinthelanguagesthestudentswerelearning.Ialsoemailed
reminderswhenIfeltastudentwasnotdoingenough,orifastudentwasmanipulating
Duolingoinamannertogetlotsofpointsbutsidesteppingseriouslearning(moreonthat
below,too).

Ididnotrequirethatstudentsstickwithaparticularlanguage.Theywerefreetoworkonany
language,orlanguagepair,sinceDuolingoisbasedontranslatingfromonelanguageto
another.Studentscouldworkfromtheirnativelanguagetoanotherlanguage,orfromEnglish
toanotherlanguage,eveniftheirnativelanguagewasathirdlanguage.Thus,aChinese
speakermightbelearningFrenchthroughEnglish,whilehercolleaguewaslearningFrench
throughEnglishasanativespeakerofEnglish.Thisdiscrepancyexplainsinpartmy
unwillingnesstofixacertainpointtotalforagradeanyonepointtotalcanrepresent
significantlydifferentamountsofeffortdependingonthestudent.

Student use of Duolingo

During class

Iofferedtimetoworkindependentlyatleast50percentofclasstimeinthefirsthalfofthe
semester,andthenincreasinglylessoncethestudentswereworkinginteamsoneitherthe

SeeeduScrum.nl/en

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

onlinelanguagereviewsorthelanguageawarenessactivities.Oncethoseprojectswere
underway,inclasstimeforDuolingowasgenerallylimitedto:

timeswhenteamsfinishedtheirworkearly
daysonwhichIevaluatedprojectswitheachofthefourteamsthethreeteamsnot
beingevaluatedhadtimeforDuolingo
aclassdayortwobetweenprojectsand
astheemergencyplanforasubstituteteacher,whichIdidntuse.

As homework

WhetherornottherewastimetoworkonDuolingoinclass,adequateprogress(determined
bymesubjectively,byindividualstudent),wasrequiredweekly.Ihadthought,apparently
incorrectly,thatstudentswouldbemorereadilyintriguedbyDuolingothantheywere,and
becauseitissoeasytoaccessforshortbitsoflearning,thatstudentswouldregisteratleast
afewpointsmostdays.

Instead,whenIofferedtimeinclass,IsawlessattentiontoDuolingooutsideofclass,and
probablythereversewasalsotrue:ifastudentloggedpointsoutsideofclass,theeffective
timeontaskduringanyindependentclasstimewasprobablyless.

As an instrument to teach self motivation

Bytheendofthesemester,ifavisitortoclasshadaskedthestudentswhattheprincipaland
secondarygoalsoftheclasswere,almostallstudentswouldhaveanswered:

(1) tolearntobeselfdirectedlearners,and(secondarily)
(2) tolearnsomethingaboutlanguagesandlinguistics.

IstartedthesemestermodelingmyowninterestinlearningwithDuolingobybeingatmy
laptop,atastudenttable,learning,whenthestudentsarrived.Withoutmyactivemonitoring,a
significantnumberofstudentsspentasignificantamountoftimeonlinebutnotontask.I
toleratedthisbehaviorfarlongerthanIwouldhaveifthegoaloftheclasswasanythingbut
learningtobeselfdirectedlearners,becausetheamountofwastedtimeatleast,timenot
spentonlearninglanguageviaDuolingooranyotheronlineplatformwaslarge.WhileIfelt
thatthestudentswouldneedtobefreetowasteacertainamountoftimeinordertolearn
howitfelttobeproductive,overthecourseofthesemesterIgrewlesspatientwaitingfor
intrinsicmotivationtokickin.

Perhapsthestudentswerehavingtimetolearnintrinsicmotivation,perhapstheyneeded
betterscaffoldingfromme.PerhapsIhadsetmyexpectationsforthemunrealisticallyhigh
ormoreprobablyIjusthavemuchstilltolearnabouttheblendedclassroomenvironmentIam
tryingtobuildwithDuolingoandonlinelanguagelearningingeneral.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

Indeed,thatisonereasontosharemysemesterwithyouandothersviathispaper.

As an addition to a traditional curriculum

StudentsintheLinguistics&Languagesclassrespondedtoquestionsfromtimetotimeina
personaljournal.Towardtheendofthesemester,Iaskediftheythoughtthatanonline
learningplatformshouldbeusedasacomplementinourtraditionallanguageclasses.
Fourteenof16studentsrespondedtotheprompt:11saidyes,twowerenoncommittal,one
saidno.

Developing independence, self-pacing.

AbilingualstudentstudyingadvancedFrenchwrote:

Ithinkthiswayoflearningcouldsometimesbeevenbetterthanbeingtaughtbyateacherall
class.Itgivesthestudentindependenceandsomemaylearnmorebythemselvesthanin
classwithotherstudentsandateacher.

Abilingualfriendagreed:

Selflearningisimportantforselfgrowing,beingmoreindependently.Itisatrainingfor
them,preparingthemtocollege.

Andathirdnotesthatindependentworkallowsstudentstoworkattheirappropriatelevel:

Anotherpointisthattheentireclassmayallowthosewhocanadvanceeasiertogofurther
andlearnmore.

Additional time on task

Selfpacingisrelatedtohavingadditionaltimetopractice.Inclass,nothavingtowaitforless
advancedstudentsmayerodetimeontaskforadvancedstudents.Outofclass,simply
havingaccesstoanotherwaytogetmorepracticeshouldhaveapositiveeffectonlearning.

Asanexampleletstakemyself.IlearnFrenchat[school]butIalsodoitonDL.Duolingo
somehowimprovesmyskills,maybebecauseIhavemorepractice.

Interest and motivation

Further,havingadditionalwaystoaccessmodernlanguagelearningsupportslearningby
providingnovelty,whichplaysintolearnerinterestandmotivation.Justthefactthatthe
learningisonlinemaybeenoughtopeaktheinterestofsomestudents:

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

Andlikethewordonlineshouldbemoreinterestingtostudents.

Onestudentfeltthatonlinelearningwasmoreinteractivethanclassroominstruction,butnote
thecounterpointprovidedbytheonestudentwhothoughtaddingonlinelearningtoclasses
wasnotagoodidea(seeCounterpointbelow):

...onlinecurriculumcanhelpimprovethestudentswayoflearninginthatitwillmakeitmore
interactive,somethinglessdull.

Teacher monitoring

Finally,onestudentapproachedheranswerfromtheteacherviewpointaswell,notingthat:

...thisisawayfortheteachertomonitorprogressinaclass.

Andinthespiritofthecommentsaboutindependentlearning,wemightwanttoaddthatitisa
wayforstudentstomonitortheirownprogress.

Counterpoint

Onestudentwasnotinfavorofaddinganonlinecomponenttotraditionalclasses(thoughhe
mayhaveunderstoodthepromptdifferentlythantheotherstudents,answeringinstead
whetherornotitwasagoodideatoreplaceatraditionalcoursewithanonlinecourse,rather
thancomplementingatraditionalcoursewithanonlinecomponent).

NoIbelievethisbecausethebestpracticeiswhenyoupracticeintherealworldsoifyou
makeonlinecoursesrequiredthentherewillbelesstimeforrealworldpractice.

Itwouldbeinterestingtoteaseoutwhatrealworldpracticemeans,sinceonecouldargue
thatanyclassroomcontextisnottherealworld,butthatsomeclassroomactivitiesand
materialstryveryhardtoemulaterealworldsituations,whereonlinelearningmaynot.Onthe
otherhand,onlinelearningplatformsmayalsotrytoemulatetherealworld,dependingon
thedesignoftheprogram.

IhadanopportunitytointroduceDuolingoforafewweekswhenIfilledinasasubstitute
Spanishteacherfortwoweeks.Somestudentslikedit,otherslessso.Iparticularlyenjoyed
learningfromtheroommateofoneofthestudentsintheSpanishclass,thatthestudentwas
hookedonDuolingoforGerman.

Whileoneteacher(offive)inourmodernworldlanguagedepartmentencouragesDuolingo
currently,theotherfourdonot,andtwoofthemseemedquiteunconvincedofitsutility.One
teacherexpressedhesitationforusinganonlinetoolthatfeltlikeitmight,tosomeextent,
replacetheteacher.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

ProgressinDuolingo

Oneobvious,butunreliable,wayforateachertomeasurestudentprogressinDuolingoisby
accumulatedpointtotals.

Table3showsthetotalpointscoresover14weeksforthe16studentsenrolledintheclass.
Eliminatingthehighestandlowestscores(seethenotesunderthetableastowhy),the
averagepointtotalis4161,ofwhichsixscoresarehigherand9scoresarelower.Youcould
imaginethatascorenear4161mightbeneartheaveragelettergradeforourschool(aB),
withAsandCsperhapsoneitherside.

TABLE3:
Duolingopointtotalsfor16studentsinonesemester(14classweeks)

Student 1*

Total

8955

8115

7695

4901

4293

4166

3955

Student 9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16**

Total

2747

2075

1949

1844

1831

1828

457

15335

3896

*Studentoftendeletedaspecificlanguagecourseandretestedoutofmultipleskillsagainin
hisnativelanguageaddingartificiallytohispointtotal

**StudentswitchedtoFluenciaearlyinthesemester.

Thisturnsouttobetoosimplistic,however.Theamountofeffortexpended,andpresumably
theamountlearned,byStudent2forhis8,955pointscomparedtoStudent12withhis1,949
pointsisnotequivalent.Knowingjustalittleoftheirbackgroundsandalittleabouthow
Duolingoworkshighlightshowslipperythesepointtotalsare.

Student2isanativelikespeakerofEnglishandatleasttwoEuropeanlanguages.Student12
isanativeChinesespeakerandalowintermediateESLstudent.

InDuolingo,thereareoptionstolearnmanyEuropeanlanguagesasanEnglishspeaker.For
ChinesenativespeakerstheonlyoptionisEnglish.

Student2earnedpointsinSpanish,ItalianandFrench.Twooftheselanguagesarenativeor
nativelikeforhim,inthethirdheisatanadvancedlevel.Helikelytestedoutofseveral
languagelessons,earningmanypointsinone10to15minutesession.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

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Student12earnedpointsinFrenchandEnglish.TolearnFrench,hehadtoworkwiththe
languagepairEnglishFrench.HeisapurebeginnerinFrench.Hehadnowaytotestoutof
lessonstoearnpointsquickly,andeachindividuallessonwasprobablyquitedifficult.

Attheendofthesemester,Student12sDuolingolevelswereSpanish(11),Italian(10),
French(9),Portuguese(6),Dutch(1),Irish(1).Students2sDuolingolevelswereFrench(6),
English(?)hehadperhapsdeletedEnglishfromhisrecord.

DuringthetwoweeksthatIsubstitutetaughttheintermediateSpanishclassesIaskedall
studentstospendsometimeonDuolingoeachday.BecauseDuolingokeepstrackofuseby
consecutivedaysinarow,IimaginedIcouldeasilyconverttheindividualstudentuserhistory
intoagrade.

Thisworkedwellattheendoftheweekforstudentswhohadscoredpointseachdayofthe
week.Theiruserstreakwasanunambiguousfiveormoredays.However,astudentwhohad
missedjustonedaythatweekmighthaveastreakonFridayofone,two,three,orfourdays,
dependingonwhatdaythestudentdidnotscoreanypoints.Icouldstillgradestudentuse,
butreallyonlywithayesorano,apassornopass,forgettingsomepointseverydayforfive
daysorfornotgettingsomepointseverydayforfivedays.

Further,itispossibletospendingtimedoingDuolingowithoutgettinganypoints.AtthetimeI
wassubbingtheSpanishclasses,Duolingostillusedathreestrikesandyoureoutsystemof
passingeachlesson.StudentswouldtellmetheyworkedonDuolingo,tryingonelesson
severaltimesbutfailingtopass,thusfailingtogetanypoints,thuslosingtheirstreakof
consecutivedays.Usingtherecordedstreakforgradingwasnoteffective.

Progress in written language

Selfreporting

IaskedstudentstoselfreportiftheythoughtDuolingowashelpingthemprogress.

Nineof12students(fourstudentsdidntaddressthequestionatall,foratotalof16students
intheclass)reportedthattheywerehappywiththeirprogress,manyofthemliterallyusedthe
wordhappyasisevidentintheirquotesbelow.Twostudentsfeltthattheirprogresswasnt
fastenough.Onestudentfelthehadmadenoprogressandthathedoesnotknowthe
purposeofthisclassandhealreadyknowsthelanguagesthatIneed.Itmaybenosurprise
thatheexhibitedchallengingbehaviorsinclass,whichprobablyaroseinpartduetohisbelief
thathehasnothingtolearnfromtheclass.Hischallengingbehavioralsocontributedto
missingoutonopportunitiestolearn.Withouttellinghim,Iaskedtheacademicofficeifthere
wasanoptionforhimtoswitchtoanotherclass(theLinguistics&Languagesclassisa
nonrequiredelective),butasmayoftenbethecaseinasmallschool,therewasnotaclass

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

11

atthesameperiodthatisagoodfitforhim.Illtakeitasapersonalchallengetoelicitamore
positiveselfreportnextsemester.

Excerptsfromtheresponsesofalltwelvestudentswhoansweredthepromptfollow.They
wereaskedtoselfreporttheirprogressinWeek12ofclass.

Progress

IthinkIhavemadealotofprogress.IknowthatbecauseIvebeenpracticingmySpanish
withmyMexicanfriendsandtheysayIspeakverywell

Iamveryhappy.Ifeelveryproudofmyprogress.Lovethislanguagelearningstuff.

Myprogressmademefeelhappyandexcited.Iwanttolearnmoreandmore.IthingthatI
didprettygoodjob.

Myprogressmakemefeelhappy

MyprogressmakesmefeelconfidentwhenIgototalktootherpeopleusingaforeign
language.

Ifeltprettygoodofmyprograse.EspacialywhenIhaveareallyquizthenIpassedit.Butit
hardtousewhatIlearndindailylife.

MyprogressmakesmefeelhappyItmakesmefeelgreat.

Ifeelproudofmyself,howIcanwritewithfullsentences

MyprogressisstableandImhappywithit.

Notenoughprogress

IthinkthatIshouldimprovemore.BecausewhenIhearfriendsismucheasierbutwrittingit
istillveryhard.

Iknowmoreverbs,butthevocabularyisverydifficulttome,theyarecompletenewwordsto
me,butImhappyIdidsomeprogress,butIneedtodomuchmoreprogress.

Noprogress

IdontfeellikeIhavemadeanyprogress.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

12

Whiletheselfreportsarepositive,studentsaretoadegreewritingwhattheythinktheir
teacherwantstohear,andsincetheyknowImaDuolingoenthusiast,theymayhavebeen
curryingfavorabit.

Studentwritingsamples

OccasionallyduringthesemesterIalsoaskedstudentstowriteforfiveminutesinthe
languagetheyhadchosentostudy.Someofthestudentswrotewordlistsatthebeginningof
thesemesterandwithmyencouragementmovedtosentencesbytheendofthesemester,
manystudentsswitchbetweenlanguages.Whilethereisntamannertojudgeprogressdue
toDuolingo(manyofthestudentsalsohaveaFrenchorESLclassinadditiontothe
languageclasswithme),studentsmaybeabletoseetheirowngrowth,particularlyafter
anothersemester.

SampleA

ThisstudentspeaksEnglishandSpanish.ShebeganFrenchinWeek1ofthesemester.At
theendofthesemesterherDuolingolevelswerePortuguese(9),Spanish(9),French(8),
Danish(1),Swedish(1).ShewasalsoenrolledinthefirstsemesterofFrench.

Week5entry

Jaimemonchain.Jeparleespagnol,angle,etunpeupetitfrancais.
Legumes
Chien
Chat
enfants,avezvousenfants.
elle/il
es,est,sont.
Noussommes,vousavons.
viande,riz,rouge,noire,mangeunepomme.cafeaulait.:)

Week12

TowardtheendofthesemestershehadmadegoodfriendswithPortuguesespeakersand
addedPortuguese.

Oi.Bonjour,jem'appelle[name]mais.jenesaispa.Monclassedelanguecesttresfacil
:).Aujourdhuicestvendredivingthuitdenovembre.Jeporteuntshirtblanc,unejupenoire,
etbottesbeige.Lanoiteemuittolinda.essalinguagemmuitolindo.muitofcilparami
...massvezesachoquemuitodifcil.pronnciassoirritantes.Eusoumuitobomcoma
escrita.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

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SampleB

ThisstudentspeaksRussianandoneadditionallanguagefromtheformerSovietbloc.Heis
inthemostadvancedESLlevel.

Week5

Hellomynameis[name],I'mfrom[country].I'mstudyingintheSwitzerland.
InthefutureIwanttobeabusinessman.Ireallyliketoplaytennis,myfavouriteplayeris
NovakDjokovic.I'msixteenyearsoldandIhaveabigfamily.
Ilovemyfamily
InthefutureIwanttomake[country]morebetterandfamous.Iwillbethemostrichest
personin[country]

Week12

HelloEveryoneIwilltellyouonemorestoryfrommylife.Mylifeisreallyinterestingand
exciting.YesterdayiwenttothetennismatchinFrance.Itwasreallyawesomematch,my
twofavouriteplayerswereplayingagainsteachother.Ineversawlikethisgamesinmy
wholelife.MyfatherandIlovetowatchtennismatchesontheTV,buttodaywewentwithto
therealmatch.Ididn'texpectthatitwillbesocool.Iwassoexcitedaboutmatch.Match
startedat10:00andendedat5:00thegamewasreallylong,myfatherandIsattherefor5
hours.Ididn'tknowtowhomIambecausemy2favouriteplayersareplaying.Myfathertold
mewewillgomoreandmoretothematcheslikethisinthefuture.

Again,itisdifficulttosayintheseandtherestofthestudentexamplestowhatdegreethere
isanyimprovement,andimpossibletosayifanyperceivedimprovementisduetoDuolingo,
sincethestudentsarelearninginotherclasses,throughthelinguafrancaoftheschoolinthe
caseofESLstudents,andbylivingwithspeakersofthelanguage,assumingtheyare
interactingatleastsometimesinthelanguagesoftheirfriends.

Progress in spoken language

Afterselectingalanguagetostudyatthebeginningofthesemester,eachstudentmadea60
secondoralrecordingwiththeinstructionstosayasmuchastheycould.Thereweresome
writtenpromptsonthewhiteboardwheretheyrecorded.Oneofthestudentsactedasthe
recorded,savingtheiraudiofileusingQuicktime.

Ididnotmakerecordingsattheendofthesemester,butwillattheendofthenextsemester.

Things that students did that surprised me

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

14

Ididntexpectstudentstoswitchfromonelanguagetoanother,butIamgladthattheydid.
Manystudentslookedabitatlanguagesnewtothem,orclimbedthroughseventotenlevels
inatleasttwolanguages.

NordidIexpectstudentstoworkintheirownnativelanguage,butthiswasfairlycommon.
Sometimesitwascuriosityorpride,sometimesitwastoearnpointsquickly.

BecauseIworkonDuolingoalongsidethestudents,forafewweeksIwasincompetitionwith
onestudenttohavethemostpoints.WhenhegotaheadofmeIincreasedmypointtotal,
usuallytojustwithinreachofhis.Whenwesaweachotherwejokedaboutwhowasgoingto
win.IfeltlikeIwasbeingverytrickybycontinuallycatchinguptohimandpushinghim
forward,but

ThestudentwasdeletinghisprogressinFrench,andthenretakingtheplacementtest,which
awardslotsofpointsforallthelevelspassed,allatonce.Itturnsoutthestudentwaspushing
metogetmorepracticemorethanIwaspushinghim,becausehecouldearnafewthousand
pointsintentofifteenminutes,itprobablytookmeafewhoursoftranslatingarticlestocatch
uptohim.Evenworse,hislimitedpracticewasinFrenchwhichwashisnativelanguage.

Whilenotquiteasurprise,thereweretimeswhenstudentspassedoutoflevelsinalanguage
thatIamfairlysuretheycouldnothaveaccomplishedontheirown.Inotherwords,therewas
somecheatingfromtimetotime.Itisvirtuallyimpossibletoverify,butthereareofcourse
indicatorstoateacherwhoknowsastudentsabilityfairlywellandissuddenlyconfronted
withresultsthatfarexceedwhatseemspossible.

Finally,IdidexpectatleastsomepercentageofstudentstogethookedondoingDuolingo,
whichdoesntseemtobethecaseforanyofthem.IrememberwhenStephenKrashenwas
oncampusafewyearsagoandsomeoneaskedhimwhathethoughtofDuolingo.His
answeramountedtodoubtthatlearnerswouldstickwithit.WhileIveencounteredplentyof
usersonDuolingowhoaredefinitelystickingwithit,fromthepoolofmillionsIsuspectthe
majoritydonot.Anecdotally,severalstaffmembersherethatwereinitiallyveryinterested
havesloweddownorstoppedusingDuolingo.Atthispoint,Idontexpectthestudentsto
havemuchstayingpowereither.

Things students didnt do (or didnt do more often) that surprised me

ImadeitclearanumberoftimesthatstudentscouldswitchawayfromDuolingo,yetonlyone
didovertheentiresemester.Unfortunately,thisisdueinmyestimationmoretoalackof
selfmotivationthantoaloveforDuolingo.Movingtoanothersystemwouldrequiresome
intrinsicdrive,abitofwork.Itiseasiertojustslogalongwithwhatisgivenyoubytheteacher.

Ialsomadeitclearthatanysortoflanguagelearningwasokay,butinthefirstsemesterIonly
sawonestudentwatchingcartoons,forexample,inFrench(thestudentwasanativeRussian

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

15

speaker).Hereisaclassinwhichtheteacherissayingtothestudentstositdownandwatch
moviesinalanguagetheyarestudying,buttheydont,oratleastrarelydid.

Ittookawhileforstudentstolookupfromtheircomputerandaskanativespeakerintheclass
forhelp.TherearetwonativeFrenchspeakersintheclass,andmoststudentswerelearning
French.Butfewaskedthenativespeakersforhelp.

Nostudentaskedanotherstudenttosetupsomesortofconversationalexchange,even
thoughmanywerelearninglanguagesthatothersspeakasnativespeakers.

Nostudentbroughtabooktoclass,oramagazine,newspaper,printedarticle,etc.Oneofthe
adultsmodeledbookreadinginthefirstfewweeksofclass.Imnotsureanyofthestudents
wouldevenrememberthathewasthereorwhathewasdoing.

A strangely silent classroom

Theheadofthemodernlanguagedepartmentvisitedclassoneafternoon.Aftersheobserved
forawhile,sheremarked,ThisisthequietestlanguageclassIveeverseen.Ilookedaround
atthestudents,spreadaroundourlargeroom,mostofthemwearingearbuds,workingwith
laptopsorsmartphones,theonlysoundtheshortburstsoftaptaptaponakeyboard.Itwas
veryquiet.

Whichledmetoask:whereisthenoiseofaregularmodernlanguageclasscomingfrom?
Becauseifitsmostlyfromtheteacher,thatsamenoiseorbettersaid,languageinputis
comingfromDuolingo.Werethesilentstudentsofthisclassradicallydifferentfromstudents
inothermodernlanguageclasses?

Idesignedandpilotedawaytoobservethelanguageproductionofstudentsinmodern
languageclasses.

Pilot Design

Asthedatacollector,Iarrivedatthelanguageclass(IobservedoneFrenchandoneSpanish
class,beginnersandintermediatestudents,grades1012)aheadofthestudentsandkept
trackoftheorderinwhichstudentsarrivedinordertohaveaquasirandomsample.Forthe
restofthe50minuteclassperiod,Iobservedstudents2,5,and8(inarrivalorder).Eachtime
thestudentproducedlanguage(thenoiseIwasinterestedin),Iestimatedthelengthofthe
studentsproductionasbestIcould.Whileinexact,Ifelttheresultswouldgiveareliable
estimateoftheamountoftimeanyparticularstudentproduceslanguageduringaregular

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

16

class,withwhichIcouldthenmakecomparisontomyclassoflearnersusingDuolingo,
whoselanguageproductiontimewasclosetozero.3

Pilot Results

ThedatafromthetwoclassesinwhichIpilotedthestudymayseemsurprising.Ofthesix
studentsIobserved,therangeinspokenlanguageproductionwas4to110seconds,meanof
51seconds.Forthesesixstudents,themeanlanguageproductiontimewaslessthana
minute.

TABLE2:
Studentproductiontimeintwomodernlanguageclasses

Class1
(11
students)

Class2
(12
students)

Student2

Student5

Student8

Student2

Student5

Student8

Timein
seconds

51

66

52

23

110

Whileatfirstglosssurprising,aclasstaughtinatraditionalmanner,inwhichtheteacher
initiatesaninteraction,getsananswerfromonestudent,andthencommentsonthat
studentsanswer4 ,theresultislesssurprising.Letslookatthemathinahighlysimplified
example.

Ina50minuteclass,whenthecommunicationpatternisTeacher,Student,Teacher,the
teacherspeakstwothirdsofthetime,or33minutes.Thereare50minus33minutesleftfor
thestudents,or17totalstudentminutes.However,therearemultiplestudents.Intheclasses
Iobserved,therewere11and12students.Therearethan17minutesdividedby11or12
studentsforeachindividualstudent,or,or1.4to1.55minutesperstudent,whichis
approximately90secondsperstudent.

Thisapproachtoobservinglanguageclassesislikelyanothergoodactionresearchproject,
particularlyforsomeoneinthemodernlanguagedepartment.Iflanguageproductionisvalued
inlearninglanguage(andIthinkwewouldfindplentyofsupportforthisintheliterature!),then
theteachingmethodneedstoprovidespaceforstudentproductionofthelanguage.
Anecdotally,atapproximatelythesametimeasthesecondpilotobservationIobserveda
3

Duolingoexercisescanincludespeakingexercises.Theuserhastheoptiontoturnonoroffspeakingand
listeningboth.Moststudentsinmyclass,however,didinsignificantamountsofspeakingwhileusing
Duolingo.
4
ThisistheInitiationResponseFeedback(IRF)modelprevalentinclassroomsettings.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

17

classthatwassetupspecificallytoemphasizestudentsproducingorallanguageandthe
numbersherewouldbemuchdifferentifIhadpilotedthesamestudyinthatclass.

However,besidesstumblingonaniceactionresearchprojectforamodernlanguageteacher,
themainpointhereisthatassumingthestrangequietnessoftheDuolingoclassisvastly
differentfromanoisiertraditionallanguageclassmaybemisguided,atleastifthemeasureis
theamountoftimeagivenstudentisproducingorallanguage.

Anotherinterestingcomparisonforafuturestudyislanguageinput.ForDuolingo,assuming
thestudentisactivelyworking,thereisinstantinput(completewithadjustablevolumeand
twoavailablespeeds).InthelanguageclassroomsIvisited,thereareoftentimeswhenthe
teacherisworkingwithonestudentorwithonegroupofstudentsduringwhichtherestofthe
studentsmaynotbereceivinganyinput,astheyeitherwaitfortheteacher,discussthe
groupworkinEnglish,orareotherwiseofftask.Ofcourse,thisisnttosaythatstudentsusing
Duolingodontstrugglewithbeingofftaskaswell.

Recommendations for Duolingo if pursuing classroom use

Progress Quizzes

Thereareadaptivequizzesavailableineachlanguagewhichtheusercanpurchasefor25
lingots,Duolingosgamifiedcurrency.AteacherusingDuolingowithaclasscouldhaveall
studentsusethebuiltinquizfeature(whichproducesascorefrom0to5andcanberetaken
asmanytimesastheuserbuysthequiz).However,thecurrentlingotpricemeansnotall
studentshaveaccessnorwanttospendtheirlingotsinthisway.

Also,itwouldbeinterestingtoknowwhattheprogressquizresultsmeanbeyondDuolingo.
Perhapsfutureprogressquizzescanbebenchmarkedwithanestablishedtestofwritten
languageproficiency.

Rewards

Duolingoawardstheuserbyshowingprogresstowardcompletionofaparticularskillandtwo
lingotsforcompletingaskill,aswellasbonuslingotsforcompletingstreaks,measuredby
daysinarow.Thereisalsoacertificateawardedwhentheusercompletestheentiresetof
grammarandvocabularyskills(theskilltree).Allofthesearemotivationalforsomestudents.

Additionally,itispossibletogiveonesownlingotstootherotherusers,usuallyasthanksfor
agoodanswerorsuggestionintheDiscussionfeature.Designers,ifdevelopingDuolingofor
classroomuse,mightliketoconsiderhowateachercanuselingotstosignalgoodstudent
work,andhowstudentsmighttradelingotswitheachother.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

18

Measuring progress

IranintodifficultieswhenadaptingDuolingofortrackingstudentprogressand,evenwithmy
veryrelaxedgradingstructure(passornopassfortheweekforshowingsubjective,
individualizedprogress),itwashardtotranslateDuolingouseintoadequateorlessthan
adequateprogressanditwouldbeevenharderwhereanAFgradingsystemwererequired.

Forthepurposeofthisstudy,Ikepttrackofeachstudentsweeklytotal.Itwasnecessaryto
transferthetotalweeklypoints(whichDuolingoreports)onSundayeveningbeforethenew
weekstarted,becauseoncetheweekisoverthepastweeklytotaldisappears,leavingas
historyonlythemonthlyandlifetimetotals.

Thereisalsonowaytoseehowmuchtimeastudentactuallyspenttryingtoearnpoints.
Rather,thereissimplythereportofhowmanypointsearned.Thisistrickyforateacherforat
leasttworeasons.First,somestudentstryhardtocompletealessonbutsimplydontfor
whichtheyreceivenopoints,forwhichthereisthennoindicationthattheytried.Second,
studentslearnedtotrickthesystembydeletingtheirentireprogressandthenusingthe
placementtestfeaturetoearnlotsofpointsallatonce(butwithoutthebenefitofactually
learning).Thiscouldbefixedbynotallowingstudentstodeletetheirprogress.

Keepingtrackofstreaksistrickyaswell.IfthestudentscorespointsinDuolingofivedaysina
row,Duolingoreportsastreakoffive,whichisusefulinformationfortheteacher.However,if
thestudentscorespointsfouroutof5schooldays,notscoringanypointsonWednesday,
thenthestreakonFridayistwo,withnoindicationthatthestudentdidscorepointson
MondayandTuesday.

Thereisanactivityreportthatshowsactivityforalltheusersoneisfollowing.Ifollowedmy
students,andrequiredthemtofollowme,whichisconvenienttoseewhattheyaredoing.
Thisfeaturecouldbeadjustedabitforclassroomuse,taggingactivitywithadayanddate
insteadofthenumberofhoursago,orthenumberofdaysago,ifoneislookingtoseeifa
studentscoredpointswithDuolingoonagivenday.Realistically,designerswouldhaveto
lookintohowastudentreportmightbegeneratedthatincludedallstudentsinaclass.
Otherwise,theteacherhastogointoeachindividualstudentsactivityfeed.

ForawhiletherewasagamefeatureavailableonthemobileversionofDuolingothatallowed
oneplayertocompetedirectlywithanotherplayer.Thisfeaturewasapparentlydisableby
DuolingobeforeIcoulduseitintheclassroomcontext.Thereturnofthatfeatureorsimilar
onesthatpitonestudentagainstanotherforfun,whileearningpointswouldhavesome
practicalapplicationsinaclassroomcontext.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

19

Summary

TheLinguistics&LanguagesclassdescribedhereisnotonlyaboutDuolingo,butDuolingo
hasservedandwillcontinuetoserveasthebasisforonlinelearning.

Therecertainlyareelementsoftheclassthatcreateauniquelanguagelearningclass.Tolist
afew:

studentschoosewhatlanguageorlanguagestheydliketolearn
studentsbeginwithDuolingobutcanchoosetheirownpathwithtime(accordingto
justafewparameters)
adultsjoinstudentsasstudentsduringclasstime
theteacherlearnsalongwithstudents
thestudentsandteachercoauthorabookoverthecourseoftheyear
studentsuseanITworkflowprocesstostructuretheirgroupwork
gradesarepass/nopassbyweek
thestudentschoosetheirownpreferreddevice(laptop,tablet,smartphone)

Ontheotherhand,themethodologyandlearningprocessesseemmuchlessuniqueifone
simplyshiftsthecontextawayfromahighschoolmodernlanguageclass.

ImagineaStarbucksonanygivenSaturday.Severalcustomersareworkingindividuallyon
theirlaptop(ortabletorsmartphone),whiteearbudcordsandall,afewfolksaretalkingwith
eachother,andatonetableagroupofpeoplehavepaperandbooksspreadoutinfrontof
them,laptopsbalancedontheirknees,writingandtalking.Now,pretendthatthesecustomers
areallontheirwaytothevocationalforeignlanguageschoolnextdoor,wheretheyare
studyingvariouslanguages.TheyhaveallstoppedatStarbucksforanhourofstudybefore
goingtoclasstolearnvariouslanguagesatvariouslevelsofability.

Howdotheystudy?Someareworkingindividuallyonline,leveragingthelargenumberof
languagelearningplatforms,experimentingwiththisoneorthatone,settlingononeortwo
theylikeandfeelarebeneficialtothem.Atonetableagroupishavingaconversationabout
theirweekend,inthelanguagetheyarestudying,forpractice.Atanothertableagroupis
quizzingeachotheronvocabularyand,betweenperiodsoflaughteranddistraction,
discussingwhenaverbhastobeinthesubjunctive.Thegroupwiththepileofpapersand
booksispreparingapresentationthattheywillgivetotheentireclassnextweek.

SimplybytransposingtheenvironmentfromthehighschoolclassroomtoStarbucks,the
methodologyoftheLinguistics&Languagesclassseemsnormal,maybeevenalittleblandin
itsdescription,becauseweseeitataStarbucksanytimewedropinforalatte.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014

20

Themainpurposeoftheclassisforthestudentstolearntobeselfdirectedlearners.Weare
aimingtopreparethemforatimeafterhighschoolwhentheywilllearnmuchlikethescenein
Starbucks.Infact,theywillstructuretheirstudytimeexactlylikethesceneinStarbucks,
muchofthetime.Whenarewepreparingthemforthat?

Duolingosroleinallthisisasatool,alongsidemanyothertools.Duolingohappenstobemy
favoritetool,andperhapsmyenthusiasmwillhelpmakeitoranothersuitableonline
platformthefavoritetoolofstudentswhocanstartbecomingstrongerselfregulated
learners.

IfDuolingoisconsideringthecreationofanaddontomaketheappabetterfitforclassroom
use,perhapsthedescriptionhere,andotherslikeit,willproveworthwhile.Inthemeantime,
though,itsbacktotheIrishgrammarandvocabularyexercises.

Beannachtmaithdoanois!

Thanks

Abigthankstoallofyouwhohelpout!

BethSkeltonforencouragingandproddingmethispastsemester.Letswriteaboutthe
languageawarenessactivitiessideoftheclass,andgetthebookdonewhilewereatit!

BillTihenforkeepingmeinformedandinterestedinagileandeduScrum.Imlookingforward
toexperimentingtogethermorewithclassroomapplicationofITprocesses.

GordonandMollyBrownforcomingtoclassnearlyeverydayofthepastsemesterandfor
themanyconversationsafterclassandonSundaymorningsat
LaLorraine
.

NicBourneforsharinghisalternativevisionofeducation.

MydaughterEmmaforbeinganoccasionalSpanishlearnerwithDuolingo,andnowCat
Spanish.WillyoureviewCatSpanishforourbook?

AndmywifeChrisfornotgettingonmycaseforplayingwithDuolingosomuch.

TeachingwithDuolingo,PaulMagnuson,December2014