mobile-assisted language learning (mall) in sll/slt

Mobile-assisted language learning (mall) is undergoing rapid evolution, one that promises to have an enormous impact on second language teaching and learning. an astonishing and brand-new mobile app which can offer invaluable opportunities and insights into vocabulary learning is “duolingo”. vocabulary learning is a principal issue for english learning because vocabulary comprises the basic building blocks of english sentences (fatah, 2019). therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effect of duolingo on iranian efl learners’ vocabulary learning and retention. the participants were selected through convenience sampling. to this end, preliminary english test (pet) was used to select a homogeneous group of participants. subsequently, 60 iranian intermediate efl students out of 79 students, from two branches of islamic azad university, including gonbad and gorgan branches were chosen. the participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=30) and the control group (n=30).the research method was quantitative and the design was quasi-experimental. two groups were given a 20 multiple choice item researcher-made vocabulary test as a pretest. over a period of eight educational sessions, the students in the experimental group made use of the duolingo app to learn the new vocabulary items while those in the control group learned the new words traditionally without use of any app or technological devices. one week after completing the treatment phase of the study, both groups were tested once immediately after the instruction and the second time one month after the class. they took the same immediate and delayed posttests. the results of the repeated measures anova revealed that duolingo had positive effects on vocabulary learning and retention of iranian efl learners. moreover, the results of two independent samples t-tests demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in vocabulary learning and retention. the findings of the study may have implications for teachers; they can take advantage of mobile apps like duolingo to improve learners’ vocabulary learning, and increase their self-regulated learning, and automaticity.