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87 

 

 
ELT FORUM 10 (1) (2021) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 
 

Implementing a mobile application Quizlet to help Senior High School 

students learn vocabulary 
 

Alesandro Woisela Prayogi1, Mega Wulandari2 

 
1,2Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia  

 

Article Info 
________________  
Article History: 

Received in 23 

November 2020  
Approved in 21 March 

2021 

Published in 31 March 

2021 

________________  
Keywords: 

Quizlet; mobile-

assisted language 

learning; perceived 

usefulness; perceived 

ease of use; vocabulary 

__________________ 

 

Abstract  
___________________________________________________________________ 
This study analyzed how Quizlet, a digital vocabulary learning platform, was 

implemented in helping students learn vocabulary and how students perceive the 

application. There were 13 high school students of a private school in Yogyakarta 

who took part in this study. The vocabulary studied were taken from the students' 

course book which was on the level B2 of CEFR. This research employed CAR 

(Classroom Action Research) as its methodology. The findings of this research 

suggested that the students were engaged when using Quizlet during the class activity. 

The mean score of Perceived Usefulness is very high (M= 4.03, SD= 0.86) and 
Perceived Ease of Use is also very high (M=4.38, SD= 0.75). This indicated that 

students had favorable views towards the application. The data acquired from the 

interview also indicated that Quizlet was a practical and easy-to-use learning platform. 

The application was a one-stop vocabulary learning platform. Moreover, it utilized 

cutting-edge technology in learning and the application was practical and easy to use. 

Based on the results mentioned, the researchers strongly recommend that teachers 

start using Quizlet to help their students learn vocabulary.
            
  

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INTRODUCTION 
Technology has been undergoing rapid advancement these past years. The internet connection can 

now be accessed from myriads devices. These days, students are able to get an internet connection 

through their mobile devices anytime and anywhere and also able to access anything they desire. 
Students could easily download any application they want, including learning applications, into their 

devices. Students’ addiction toward mobile devices might be a “blessing in disguise” for themselves 

and for teachers. While it is dangerous for students to be too absorbed in their own world with their 

mobile devices, teachers may as well take the advantage of them by implementing different tools or 
technique in teaching using mobile devices in classroom activities. 

This research will use Quizlet as the learning medium for the students in learning English. 

Quizlet is a popular online learning tool which can be accessed through both computer and mobile 
device. It can be used to study any subject, but its main feature is language learning (Kalecky, 2016). 

In Quizlet, students are able to do self-study to acquire their language mastery. Moreover, teachers 

can also make classes, invite their students, create study sets, and track their progress. Most 

importantly, it can be accessed freely by everyone.  
In terms of learning foreign language, vocabulary is one of the most significant aspects in 

mastering a language that is learnt in almost all levels of education, from elementary schools, or even 

kindergarten, to college. Moeller et al. (2009) states that vocabulary is the main key to teaching and 
learning a second language in order to understand all forms of oral and written communication. This 

shows that learning vocabulary is essential for students in order to be able to reach the goals of learning 

a language. However, the way of teaching and learning vocabulary has not been improved much. 

Students are still learning vocabulary through books and dictionaries while technology has provided 
them with a more authentic, eco-friendly, and interactive method. Moreover, Barr (2016) states most 

vocabulary learning in todays’ practices only used as an incidental learning and receives a little 

attention, which means that vocabulary is learnt by doing other activity such as reading. Sometimes 
vocabulary does not even receive any attention during the learning activity. Paribakht & Wesche 

(1997) states that students only gain shallow knowledge toward the words they encounter during a 

reading activity. Thus, a change is required in the way teachers teach and students learn vocabulary. 

Based on the displayed problems, the researchers made some efforts by implementing Quizlet in 
classroom activities and finding out students’ perception towards the application and the practice.  

 

 

Literature Review 

This literature review discusses related theories being used in this study and some previous studies 
with similar focus. The theory of vocabulary is discussed first. The next discussion  includes MALL 

(Mobile Assisted Language Learning), TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), and Quizlet. 

 
Vocabulary 

Vocabulary is very critical in one’s language mastery for without a sufficient amount of vocabulary 

mastery, one cannot meet the goal of learning a language. Wilkins (as cited in Thornbury, 2002) states 

that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. 
Taylor (1990), explains that vocabulary has a special importance in language learning since it is the 

part which will not be slowed down by age. Hence, it will be beneficial for a language learner to give 

more attention to vocabulary mastery when learning a language. 
Nation (1990) explains four approaches of vocabulary learning from indirect to direct 

approaches. Direct vocabulary learning pays more attention to the vocabulary itself. Some examples 

of direct vocabulary learning is word guessing, learning from word lists, and vocabulary games. 

Indirect vocabulary learning focuses on other features. For example, when a learner is focused on his/ 
her reading skill, then the process of learning new vocabularies will automatically happen as he/ she 

reads a passage. The first approach is the most indirect approach which happens when a teacher uses 

simplified material. New vocabularies are given gradually to students so as not to confuse students 
with too many new items in the lesson. The second approach deals with unintentional vocabulary 

learning. Any new vocabularies will be dealt with as they unintentionally appear in the process of 

learning. Teachers will give the attention to the new word and learners will learn the new word 

moments after they encounter it. Teachers also need to explain the underlying concepts of the word 
such as the regular features of the spelling and the grammar rather than just explain the definition of 

the word. The third approach is about learning vocabulary in association with another language 



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activity such as reading or speaking. The last approach, and the most direct one, deals only with 

vocabulary. No another language activity involved in this last approach. Learners focus and spend 

more time on learning vocabulary. The example is when learners learn to guess the meaning or 
definition of a word or when they study words’ definition from dictionary.  

 

MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) 

Mobile Assisted Language Learning is a subset of M-learning. Mobile Learning (m-learning) is defined 
as the use of handheld devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and smartphones as a means for learners 

to learn through its mobility, flexibility, and interactivity (Bukharaev & Altaher, 2017). MALL is used 

specifically for language learning activity that is assisted through handheld devices. Kukulska-Hulme 

& Shield (2008) explain that MALL is the use of mobile technology in language learning where the 
mobile technology offers various advantages. Mobile technology has influenced cultural practices and 

provide new contexts in learning (Pachler et al., 2010). It provides many advantages such as flexible, 

small-sized, and user-friendly, researchers are trying to find techniques on how to use mobile 
technology to help learning activity (Huang et al., 2012). 

A study conducted by Lu (2008) on vocabulary learning via short message service (SMS) with 

high school EFL students in Taiwan indicated that students had positive views toward the method. 

They believed that such method was convenient and interesting. Parallel with Lu’s finding, 
Azabdaftari & Mozaheb (2012) conducted an experimental study on university students in Iran. They 

implemented two strategies of vocabulary learning; traditional paper-based flashcards and mobile-

based flashcards. The findings revealed that students who used mobile-based flashcards had much 
higher mean score than those who used traditional paper-based flashcards. Furthermore, the students 

found that using mobile phone in learning activity provided more flexibility and entertainment. Dizon 

(2016) conducted a study on the efficacy of Quizlet on 9 Japanese university students’ vocabulary 

mastery. The ten-week study showed an improvement of the pre-test and the post-test score of the 
students. The results also indicated that they prefer using mobile devices than conventional method.  

 

TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) 

The theory of Technology Acceptance Model, henceforth TAM, was introduced by Davis (1989) and 

nowadays it is often used by researchers to foresee use and acceptance of information technology by 

its users (Surendran, 2012). In TAM, there are two factors that influence users to accept or reject any 

information technology; perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (Davis, 1989). Davis believed 
that these two factors were important in determining one’s acceptance or rejection toward any 

information technology. Perceived usefulness (PU) can be defined as user’s individual perception 

toward the prospect that using particular information technology will improve the user’s job or life 
performance (Davis & Venkatesh, 2000). Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), on the other hand, is “the 

degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort” (Davis, 1989, 

p. 214). In other words, people will likely to use a system information if it will improve their 

performance and if it is practical for them to use. 
 

 

 

Figure 1. Technology Acceptance Model 

 



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Quizlet 

Quizlet provides attractive interface and various features to give learners a new learning experience 

from using the app. Quizlet can be accessed from both computer and mobile devices. Students just 

need to download the application and sign up to the application. They could simply sign up through 
their Google account. Once they have signed up, they could start searching for any type of materials 

that they want to learn. Furthermore, the app is free and the users could access millions of sets made 

in Quizlet. Quizlet will also automatically rearrange the items within the set to avoid serial learning 

and there are various features provided for the users to interact with (Barr, 2016). 
Quizlet has some feature that is able to help students study vocabulary more easily and fun. 

Those features are Flashcards, Learn, Write, Spell, Match, and Test. Flashcard feature allows students 

to study the term and its definition by simply tapping a set of digital flashcards. Learn feature allows 
students to study vocabulary by answering multiple choices or written questions while Write feature 

requires students to type the answers of the given questions. In Match feature, students are required 

to match all of the terms with their definitions. Lastly, the Test feature will allow students to evaluate 

their knowledge about a set of vocabularies that they have learnt by answering true or false, multiple 
choices, and written questions.  

An experimental study conducted by Baptist (2018) on 38 high school students. Among all the 

students, 10 of them were students with special needs. The students were divided into 2 groups, a 

group consisted of 20 students and other group which was consisted of 18 students. The first group 
were instructed to use index cards and the second one was instructed to use Quizlet. The students 

were given 12 words to study each week and will be given a quiz on the following meeting. After 

roughly 9 weeks, the treatment was switched. 
The result of Baptists’ study showed improvements in terms of their score in their quizzes. 16 

out of 28 students (approximately 57%) without special needs increased their score compared to the 

score of their quiz before Quizlet was implemented. Moreover, 7 out of 10 students (70%) with special 

needs increased their score compared to the score of their quiz before Quizlet was implemented. The 
respond of the survey from the students also showed a positive perception toward the app. The result 

of the survey showed that they enjoyed the app very much and they felt that they gained a benefit from 

using the app.  

 

METHODS 
Classroom action research was used in this study. Reason & Bradbury (2008)states that action research 

aims to combine theory and practice as a method to solve practical issues concerned with people. 

Wallace (2010) added that doing action research will help researchers to make decisions on what their 
future practice should be as it allows them to collect data from their everyday practice and analyze it. 

According to Kemmis and Taggart (as cited in Khasinah, 2013), action research involves more 

than one cycle and consists of four steps in each cycle. Those four steps are planning, acting, observing, 

and reflecting. The first step is planning. In this step, the researchers focus on the problem and 
formulates a set plan which will be conducted to solve the problems in the research. The second step 

is doing the action. In the action phase, the researchers implement the activities formulated in the 

planning phase. The action is then observed. In this study, the aspects that were observed are the 
students’ behavior when using Quizlet and the situation within the class when situation within the 

class when they are using Quizlet. The goal of the observation itself in this study is to be able to get a 

better understanding of how the action performed is implemented and to know the characteristics of 

the students. The fourth step involves the reflection that explores which problem has or has not been 
solved and to find out whether there is a new problem emerges when the first cycle is being conducted. 

After the first cycle was finished, the researchers then revised the plan based on the gathered data and 

the reflection. In this research, the researchers employed two cycles to correct any errors or mistakes 
made on the first cycle. The figure below shows the graph of action research cycle (Carr & Kemmis, 

1986). 

 

 
 

 

 



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Figure 2. CAR cycle  

 

Respondents 
The participants of the study were 13 Indonesian-speaking 11th grade students who enrolled at a 
private senior high school in Yogyakarta. The research was conducted in the second semester of the 

2018/2019 academic year in February-June 2019. None of the students had studied abroad in an 

English-speaking country. Based on CEFR framework, their English level of proficiency is A2-B1.  

 

Instruments 
There were three instruments employed in this research, namely class observation, questionnaire, 

and interview. The observation was conducted during the implementation of Quizlet in the 

classroom. Observation is a technique to collect data by looking carefully at the action being 

performed (Ridwan, 2004). This study also used questionnaire to obtain the data from the 
participants about their attitudes toward Quizlet. The questionnaire was developed based on the 

theory of Technology Acceptance Model: perceived usefulness & perceived ease of use (Davis & 

Venkatesh, 2000), and the principles of mobile learning by Herrington et al. (2009). Respondents 
(n=13) responded a 5-point Likert scale (from 1= “strongly disagree” to 5= “strongly agree.). Aside 

from the questionnaire, the researchers also conducted interviews with three participants. Edwards 

& Holland (2013) states that an interview is done in order to study people’s understandings toward 

their recent experience. In this study, the interviews were conducted to the English teacher and the 
students of the school. The interview of the English teacher was conducted to identify the problem 

existing in vocabulary learning within the class. The results of the interviews with the students were 

used to gain a deeper information about students’ perception toward the implementation of Quizlet 
in the classroom.  

 

Data analysis 
Further in this research, the data that had been obtained were analyzed to acquire the answers for 

the mentioned research questions. The observation was used to analyze students’ behavior and the 
class situation during the implementation of Quizlet. Through the observation, the researchers were 

able to find the aspect which could still be improved and what problems should be dealt with. In 

other words, it was helpful for the researchers as a guide to reflect to what had gone right and what 
aspects needed some improvements during the first and the second cycle. The questionnaire 

provided quantitative data which were analyzed by finding the mean of each item. By finding the 

mean, the researchers were able to discover the average score for each item in the questionnaire and 

able to determine the central tendency for each item and, thus, allowed the researchers to identify 
which answer or scale in each item has the highest central tendency. The formula used to calculate 

the data from the questionnaire was mean formula.  

The researchers also provided the score responses for each item. The aim was to determine 
the level of agreement of each item. The researchers used mean distribution formula to determine 

the range of each scale.  

After calculating the score responses of the questionnaire, the result obtained was 0.75. 

Hence, ranging from the low up to the very high, the scale range would be as follows: 
 

 



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Table 1. The scale range of score responses 

No Score Range Interpretation 

1 1 – 2 Low 

2 2.01 – 3 Moderate 

3 3.01 – 4 High 

4 4.01 – 5 Very high 

 

As the researchers has explained in the previous section. The interview was conducted for 

the teacher in order to identify problems existing within the current practice in English teaching. 

The result of the interview became the reference for the researchers to make a plan to be 
implemented in the action phase. As for the interview of the students, the result of the interview 

was used to gain a deeper information about the students’ perception and to support students’ 

responds from the questionnaires. The validity and reliability were ensured by having data source 

triangulation which was examining evidence from different data sources (observation, 
questionnaire, and interview). The information gathered was used to build a coherent justification. 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

Quizlet Implementation 
In the first cycle, the researchers used Quizlet as an opening activity. But before the students could 

access the set, they were required to join the class by typing the class link. After that, they studied the 
first set of the vocabulary practices. They were given 10 minutes to study the set. They could freely 

choose between various available features within the application and were not obliged to do repetitions 

from a particular feature. As Vidal (2003) states in his study that intentional or direct vocabulary 
learning provided solution for greater words retention. There are various Quizlet features from which 

the students could choose to study. They are namely Learn, Flashcards, Write, Match, and Test. 

 

 

 

 
Figure 3. Quizlet’s flashcard feature 

 

After studying with Quizlet, the students were given a reading comprehension worksheet. The 

reading passage contained some of the vocabularies which they had studied from the application. 
After they read the passage, they answered some questions to test their comprehension. The purpose 

of this activity was to show the students how the vocabularies they had learned were used in sentences. 

As Nation (2001) states, learners may need to learn vocabularies in the passage first before reading the 
passage so that they could better understand the message conveyed. In addition, learners who 

understand complex vocabulary will be more likely to understand more complex passage and, thus, 



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improve their proficiency (Baptist, 2018). Upon finishing the worksheet, the students were not allowed 

to consult to any dictionary nor Quizlet. 

In the second cycle, the students were still provided with two sets of vocabulary lists for two 
meetings. In this phase, the students studied the set-in middle of the learning activity. Although they 

could choose freely which features, they want to study from, the researchers suggested the students to 

try the flashcards feature before they tried the other features. This was done in order to help the 

students better understand and comprehend each word before they try to test themselves through other 
features. In the second cycle, the set made for the students contained not only the terms and the 

definitions of the words, but also a picture of the term and its part of speech. 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. Quizlet’s flashcard feature 

 

After studying the set, the students were given a worksheet to test their understanding about the 

vocabularies they had studied. The worksheet contained vocabularies that they needed to answer after 
listening to a spoken conversation. After finishing the worksheet, the students played a game which required 

them to make a sentence from a word they had randomly chosen. 

In this phase, the same treatment was given for the students. The sets in this cycle contained some 
words that were included in the previous two sets so that the students would not need to understand and 

memorize too many words in each meeting. Moreover, doing repetitions of studying isolated vocabulary is 

really helpful for learners in order to gain greater retention of the words (de Groot, 2006). Upon finishing 

studying the set, the students were then given a worksheet containing listening practice, vocabulary practice, 
and reading comprehension practice. This worksheet contained not only the vocabularies they had learned 

prior to these activities, it also contained other vocabularies from previous sets.  

 

Students’ perception 

The data acquired to answer the second research question were gathered from questionnaires, 
interviews, and the researchers’ observation during the implementation. Although there were 14 

students in XI-intermediate class, the researchers only gave the questionnaire to 13 students who were 

present at least 75% of the whole implementation process. Besides the questionnaire, the researchers 
also conducted an interview with 3 students. Davis’ theory of Technology Acceptance Model (1989) 

was divided into two – Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU). The first part of 

this section would discuss students’ Perceived Ease of Use toward the use of Quizlet in vocabulary 

learning and students’ Perceived Usefulness on the following subtitle. 
 
Perceived Ease of Use 

There were four statements in the questionnaire which discussed Davis’ theory of TAM about 
Perceived Ease of Use. Seeing the results of this variable (M= 4.38, SD= 0.75), it could be concluded 

that Quizlet was easy to use and the instructions within the application were clear and easy to be 

understood. Further details will be shown in the table below. 

 
Table 2. Questionnaire result of Perceived Ease of Use 



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Question 
Strongly 

Disagree 
Disagree Agree 

Strongly 

Agree 
Mean 

-Quizlet is easy to use 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 6 (46.15%) 7 (53.85%) 4.54 

-The instructions in Quizlet 
are easy to understand 

 
0 (0%) 1 (7.69%) 8 (61.54%) 4 (30.77%) 4.38 

-I could learn vocabulary 

more easily with Quizlet 
rather than books 

0 (0%) 2 (15.38%) 6 (46.15%) 5 (38.46%) 4.08 

-I can easily review the 

vocabularies I have studied 

before in Quizlet 

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 6 (46.15%) 7 (53.85%) 4.54 

 
This result showed that almost all of the students agreed to the first and the second statements 

of the questionnaire. The result was also supported by one of the students’ statement in the interview. 

The students felt that the application was easy to use and the instructions were simple and easy to 

understand. 

“Once you have joined the class, we could study the sets comfortably. The sets and the content are 

clear. We could study independently with the features within the app. We could study from the 

flashcards, the test, and memorize the correct pronunciation easily.” (S1/I7). 

It could also be seen from the researchers’ observation when implementing Quizlet in the 
classroom. Once the students had been explained of how the features work, they did not ask any more 

questions nor seemed to be confused in using the application. Furthermore, the students mentioned 

in the interview that it was more practical to study with Quizlet rather than books. 

“Using Quizlet is preferable for me rather than books because it is more practical and more 

interesting.” (S2/I4)  

Furthermore, all students agreed that it was easy to review the material they had studied with 

Quizlet. This item was included in ‘very high’ within the level of agreement (M= 4.54, SD= 0.52). As 

Davis (1989) states in his study, an application which is perceived to be easy to use will have a higher 

chance of getting users’ acceptance. This is parallel with the results of the questionnaires, the students’ 
statements in the interview, and the researchers’ observation during the implementation of Quizlet 

which showed their positive attitude toward the application and its easiness to use. 

 
Perceived Usefulness 

The second part of this section would show students’ perception about the implementation of Quizlet 

based on Davis’ theory of Perceived Usefulness. There were seven items in the questionnaire which 

discussed students’ perception about Quizlet regarding to its usefulness. Furthermore, interviews with 
three students were also conducted afterwards. The results of the questionnaire (M= 4.03, SD= 0.86) 

also indicated that students had favorable views towards Quizlet. 

 
Table 3. Questionnaire result of Perceived Usefulness 

Statement 
Strongly 

Disagree 
Disagree Agree 

Strongly 

Agree 
Mean 

-I found Quizlet useful for 

my learning 
0 (0%) 0 (0%) 7 (53.85%) 6 (46.15%) 4.46 

-Quizlet has improved my 

vocabulary mastery 
0 (0%) 1 (7.69%) 8 (61.54%) 4 (30.77%) 4.15 

-I do not mind spending 

my data plan on Quizlet 
0 (0%) 3 (23.08%) 6 (46.15%) 4 (30.77%) 3.85 

-I can learn vocabulary 

more effectively with 

Quizlet 

 

0 (0%) 

 

1 (7.69%) 

 

7 (53.85%) 

 

5 (38.46%) 

 

4.23 

-Quizlet provides various 

features which make my 
0 (0%) 0 (0%) 

11 

(84.62%) 
2 (15.38%) 4.15 



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vocabulary learning more 

interesting 

-I can practice my 

pronunciation with 

Quizlet 

 

0 (0%) 

 

4 (30.77%) 

 

7 (53.85%) 

 

2 (15.38%) 

 

3.54 

 

-I could understand the 

meaning of a word and 

how to use it easier with 

Quizlet 

 0 (0%) 1 (7.69%) 9 (69.23%) 3 (23.08%) 4.08 

-Quizlet helps me to 

prepare for my English 

test or quiz 

0 (0%)  0 (0%) 9 (69.23%) 4 (30.77%) 4.31 

-I will use Quizlet for my 

further study to help me 

improve my vocabulary 

mastery 

0 (0%) 4 (30.77%) 8 (61.54%) 1 (7.69%) 3.46 

 

The item which would be discussed first is the statement about whether Quizlet is useful for the 
students or not. The results showed that all students agreed to these statements, which meant that the 

students felt that Quizlet was useful in helping them to study vocabulary. The students were also 

willing to spend their data plan for the application because it was worth it, although there were three 

students who disagreed with this item. This item had a mean of 3.85 and the standard deviation of 
this item was 1.14. In the following statement, almost all students (92.3%) agreed that studying 

vocabulary with Quizlet was more effective than any other media that they had tried before. 

“Although we need to spend our data plan to use the application, because it is an online application, 
we could learn so much from the app. It has many features and sometimes it has pictures which 

could help us. Each set also does not contain too many words. We enjoy using the app and it is also 

a fun app to study with.” (S1/I8). 

In the next statement, all students agreed that Quizlet provided many features which made their 
study become interesting. This item had a very high level of agreement with all the students responded 

to either ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ (M= 4.15, SD= 0.38). The next item showed a high level of 

agreement (M= 4.08, SD= 0.76). It meant that the students agreed that they could understand the 

meaning of a word and how to use it easier with Quizlet rather than any other media that they had 
tried before. This was because the students could practice not only their vocabulary mastery, but also 

other skill such as pronunciation. 

“Aside from learning vocabulary, we could also learn the pronunciation of the words. We could 

understand the pronunciation right away.” (S3/I2)  

The next statement in this section which discussed about whether Quizlet helped them to 
prepare upcoming tests or quiz indicated a very high level of agreement from the students (M=4.31, 

SD= 0.48). Moreover, the results of the interview also hinted that Mobile Learning, through Quizlet, 

could open opportunities for the students to do collaborative learning as stated by Herrington et al. 
(2009). 

“In Quizlet, we could try to guess the meaning of the words. It is like playing a game. We could 

also play (learn) and interact with our friends. Once we feel that we have memorized the words, we 

could try the Test feature as a practice and to test ourselves.” (S1/I3). 

The last item discussed whether they will continue using Quizlet for further study in order to 
improve their vocabulary mastery had a mean of 3.46 with four students stated that they would not 

use Quizlet for further study. The standard deviation of this item was 1.05. Regarding this, Phua et al. 

(2012) states in their study that users’ PEU and PU do not fully affect users’ behavior toward the actual 



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and continuous use of any technology although it has positive relation. There are some other factors 

which would influence users into continuous use of a technology. 
 

Students’ perception on the use of Quizlet based on Principles of Mobile Learning 

The table below shows the students’ responses from the questionnaire which discussed whether the 

use of Quizlet fulfilled the principles of Mobile Learning as proposed by Herrington et al. (2009). This 
variable also had a mean higher than 4, which showed students’ favorable views upon the apps (M= 

4.07, SD=  0.96). 

 
Table 4. Questionnaire result of students’ perception based on Principles of Mobile Learning 

Statement 
Strongly 

Disagree 
Disagree Agree 

Strongly 

Agree 
Mean 

-I can learn vocabulary 

anytime and anywhere 

with Quizlet 

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 6 (46.15%) 7 (53.85%) 4.54 

-I enjoy using Quizlet to 

learn vocabulary 
0 (0%) 1 (7.69%) 10 (76.92%) 2 (15.38%) 4.00 

-After using Quizlet, I 

understand that learning 

vocabulary can also be 

done with the help of 

mobile devices 

0 (0%) 1 (7.69%) 4 (30.77%) 8 (61.54%) 4.46 

-I prefer using my mobile 

device in learning 

vocabulary rather books 

0 (0%) 3 (23.08%) 6 (46.15%) 4 (30.77%) 3.85 

-I become more 

autonomous in learning 

with my mobile device 

0 (0%) 2 (15.38%) 7 (53.85%) 4 (30.77%) 4.00 

-I gained a new learning 

experience after using 

Quizlet 

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 10 (76.92%) 3 (23.08%) 4.23 

-I use Quizlet for my 

study outside the 

classroom 

1 (7.69%) 4 (30.77%) 5 (38.46%) 3 (23.08%) 3.38 

 

From the results above, it could be concluded that the students had favorable opinions toward 

the use of Quizlet since all of those items in the questionnaire were included in either ‘High’ or ‘Very 

High’ within the scale of level of agreements. The first item in this section, “I can learn anytime and 
anywhere with Quizlet”, had the highest mean among the other items (M=4.54, SD= 0.52). The result 

was also emphasized by the student’s statement in the interview. 

“I sometimes use Quizlet outside the class. Sometimes while I am in the toilet and I get bored, I 
open the application and do a practice with the Flashcards feature. It is a good way of 

memorization.” (S1/I9). 

This result indicates mobile device’s ubiquity. The students could study with the application 

anytime and anywhere. In addition, Herrington et al. (2009) states that Mobile Learning should 

provide the students with mobile contexts where the students have the mobility in learning. Mobile 
Learning provides learners with much more flexibility than traditional computing (Ballance, 2012). 

The next item which discussed whether the students enjoyed using Quizlet had only one students who 

responded ‘Disagree’ (M= 4.00, SD= 0.71). The result is similar to what Baptist (2018) had conducted 
in her classroom which showed that her students enjoyed using the application for it used various 

engaging techniques to help the students master vocabulary. Moreover, a student in this research also 

stated similarly. 

“It is fun because I feel like playing game whenever I use the app. I can also do a quiz (Test feature) 

within the app. I also learn a lot of new vocabularies.” (S3/I1)  



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In the next statement, “After using Quizlet, I understand that learning vocabulary can also be 

done with the help of mobile devices”, it was proven that almost all students had not been using their 

mobile devices for studying vocabulary. The statement had a mean of 4.46 and a standard deviation 
of 0.88, which could be included in the ‘Very High’ within the level of agreement range. With Quizlet, 

they were able to utilize their own mobile devices for studying. Herrington et al. (2009) also stated 

that Mobile Learning ought to utilize students’ own mobile technology. Additionally, most of the 

students preferred to use Quizlet application to study vocabulary rather than their books (M=3.85, 
SD= 1.14). There were three students who disagreed with the statement. However, this item still had 

high level of agreement. 

The next statement, “I become more autonomous in learning with my mobile device”, had a 
mean of exactly 4.00 and a standard deviation of 1.00. There were only two students who felt that 

their mobile devices, and with the help of Quizlet, did not help them in becoming more autonomous 

in learning. 

“I carry my mobile device every time and and everywhere. I can choose when and where to open 

the app and start studying. It is way easier and more practical than using books.” (S3/I3). 

As Lu (2008) states, the primary advantage that mobile device possesses over traditional 

methods of learning is its ubiquity. However, Nurhaeni & Purnawarman (2018) explain that the most 

common problems faced by students during autonomous studying with their mobile devices are 
related to technical factors and their internal initiative. 

The sixth statement on this section was also included in ‘very high’ within the level of 

agreement (M= 4.23, SD= 0.44). All of the students agreed that Quizlet had given them a new leaning 

experience with some features that they had never tried before in other learning media. A statement 
from students also indicated that, before using Quizlet, they only learn vocabulary through handouts, 

digital dictionary, and online translation machine. 

“Before using Quizlet, we were only given handouts filled with lots of words and the meaning. We 
were a bit unwilling to memorize and learn all the words. Conversely, Quizlet offered us something 

new that we had never tried before. There are many feature from which we could choose to study.” 

(S1/I8)  

The last item on this section discussed whether the students used Quizlet outside the classroom. 
This item had the lowest mean among all the item in the questionnaire although it was still included 

in ‘High’ within the level of agreements with four students responded to ‘Disagree’ and one student 

responded to “Strongly Disagree’ (M=3.38, SD= 1.39). Some of them did not use Quizlet outside the 

class because they thought that the sets only contain the material about the current unit of the English 
course and it was irrelevant with the other courses. Actually, the users of the application could search 

millions of other sets who had been made by other creators. 

“I have not used Quizlet outside the class because the sets are just about Natural Health. So I can 

just only study vocabulary related to it and cannot study other materials.” (S3/I9). 

Discussion 

From the data acquired above, it could be concluded that Quizlet has fulfilled some of the principles 
proposed by Herrington et al. (2009), although it did not possess all the principle proposed by the 

researchers such as the principle of ‘Real world relevance’ because the content of the sets were isolated 

words. Since vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of a language, it is of vital importance 
to involve more vocabulary practice in teaching- learning activity. From the data gathered through the 

questionnaires and interviews, the researchers found three main benefits the students got from the 

implementation. 

The first benefit is that students consider Quizlet as one-stop vocabulary learning application. 

Quizlet has various features and modes which could really help the students not only to learn the 

words, but also to test themselves and practice their pronunciation. The Flashcard feature introduce 

them to the words, they could easily see the words and the definitions just by tapping their screen. The 
Learn, Write, and Match features help them deepen their understanding toward the words. Lastly, the 

Test feature could help them to find out how far they have understood what they have learned. 



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98 

 

Moreover, they could also learn the correct utterance of each word. In the interviews, all of the three 

students mentioned that knowing the correct pronunciation of the words had helped their learning. 

Besides being one-stop learning application, students also consider Quizlet as an cutting-edge 
technology used for learning vocabulary. Studying vocabulary through an application such as Quizlet 

was something that the students had never experienced before. From the data acquired through the 

questionnaires and the interviews, it could be seen that the students showed good responses toward 

the application. All of the questionnaires results indicated either ‘High’ or ‘Very High’ level of 
agreements toward the implementation of the Quizlet, meaning that they experienced the benefits of 

Quizlet for their learning. This finding strengthen previous studies about learners’ perception toward 

the use of Quizlet (Baptist, 2018; Christanti, 2018; Dizon, 2016) 
Students also perceive Quizlet as a practical and easy to use tool. Quizlet can be accessed 

through computer and mobile devices. This research focused on the implementation of Quizlet 

through mobile devices. Based on the results of the questionnaires and the interviews regarding to the 

application’s ease of use, the researchers could safely conclude that Quizlet is easy to use. Moreover, 
two of the three students who did the interviews mentioned that learning through their mobile devices 

was more practical than learning from books because they did not need to bring a book and write 

anything. They just needed to take their devices out, open the application, and study the sets right 
away. 

From this implementation, it could be concluded that the problems mentioned in this research 

has been solved. In the first chapter, the researchers has mentioned that todays’ approach of 

vocabulary learning has been treated as incidental learning and only receives a little attention. From 
these two cycles of Classroom Action Research, it has been showed that direct vocabulary learning 

was helpful for the students in learning English. Moreover, the involvement of technology has made 

the learning become easier and more practical. 
 

CONCLUSION 
After going through two cycles of Quizlet implementation in the classroom, it can be concluded 

that the students were engaged with this practice. The students could learn independently through 

their own devices and it was more practical than using books or handouts. Furthermore, the students 
could practice through different modes which made their learning even more interesting and fun.  The 

data from the questionnaire showed that studying vocabulary with Quizlet was a new experience for 

all the students. Quizlet could help students learn vocabulary through its interactivity and various 
modes. All the questionnaire results were included in the ‘High’ and ‘Very High’ within the level of 

agreements, showing students’ favorable view toward the implementation of application.  

The data acquired from the interviews also showed their favorable view toward this practice. 

They thought that using Quizlet for vocabulary learning is fun and helpful. One of the students even 
said that it was like playing a game whenever he used the application and he became more engaged 

in studying. The students also said that they could study through the application whenever and 

wherever they want, emphasizing its practicality. 
 

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