PENGARUH PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI DUOLINGO DENGAN FOTO PRIBADI DALAM MENULIS TEKS DESKRIPTIF PADA SISWA KELAS TUJUH DI SMP NEGERI 6 PALU

This study aims to find out whether or not the Duolingo application with Personal
Photograph has brought effects in writing descriptive text of seventh grade students at
SMP Negeri 6 Palu. This research applied a quasi-experimental design. The research
samples were the students of class VII H with 30 students as the experimental class and
VII F with 31 students as the control class. The samples were selected by using purposive
sampling. The data were collected by using pretest and posttest as the research
instruments. The average score of the treatment by applying the Duolingo application at
the experimental class at the pretest was 63.96 and the average score of the pretest
without treatment at the control class was 63.51. Meanwhile, the posttest average score
at the experimental class after being treated by applying the Duolingo application was
65.21 then the posttest result without treatment at the control class was 63.71. The results
of the statistical analysis showed that the t value was -1.439 while the t table value was
1.699. The result of the calculation indicates that the t-counted value is smaller than the
t-table value. It proves that the hypothesis is rejected. This means that the use of the
Duolingo application with personal photograph has no effect on the skills of writing
descriptive texts of seventh grade students at SMP Negeri 6 Palu. However, in certain
aspects, namely the aspect of organization and vocabulary, it has increased and student
learning activities become more active. Several problems caused the use of this
application to not significantly affect students' ability to write descriptive texts, partly
caused by some students not having cell phones, duration of study time, class
participation, and student abilities.
Keywords: Effect, writing, descriptive text, Duolingo application, personal photograph