Mobile assisted learning in Arabic language education: the impact of Duolingo and Memrise on phonology, morphology, and syntax competencies

Duolingo and Memrise are quite popular for learning Arabic. Duolingo recorded more than 500 million downloads and 24.5 million reviews, while Memrise reached 10 million downloads and 1.52 million reviews. However, studies on the effectiveness of these two apps in learning Arabic are limited. This study measures the impact of using Duolingo and Memrise on the Arabic language competence of university students in Indonesia, covering three aspects: phonology, morphology, and syntax. A quantitative approach was used with simple linear regression analysis, through a language proficiency test and a Likert scale-based survey. The results showed that both apps significantly improved Arabic language skills. In phonology, Duolingo had a T-value of 8.75 (P 0.000) and Memrise 8.88 (P 0.000), showing a similar positive impact. In morphology, Duolingo's T value was 9.91 (P 0.000), while Memrise was superior with a T value of 10.29 (P 0.000). In syntax, Duolingo recorded a T-value of 10.23 (P 0.000) and Memrise 10.45 (P 0.000), confirming Memrise's superiority in this aspect. This study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Duolingo and Memrise in Arabic language learning, with Memrise's relative advantage on morphology and syntax aspects. The findings are expected to be a reference for developing application-based Arabic learning methods.