THE CORRELATION BETWEEN USING DUOLINGO APPLICATION AND STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING AT JAMBI UNIVERSITY: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Language learning via technology based applications has gained significant attention due to its potential to enhance students' engagement and motivation. The Duolingo language learning app is widely used, and uses gamification features like streaks, XP points, levels, leaderboards, badges, and instant feedback to aid in English language learning. While some studies have shown that Duolingo can affect the language learning outcomes and that its use can enhance student's motivation, few correlational studies have examined the correlation between the use of Duolingo and students' motivation in the context of university students in Indonesia. Based on the background, the purpose of this study was to explore the relation between the use of Duolingo with students English learning motivation at Jambi University and the most motivating features of the application perceived by students in learning English. The design in this study was quantitative correlational design including 87 students of first semester of the English Education Study Program at Jambi University which were obtained by purposive sampling. The data was collected using a questionnaire which was based on the Likert scale questionnaire of Priscilla Deby (2022) and was taken from Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation of SPSS 26 were used. The results showed that all the gamification features had positive effects on the students' motivation, where instant feedback was the strongest motivating feature. Moreover, the results of analysis indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between the Duolingo usage and students' motivation in learning English (r = 0.764, p < 0.05). The results show that Duolingo is a gamified learning platform which can be used to improve students' motivation and engagement in learning the English language.