Duo in Oxford: Where Language Learning Begins

Duo the owl walking through Oxford makes for a playful Instagram moment. But behind the humour is a serious question many of our learners often ask us: what role can Duolingo play in supporting language learning ?  In other words, does it work?  Would we recommend it?

Duolingo has become a powerful advocate for languages. At a time when fewer pupils are studying languages at school and fewer students are taking language degrees at university, its popularity shows that declining enrolments do not necessarily mean declining interest.

Quite the opposite. The large number of people in the UK using Duolingo suggests that the desire to learn languages remains strong. That is valuable evidence for schools, universities, language centres and professional associations working to keep languages visible and relevant.

But is Duolingo itself an effective way to learn a language?

The answer is both yes and no.

As a form of informal learning, Duolingo can be highly useful. It encourages the regular engagement, which is key to developing good language learning habits, it helps learners build vocabulary and allows them to notice and practise patterns in a language. It can make starting a language feel accessible, playful and motivating.

However, there is an important difference between knowing elements of a language and being able to act through it.

An app can help learners recognise words, complete sentences and select correct forms. What it cannot fully reproduce is spontaneous communication with another person: having something to say and deciding how to say it, adapting to an interlocutor, responding to the unexpected, repairing misunderstandings and negotiating meaning.

This is where pragmatic competence develops.

Language users do not simply retrieve vocabulary and grammar. They make choices according to context, purpose, relationship and culture. They need to know not only what is grammatically possible, but what is appropriate and effective in a particular situation.

This limitation is not unique to Duolingo. It applies to all language-learning apps unless they include genuine interaction with other speakers. Those speakers do not need to be native speakers. Languages are often used successfully between people who have learned them as additional languages. What matters is genuine communication.

The same criticism can also apply to traditional language classes. Grammar explanations, vocabulary lists, gap-fills and adapted listening exercises can all be useful building blocks, but they do not automatically lead to independent communication. or pragmatic competence.

The key question is whether learners are given opportunities to move from knowledge to action.

The CEFR Companion Volume (link) describes learners as social agents who use language to achieve purposes, co-construct meaning and participate in interaction. Language competence is therefore not simply what learners know, but what they can do.

This is central to our approach at the Language Centre. Learners build knowledge through guided preparation (via online learning pathways), tutor input and carefully selected materials and tasks. In class, they then use that knowledge in purposeful tasks based on meaningful scenarios: expressing personally meaningful ideas, negotiating meaning, solving problems and responding to others.

Grammar and vocabulary remain important, but they serve communication rather than becoming the final goal.

Duo’s visit to Oxford is worth celebrating. Duolingo makes language learning visible, accessible and engaging. It shows that public interest in languages is still very much alive.

But perhaps the most useful question is not simply whether Duolingo works. It is what it works for.

As a starting point, a source of motivation and a tool for regular practice, it can be excellent. As a complete substitute for human interaction and socially situated language use, it cannot be enough.

The real opportunity lies in connecting the enthusiasm generated by apps with richer, more personal and more purposeful experiences of language learning.