An Analytical Study of Duolingo for Enhancing Reading Skills among First-Year Female Senior High School Students at Al-Zamil Islamic Boarding School, Sukabumi دراسة تحليلية لتوظيف تطبيق دولينجو (Duolingo) في تنمية مهارة القراءة العربية لدى طالبات الصف الأول الثانوي في مركز الزامل الإسلامي بسوكابومي
Main Article Content
Abstract
Digital applications are among the modern educational tools that respond to learners’ needs and can be effectively utilized to facilitate Arabic language instruction, particularly in developing reading skills among non-native Arabic learners. This study aimed to analyze the use of the Duolingo application in teaching reading skills to first-year secondary school female students at Al-Zamil Islamic Center within the context of Islamic education in Indonesia, with a focus on identifying its advantages and limitations. The study employed a descriptive-analytical approach. Data were collected through direct observation and analysis of the educational activities and linguistic content available in the application, as well as interviews with several students, and were analyzed descriptively. The findings revealed that the Duolingo application incorporates vocabulary, sentences, and dialogues, provides immediate feedback, and presents activities progressively based on the principle of gamification, all of which support the development of reading skills. The findings from the analysis and interviews also indicated that the application offers several advantages, including ease of use and increased motivation among first-year secondary school female students. However, it has certain limitations, including the absence of a direct pathway for teaching Arabic to Indonesian-speaking learners, limited practice in reading advanced texts, an emphasis on short sentences, and reliance on translation in some activities. These findings suggest that Duolingo can be utilized as an effective supplementary educational tool for teaching reading skills to first-year secondary school female students at Al-Zamil Islamic Center under teacher supervision, provided that a dedicated pathway for Indonesian-speaking learners is developed and appropriate reading texts for advanced levels are added.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
How to Cite
References
Abubakar Garba, M., Bin Hassan, A. R., & Abdul Jabar, M. A. (2023). Functions of collocations in the prevention of linguistic errors among Arabic learners as a foreign language. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2260608
Aedi, K., Nasrussalim, M., Gazali, E., & Akhirudin, M. T. (2025). Development of the An-Nasr Mobile Application to Enhance Independent Learning Skills in Arabic Language Instruction. Ta’lim al-’Arabiyyah: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab & Kebahasaaraban. 9(2), 246. https://doi.org/10.15575/jpba.v9i2.49537
Al-Samadi, S. T., Abd al-Rashid, F., & Abd al-Rasul, N. (2025). Al-mahārāt al-lughawiyyah wa-al-fanniyyah ladā mudarrisī al-lughah al-ʿarabiyyah ḥasab mutaṭallabāt sūq al-ʿamal fī al-ʿaṣr al-raqamī. Proceeding of International Conference for Postgraduate Students in Teaching Arabic Language, Literature and Linguistics (ICON-POSTALL), 3(1), 601–610. https://proceeding.arab-um.com/index.php/ICON-POSTALL/article/view/155?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Bani Araba, I. b. I. b. H. (2024). Fāʿiliyyat baʿḍ taṭbīqāt al-dhakāʾ al-iṣṭināʿī fī tanmiyat mahārāt al-qirāʾah al-ibdāʿiyyah wa-baqāʾ athar al-taʿallum ladā ṭālibāt al-ṣaff al-sādis al-asāsī [Master’s thesis, Sultan Qaboos University]. https://doi.org/10.36571/ajsp786
Bessou, S., & Chenni, G. (2021). Efficient Measuring of Readability to Improve Documents Accessibility for Arabic Language Learners. Journal of Digital Information Management, 21(3), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.6025/jdim/2021/19/3/75-82
Binti Yahaya, H., Youssef Abdelhamid, I., Ibrahim Ahmed Awad, R., Zahidah Bniti Ahmad, N., Shah Alam, U., Usuluddin, K., Al-Quran Dan Bahasa Arab, S., & Abdul Halim Mu, S. (n.d.). A Review of Mobile Application Developments for Arabic Language Teaching and Learning. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS
Bousnane (2025) Bousnane, R. (2025). The role of Arabic learning applications in teaching and everyday use: An analytical study. Al Mahāra: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab, 11(1), 222–239. https://doi.org/10.14421/almahara.2025.0111-12
Bräuer, P., & Mazarakis, A. (2024). How to Design Audio-Gamification for Language Learning with Amazon Alexa?—A Long-Term Field Experiment. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 40(9), 2343–2360. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2160228
Dahou, H. (Supervisor), Madour, B., & Madboub, B. (2026). Istikhdām al-taṭbīqāt al-dhakiyyah fī taʿlīm al-lughah al-ʿarabiyyah li-ghayr al-nāṭiqīn bihā: Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah li-taṭbīq “Duolingo” [Master’s thesis, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla]. https://dspace.univ-ouargla.dz/jspui/handle/123456789/41101
Du, L. (2026). The impact of Duolingo usage patterns on motivation and self-perceived speaking proficiency: a quantitative study of Chinese bachelor-level EFL students. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-026-00443-3
Febriana, D., & Iswari, L. (2023). Pengembangan Aplikasi Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab untuk Pemula Berbasis Web. 08(02). https://doi.org/10.33506/insect.v8i2.2246
Hamdani, M. H., Saepudin, A. A., & Khanif, M. (2026). Problems of Reading Comprehension of Arabic Media Texts among Non-Native Arabic Learners: A Descriptive Analytical Study at Institute Muslim Cendikia :بغريها الناطقني بية العر متعلمي لدى بية العر اإلعالمية للنصوص ائي القر االستيعاب مشكالت اية الر جبامعة حتليلية وصفية اسة در (Vol. 8, Number 1). https://proceedingincisst.arraayah.ac.id/
Hardiyanto, M. R. P., Pahlevi, G., & Nugroho, M. F. (2023). Pengaruh Fitur-Fitur Aplikasi Duolingo Terhadap Popularitasnya. Jurnal Sains, Nalar, Dan Aplikasi Teknologi Informasi, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.20885/snati.v3i1.28
Jiang, X., Rollinson, J., Plonsky, L., Gustafson, E., & Pajak, B. (2021). Evaluating the reading and listening outcomes of beginning-level Duolingo courses. Foreign Language Annals, 54(4), 974–1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12600
K. M. A. Ahamed Zubair. (2024). An Analysis of Integrating Language Skills in Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers. JOURNAL OF DIGITAL LEARNING AND DISTANCE EDUCATION, 3(6), 1108–1116. https://doi.org/10.56778/jdlde.v3i6.348
Lu, X., Wang, W., Motz, B. A., Ye, W., & Heffernan, N. T. (2023). Immediate text-based feedback timing on foreign language online assignments: How immediate should immediate feedback be? Computers and Education Open, 5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2023.100148
Maghfurin, A., Nasikhin, N., Hasanah, S., Wibowo, A. M., & Naifah, N. (2025). Mobile assisted learning in Arabic language education: The impact of Duolingo and Memrise on phonology, morphology, and syntax competencies. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2025.2490110
Verda Yanti, R. F., Nur Haliza, R., & Ahsanuddin, M. (2024). تطبيق التعلم الإلكتروني في تعلم اللغة العربية لتحسين مهارة القراءة. Proceeding of International Conference on Arabic Language (INCALA). Universitas Negeri Malang. https://proceeding.arab-um.com/index.php/incala/article/view/261/232?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Mulyadi, M., Taufikurrohman, A., Taufiqurrochman, R., & Fauzi, F. N. (2022). Teaching Arabic by Using Google Meet at Ma’had ’Aly Ar Raayah Sukabumi, Indonesia. Abjadia : International Journal of Education, 7(1), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.18860/abj.v7i1.16903
Rahmani, A. A., & Padilah, A. R. (2024). Penggunaan Aplikasi Belajar Bahasa Arab di Kalangan Anak-Anak. Jurnal Ilmiah Multidisipline, 2(8), 377–383. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13335112
Ramadani, P., Mas, L., Hasan, U., Tinggi, S., Bahasa, I., Dan, A., Masjid, D., Sunan, A., & Surabaya, A. (2024). Effectiveness of Mobile Applications in Arabic Language Learning for Elementary School Students. Dzihni: Journal on Arabic Education, 2(02). https://ejournal.idia.ac.id/index.php/dzihni/index
Shen, Z., Lai, M., & Wang, F. (2024). Investigating the influence of gamification on motivation and learning outcomes in online language learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1295709
Shortt, M., Tilak, S., Kuznetcova, I., Martens, B., & Akinkuolie, B. (2023). Gamification in mobile-assisted language learning: a systematic review of Duolingo literature from public release of 2012 to early 2020. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(3), 517–554. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1933540
Smith, B., Jiang, X., & Peters, R. (n.d.). The effectiveness of Duolingo in developing receptive and productive language knowledge and proficiency. Language Learning & Technology, 2024(1). Retrieved https://hdl.handle.net/10125/73595
Syamsuddin, N. A., Sakkir, G., & Dollah, S. (n.d.). DUOLINGO MOBILE ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY. https://doi.org/10.26858/jtechlp.v2i3.52962
Hassan, Q. A. A., & Mahdi, N. S. (2025). Tawdheef al-tatbiqat al-raqamiyyah al-hadithah fi ta'lim al-lughah al-'arabiyyah li-asatidhat al-jami'at: Dirasah 'ala adawat Google al-ta'limiyyah. Journal of the College of Basic Education, 31(134), 1–13. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/404720554_twzyf_alttbyqat_alrqmyt_alhdytht_fy_tlym_allght_alrbyt_lasatdht_aljamat_drast_ly_adwat_Google_altlymyt